Famous French artists and their paintings. Contemporary art: France

There was a time when artists were not appreciated for their work. But these days, these individuals are highly valued, regardless of whether they belong to historical times or are alive. French painters are especially revered for their amazing and delightful works.

Here are 10 of the most famous and outstanding French artists and painters. Let's go back in time and look at it all together. Please enjoy!

TOP 10 most famous French artists and painters:

10. Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Paul Gauguin was a French artist and painter of post-impressionist times. He made a great contribution to the development of avant-garde paintings. Gauguin had a close relationship with Van Gogh.

9. Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

Vincent Van Gogh belongs to the post-Impressionist period. He is one of the most famous painters and artists in the world. Known for his boldness and vibrant paintings, Vincent was born in the Netherlands.

8. Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

Camille Pissarro belongs to the eras of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. He is one of the most influential and best painters of all time. He worked on new and unique styles in his paintings, which could give an advantage to his career.

7. Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Edouard Manet is known for his contributions to the schools of Realism and Impressionism. He was a great and innovative painter. He transformed the works into impressionism to give them a modern look.

6. Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863)

Eugene Delacroix is ​​famous for his romantic paintings and works of art. He received inspiration for this work from Venetian Renaissance painters and Rubens.

5. Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)

Paul Cézanne was born in the 18th century. An amazing artist of the impressionist era. He began his career in impressionistic forms, but developed himself as an innovative artist, producing the best works of art in the 19th century.

4. Charles-Francois Dabigny (1817-1878)

Charles-François Dabigny is one of the most famous artists of all time. It is still remembered for its traditional landscape paintings and is used to impress others with unique works of art.

3. Augustus Renoir (1841-1919)

August Renoir belongs to the era of impressionism. He is one of the most famous painters who played a key role in the development of impressionist works.

2. Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Claude Monet is an impressionist painter. He is one of the most influential painters of the 18th century. He was strongly influenced by the works of high school students and his own works emerged, such as "Impression", "Sunrise" and others.

1. Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Edgar Degas is considered the forerunner of Impressionism. He painted realistic aspects of human life. His style of work was truly unique and very impressive.

The French art school at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries can be called the leading European school; it was in France at that time that such art styles as Rococo, Romanticism, Classicism, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism originated.

François Boucher, Antoine Watteau, and Jean Honoré Fragonard worked in the Rococo style.

Jean Baptiste Greuze, Nicolas Poussin, Jean Baptiste Chardin, Jean Dominique Ingres, and Jacques-Louis David worked in the style of classicism.

Francisco de Goya, Eugene Delacroix, Theodore Gericault, and William Blake worked in the style of romanticism.

The birth of realism in painting is most often associated with the work of the French artist Gustave Courbet, who opened his personal exhibition “Pavilion of Realism” in Paris in 1855, although even before him, artists of the Barbizon school Theodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet, and Jules Breton worked in a realistic manner . In the 1870s. realism was divided into two main directions - naturalism and impressionism.

Realistic painting has become widespread throughout the world. The Itinerants worked in the style of realism with a strong social orientation in Russia in the 19th century.

Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, Alfred Sisley and others worked in the style of impressionism.

Post-Impressionism gave rise to such art movements as expressionism, symbolism and modernism.

Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, and Toulouse-Lautrec worked in the post-impressionist style.

Let's take a closer look at impressionism and post-impressionism using the example of the work of individual masters of France in the 19th century.

Starting with historical paintings and portraits that were strict in composition, in the 1870s Degas became close to representatives of impressionism and turned to depicting modern city life - streets, cafes, theatrical performances.

In Degas's paintings, a dynamic, often asymmetrical composition, precise flexible drawing, unexpected angles, and active interaction between figure and space are carefully thought out and verified.

The favorite pastel technique allowed Edgar Degas to fully demonstrate his talent as a draftsman. Rich tones and “shimmering” strokes of pastel helped the artist create that special colorful atmosphere, that iridescent airiness that so distinguishes all his works.

Edgar Degas can be called a subtle colorist; his pastels are surprisingly harmonious, sometimes gentle and light, sometimes built on sharp color contrasts. Degas's style was remarkable for its amazing freedom; he applied pastels with bold, broken strokes, sometimes leaving the tone of the paper showing through the pastel or adding strokes in oil or watercolor. Color in Degas's paintings arises from an iridescent radiance, from a flowing stream of rainbow lines that give birth to form.

