Art and Effect

The first type of art to flourish in France was Gothic during the 11^th and 12^th century. This is personally my favorite out of all types of art and architectures throughout art history as I enjoy the strangeness of the art and how it is used in cathedrals. This art originated in France and lasted through the 12^th to the 16^th century and consists of pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses. A prime example would be the Notre Dame Cathedral, which includes all of the aspects of the Gothic architecture. Another cathedral famous for its strange and majestic Gothic look was the Chartres Cathedral.

Notre Dame Cathedral in France

One-hundred years later after the 16^th century, the French Baroque began. This art was encouraged by the Catholic Churches as a response to the Protestant Reformation. Simon Vouet, an artist, was credited for bringing Baroque from Rome to Paris. This art was overly-exaggerated, and dramatic with its grandeur sculptures, paintings, and architectures.

Rococo art during the 16^th and 17^th century were considered to be immoral and indecent after his paintings had hidden parts around the main area of the canvas. An example of Rococo was Fragonard’s painting “The Swing” which included a woman casually riding on a swing with extreme lighting on her complexion and dress. It looks harmless at first, but around the woman are people attempting to look up her skirt like a pervert, which led to bad critique of this form of art.

Fragonard, The Swing

French Classicism then came after Rococo, which required paintings to be extremely proportionate and sobriety, so basically… no fun. This led to Neo-Classicism, which was the total opposite of Rococo in that it used appropriate paintings. The brush strokes had to look smooth and proportional, as well as the use of Greek and Roman forms of iconography. This form of art was also the birth of the Enlightenment.

Romanticism is also one of my favorite forms of art in France, as it required much time and effort with little brief brush strokes. Romanticism began in France during the 19^th century and used loose and flowing brush stokes to compose a colorful and emotional picture. A famous Romanticist artist was Delacroix, who was rebellious and had paintings full of emotions, color, and loose brushwork.

Thomas Cole, Voyage of Life Youth

Impressionism then came after; it was first as a rebellion against the established artistic standards of the Academy. This form of art was not necessarily realistic, but full of color and unique brush stroke technique. A famous artist was Monet, a French painter who rejected traditional approach to landscape painting.

Cubism came during the early 20^th century, Picasso made this famous along with Georges Braque; they were inspired by Cezanne, Monet, and Manet. Picasso’s art was revolutionary and controversial, as it led to anger and disagreement with his friends. The faces of the people he painted was thought to be influenced by African, tribal masks as it looked very unusual. However, Picasso denies.