French artists have long striven to draw upon the glory of past artistic movements while leaving their own distinct mark on future ones.
Impressionist landscape painters’ legacy endures, from their delicate works depicting idyllic scenes of France’s countryside to that of 20th-century greats living a bohemian lifestyle – their legacy remains strong. Theatre has seen the likes of Jean Cocteau and Claudel; literary innovation came courtesy of Samuel Beckett, Milan Kundera and Eugene Ionesco among many others.
Medieval
The Middle Ages, from the fall of Roman Empire to early stages of Renaissance, were an age rich with artistic diversity. Medieval art drew heavily from classical world art as well as iconographic traditions found within early Christianity; furthermore it combined this influence with “barbarian” cultural art forms from Northern Europe.
Religious art during this era served as an effective means of conveying biblical narratives to an illiterate public. Church walls and ceilings served as canvases for elaborate murals which informed congregations while also serving as forms of devotion.
Metalwork, illuminations and small-scale sculpture were also flourishing at this time. Highly trained artists known as ciseleur-doreurs produced bronze decorative ornaments for furniture and other objects while silversmiths created intricate tableware pieces.
Renaissance
As France moved through its Renaissance period (14th to 16th centuries), art flourished dramatically. This period is noted for religious art such as altarpieces and fresco cycles as well as decorative ornaments inspired by classical antiquity that revive classical antiquity.
Renaissance art in France reflected the cultural renaissance that emerged across Europe between 15th and 16th centuries, when nature, humanistic learning, and an individualist view of humanity became popular themes. French artists adopted these ideas while also adopting elements from Italian architecture into their art practices.
Painting moved away from moralising portrayals of mythological and historical subjects towards lighter themes like rocaille scenes, theater settings and mythological narratives that were more enjoyable. Painters like Antoine Watteau helped develop this style; which featured noticeable brush strokes and vibrant colors.
Neoclassicism
Beginning in France during the 1770s, Neoclassicism or imitation of Greek forms and iconography gained in popularity as an aesthetic reaction against both Rococo’s artificiality and an increasing fascination with classical history due to archaeological finds. This aesthetic revolution became known as Neoclassicism.
Jacques-Louis David was one of the foremost painters during this era. Drawing inspiration from seventeenth century artists such as Caravaggio and Nicolas Poussin, his paintings utilized stark contrasts of light, clear tones and firm contours, which highlighted heroic figures set against dramatic backdrops.
He was an enthusiastic supporter of Napoleon, as evidenced by his large canvases depicting him. However, he also explored themes related to social change and was particularly intrigued by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s philosophy, reflecting an interest in Renaissance humanism while at the same time moving away from its view that humans as inherently moral.
Romanticism
As an anti-Enlightenment movement, Romanticism was defined by its return of emotion, drama and vivid images. At its apogee during the early 1800s with artists such as Delacroix, Baudelaire and Victor Hugo (literature) as well as Berlioz (music).
Romanticism’s love affair with animal kingdoms was evident through Antoine-Louis Barye’s animal sketches and paintings by Delacroix and Theodore Gericault; these artists moved beyond traditional Neoclassical representations of nature at this time.
Romantic hero worship was an integral feature of this period, evidenced by Thomas Carlyle’s glowing portraits of Wellington and Oliver Cromwell by Thomas Carlyle and others such as Thomas De Quincey. Hero worship found its way into writing history works that expressed nationalistic sentiments while in painting it led to blurring genre lines, as can be seen by Ingres’ Apotheosis of Homer or Delacroix’s Death of Sardanapalus by Ingres or Delacroix respectively.
Impressionism
In the 1860s, a group of Paris-based painters known as Impressionists challenged academic conventions governing fine art creation and display. Influenced by artists like Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley and Berthe Morisot among others, their style focused on fleeting optical impressions rather than trying to depict subjects precisely.
These artists sought to capture the fleeting appearance of light and the ever-shifting atmospheric conditions through painting en plein air, often by employing scientific theories of color and light as inspiration for their art.
These artists came from diverse backgrounds and personalities; Degas was from an impoverished family, while Monet and Caillebotte had merchant or working class roots. Impressionists also formed their own group exhibition instead of adhering to official salon rules that dictated when and how art was shown during this era.