Degas's late works are distinguished by the intensity and richness of color, which are complemented by the effects of artificial lighting, enlarged, almost flat forms, and cramped space, giving them an intensely dramatic character. In that

It should be noted that the use of green, yellow, ocher, pink and red tones to depict skin shocked the public of that time, unprepared to perceive the fact that shadows should be colored, filled with light.

In the 1880s, the so-called “Ingres period” began in Renoir’s work. The most famous work of this period is “The Great Bathers.” To build a composition, Renoir began to use sketches and sketches for the first time, the lines of the drawing became clear and defined, the colors lost their former brightness and saturation, the painting as a whole began to look more restrained and colder.

In the early 1890s, new changes took place in Renoir's art. In a painterly manner, an iridescence of color appears, which is why this period is sometimes called “pearl”, then this period gives way to “red”, so named because of the preference for shades of reddish and pink colors.

In the painting “Yellow Christ,” Gauguin depicted the crucifixion against the background of a typical French rural landscape, the suffering Jesus is surrounded by three Breton peasant women. The peace in the air, the calm submissive poses of women, the landscape saturated with sunny yellow color with trees in red autumn foliage, the peasant busy with his business in the distance, cannot but come into conflict with what is happening on the cross. The environment is in sharp contrast to Jesus, whose face displays that stage of suffering that borders on apathy, indifference to everything around him. The contradiction between the boundless torments accepted by Christ and the “unnoticed” nature of this sacrifice by people is the main theme of this work by Gauguin.

on the shore, two sisters - they have just swam, and now their bodies are stretched out on the sand in casual voluptuous poses - talking about love, one memory causes discord: “How? Are you jealous!".

In painting the lush full-blooded beauty of tropical nature, natural people unspoiled by civilization, Gauguin depicted a utopian dream of an earthly paradise, of human life in harmony with nature. Gauguin's Polynesian paintings resemble panels in their decorative color, flatness and monumentality of composition, and generality of the stylized design.

P. Gauguin. Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? 1897-1898

The painting “Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?" Gauguin considered it the sublime culmination of his reflections. According to the artist’s plan, the painting should be read from right to left: three main groups of figures illustrate the questions posed in the title. The group of women with a child on the right side of the picture represents the beginning of life; the middle group symbolizes the daily existence of maturity; in the extreme left group, Gauguin depicted human old age, approaching death; the blue idol in the background symbolizes the other world. This painting is the pinnacle of Gauguin's innovative post-impressionist style; his style combined a clear use of colors, decorative color and composition, flatness and monumentality of the image with emotional expressiveness.

Gauguin's work anticipated many features of the Art Nouveau style that was emerging during this period and influenced the development of the masters of the “Nabi” group and other painters of the early 20th century.

In 1888, Van Gogh moved to Arles, where the originality of his creative style was finally determined. Fiery artistic temperament, a painful impulse towards harmony, beauty and happiness and, at the same time, fear of forces hostile to man, are embodied either in landscapes shining with sunny colors of the south (“The Yellow House”, “The Harvest. La Croe Valley”), or in ominous , images reminiscent of a nightmare (“Cafe Terrace at Night”); dynamics of color and brushstroke

Van Gogh's intense work in recent years was accompanied by bouts of mental illness, which led him to a mental hospital in Arles, then to Saint-Rémy (1889–1890) and to Auvers-sur-Oise (1890), where he committed suicide. The work of the last two years of the artist’s life is marked by ecstatic obsession, extremely heightened expression of color combinations, sudden changes in mood - from frenzied despair and gloomy visionary (“Road with Cypresses and Stars”) to a tremulous feeling of enlightenment and peace (“Landscape in Auvers after the rain”) .

V. Van Gogh. Wheat field with crows. 1890

“Wheat Field with Crows” is a painting by Van Gogh, painted by the artist in July 1890 and is one of his most famous works. The painting was supposedly completed on July 10, 1890, 19 days before his death in Auvers-sur-Oise. There is a version that Van Gogh committed suicide in the process of painting this painting (going out into the open air with materials for painting, he shot himself in the heart area with a pistol purchased to scare away flocks of birds, then independently reached the hospital, where he died from the loss blood).

Each country has its own heroes of contemporary art, whose names are well-known, whose exhibitions attract crowds of fans and curious people, and whose works are sold to private collections.

In this article we will introduce you to the most popular contemporary artists in France.

Malika Favre

Malika Favre was introduced to the world of fine art by her artist mother - there was no TV or video games in their house, these entertainments were replaced by drawing. After graduating from university, Favre moved to London, where she still lives and works. It was in London, after four years of working at the Airside studio, that she found her calling and became a professional illustrator.

Thomas Mainardis

Thomas is a self-taught French artist. His paintings, the style of which the artist refers to as pop expressionism, are subjective impressions and moments snatched from modern pop culture and rich in emotions and fantasies. The artist currently lives and works in a small town between Paris and Lille.

Nushka

The artist Nushka lives and works in Paris and has been painting for over 10 years. She studied Nushka painting in Detroit with the American artist Zawacki, who taught her the basics of painting, and with Maggie Siner, who introduced her to the mechanics of colors. She also studied with the artist Hashpa. Thanks to such a rich base, the artist’s painting combines technical skill and style with modern themes.

Laurent Botella

Laurent studied painting at the Maithe Rovino workshop in Osson and at the Beaux Arts school in Toulouse. His paintings are made in an impressionistic technique - and the technique for Laurent is of paramount importance: the composition and color scheme are aimed at emphasizing the plot component of the picture. Since 1991, Laurent Botella has regularly participated in exhibitions and competitions, at which he has repeatedly received prizes and awards.

Laurent Dauptain

Laurent Dauptin has a master's degree in painting. The subject matter of his works is unusual: the artist mainly draws his own portraits, experimenting with various techniques. From time to time, Laurent tries himself in other genres, but always returns to self-portraiture. Since 1981, Dopten has exhibited constantly, participated many times in various competitions and has received numerous awards for his work, the most significant of which include the Grand Prix of the Salon Peintres de l'Armee, 2003, the Taylor Prize, 2001 and a gold medal Salon artist of France, 1997.

Michel Delacroix

Michel Delacroix was born in 1933. His love for drawing began during the German occupation of Paris. It is Paris, which even then remained Paris, that is the hero of his paintings - a quiet, calm city of the artist’s childhood. Delacroix experimented with styles for a long time until he finally settled on the direction that became his signature - the “naive” style of painting. Delacroix has repeatedly received various awards, including the Grand Prix des Amateurs d'Art, Paris 1973, Grand Prix de la Cote d'Azur, Cannes 1976, Premier Prix de Sept Collines, Rome 1976, etc. His work can be found in several public and private collections, including the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris and the International Museum of Naïve Art.

Sylvester Evrard

French artist Sylvestre Evrard lives and works in Lille. Basically, the heroes of his paintings are people. The style and mood of the artist’s paintings, in his own words, can be briefly characterized by the expression of Andre Malraux: “Art is the presence in life of that which should belong to death.”

Patricia Perrier-Radix

Patricia's work is characterized by ease, ease and perfection. The artist does not stop searching for her own style, constantly enriches her knowledge by studying various materials, but tends to work with acrylic and oil paint on canvas. Her paintings are surprisingly emotional - painting characters without faces, Patricia masterfully conveys the slightest shades of feelings and moods with the precision of fleeting gestures and poses.

Henri Lamy

Contemporary French figurative artist Henri Lamy trained in oil painting but found himself drawn to the immediacy and spontaneity of acrylic, enhancing his work with sharp, expressive colors. Henri creates his paintings with paint dripping from a knife, the drips of which intertwine, connect and dry almost instantly. Up close, these acrylic paintings can look abstract and only show their true colors to the viewer who takes a few steps back.

Johanna Perdu

Joanna, also known among colleagues and art lovers as La D'Jo, received a diploma in fine arts and devoted herself to it in all its diversity, from painting to photography. She draws her ideas from the world of entertainment: music, dance, theater, circus.., and in the center of her paintings there are always living creatures from this magical world. Today her paintings can be found in galleries in different parts of the world. Perdu’s deliberately naive works have won the attention of critics and have earned them many reviews, usually rave ones.

At the beginning of the 18th century. A new style appeared in France - Rococo.

Translated from French rococo (rocaille) means “shell”. The name of this artistic style reveals its characteristic feature - a love for complex shapes, fancy lines, reminiscent of the graceful silhouette of a shell.
The Rococo style did not last long (until about the 40s), but its influence on European culture turned out to be very strong.
In the second half of the 18th century. a new surge of interest in ancient culture began. This was partly due to the excavations of Pompeii, which discovered unique art monuments. On the other hand, this interest was promoted by the ideas of the French Enlightenment: they saw the ideal of art and social life in the history and culture of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Thus, a new style emerged - neoclassicism. This was not the case in all countries. For example, in Italy the Baroque style existed simultaneously with the Rococo style, while in France the Baroque did not receive much development. In Russia, Rococo and Neoclassicism complemented each other.
In the 18th century customers no longer played the main role in the fate of the artist: public opinion became the main judge of works of art. Art criticism appeared: Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others.
An important event in the artistic life of France in the 18th century. became public exhibitions - Salons. Since 1667, they were organized annually by the Parisian Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture with the support of the royal court. Success at the Salon was recognition for a painter or sculptor. Not only the French sought to participate in the Salons, so Paris gradually turned into a pan-European artistic center.

Jean Antoine Watteau (1684-1721)

Rosalba Carriera. Portrait of Antoine Watteau (1721)
Antoine Watteau is a French painter of the first third of the 18th century, the founder of the Rococo style.
He discovered in painting the sphere of subtle emotions, in tune with the lyricism of the landscape.
A. Watteau was born in a provincial town in the family of a roofer. Already in his early years his artistic abilities became apparent, and his father apprenticed him to a local painter of minor talent. Very soon the mentor ceased to be useful to the future artist. Antoine Watteau, against his father's will, secretly leaves his hometown of Valenciennes and travels on foot to Paris, where he is hired in a painting workshop on the Notre Dame Bridge, the owner of which organized the serial production of cheap copies of paintings in “common taste” for wholesale buyers. Watteau mechanically copied the same popular paintings, and in his free time he painted from life. He was exceptionally hardworking.

Antoine Watteau "The Capricious" (c. 1718). State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)
Soon Watteau found his first patrons - Pierre Mariette and his son Jean, engravers and collectors, owners of a large company that sold engravings and paintings. At the Mariettes, Watteau had the opportunity to become acquainted with the works of Rembrandt, Titian, and Rubens. Through the mediation of the Mariettes, Watteau became a student of the artist Claude Gillot, a master of theatrical scenery and creator of small paintings. “From this master, Watteau acquired only a taste for the grotesque and the comic, as well as a taste for modern subjects, to which he subsequently devoted himself. And yet we must admit that with Gillot, Watteau finally understood himself and that since then the signs of the talent that had to be developed have become more clear" (biographer of the artist Edme-François Gersin).

Antoine Watteau "Actors of the French Comedy" (c. 1712). State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)
At 33, Watteau became the most popular painter in Paris, which contributed to his European fame.

Antoine Watteau "Gilles" (1718-1719). Louvre (Paris)
This is how M.Yu. Watteau speaks about this painting. German, leading researcher at the Russian Museum: “Gilles has virtually no analogues in the history of art. Few people wrote actors at all. Moreover, no one dared to show the actor in complete inaction. For Watteau himself, this was a brave step: to paint a figure in the very middle of the canvas, filling most of it with a wide robe that completely hides the comedian’s body, and in the depths to depict the faces of other actors, with fun and animation sharply contrasting with the almost motionless face of the hero... Devoid of gestures and facial expressions, symmetrically and flatly inscribed in the canvas, he calmly exists in time, as if forever stopped for him. Everything that is fleeting and transitory is alien to him. The bustle behind him is in the movements of the actors. The laughter and joy of the audience is in front of him. And he remains invariably motionless, with a funny and touching reproach in his round, affectionate and intelligent eyes.”
Already quite ill, Watteau took up the sign for the antique shop “The Great Monarch” on the Notre-Dame Bridge. This shop belonged to his friend Gersen.

Antoine Watteau. Sign of Gersen's shop (1720-1721). Charlottenburg Palace (Berlin)
Watteau painted the sign painting on two separate canvases that were then inserted into a single frame. The action of the painting is transferred from the landscape to the interior. The canvas depicts a spacious shop, which, according to the artist’s plan, opens directly onto the Parisian pavement.
In the foreground on the left, servants are placing a portrait of the recently deceased Louis XIV into a box. In the upper corner hangs a portrait of his father-in-law, the Spanish King Philip IV; on the right, experts carefully study the painting in an oval frame; landscapes and still lifes coexist here with mythological scenes.
The main feature of this work is its programmatic nature. According to Louis Aragon, Watteau, under the guise of a sign, presented the history of painting as he knew it. This painting became, as it were, the artistic testament of the author. Antoine Watteau died at the age of 36 from tuberculosis.

Monument to Antoine Watteau in his hometown of Valenciennes (1884)
The work of Francois Boucher is also associated with the development of the Rococo style.

Francois Boucher (1703-1770)

F. Boucher - French painter, engraver, decorator. His works are characterized by exquisite forms, lyrically tender coloring, gracefulness, coquettishness, sometimes reaching the point of affectation.

Gustaf Lundberg. Portrait of Francois Boucher
Boucher was a master of engraving, illustrating books by Ovid, Boccaccio, and Moliere. He created scenery for operas and performances, paintings for royal tapestries; performed ornamental paintings of Sevres porcelain, painted fans, made miniatures, etc.
In painting, he turned to allegorical and mythological subjects, painted genre scenes, pastorals (poeticization of peaceful and simple rural life), landscapes, and portraits.

F. Boucher. Portrait of Madame de Pompadour
Boucher received the title of court artist. He decorated the residences of the King and Madame de Pompadour, private mansions in Paris. In his last years he was director of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and "the king's first painter."

F. Boucher. Portrait of Marie Buzo, the artist's wife (1733)
Another painting by F. Boucher illustrates an episode of La Fontaine’s short story “The Hermit.” A young man, planning to seduce a beautiful but timid village girl, settles nearby under the guise of a hermit. He manages to convince the girl’s mother of his holiness, and she herself takes her daughter to him to listen to his good teachings. Boucher shows an original interpretation of La Fontaine's work, but the landscape occupies the main place in his composition.

F. Boucher “Landscape with a Hermit. Brother Luce" (1742). Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkina (Moscow)

Democratic views of French art

They were embodied in the work of the “painter of the third estate” Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, and the portraits of Maurice Quentin de Latour.

Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin (1699-1779)

Chardin. Self-portrait
Chardin deliberately avoided the subjects characteristic of the art of his time. He mainly painted still lifes and everyday scenes, but in them he expressed his own observations. He was interested in the life of people of the “third estate” (all groups of the population with the exception of the privileged: the clergy and nobility).
The work of Chardin as an artist continued the traditions of the Dutch and Flemish masters and represented the flowering of realism in the 18th century. Even his still life had an aspect for depicting reality. The most ordinary objects became for him sources of composition for depicting harmonious existence: jugs, old pots, vegetables, etc.

Chardin "Scat" (1728). Louvre (Paris)
The artist knew how to perfectly convey color diversity and felt the internal interconnection of objects. He conveyed shades of color with small strokes and had the ability to include the influence of sunlight in the image.
Turning to genre painting and ordinary domestic scenes, Chardin recreated on canvas a calm, measured way of everyday life, close to every person. It was paintings like these that secured him one of the prominent places in the history of French painting. In 1728 he became a member of the Paris Academy of Arts, and in 1743 - its adviser; later became a member of the Rouen Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts.
He spiritualized the most ordinary objects and activities: “The Laundress” (1737), “Jar of Olives” (1760), “Attributes of the Arts” (1766).

Chardin “Still Life with Art Attributes” (1766, State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg). The painting was commissioned by Catherine II for the building of the Academy of Arts under construction in St. Petersburg
D. Diderot compared his skill to witchcraft: “Oh, Chardin, this is not the white, red and black paints that you rub on your palette, but the very essence of objects; you take air and light at the tip of your brush and apply it to the canvas!”

Chardin "Soap Bubbles" (1733-1734). National Gallery of Art, Washington (USA)
A peculiar fusion of “gallant” painting and everyday genre distinguishes the work of Jean Honore Fragonard.

Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806)

French painter and engraver. He worked in the Rococo style. Author of more than 550 paintings (not counting drawings and engravings).

J.O. Fragonard. Self-portrait (c. 1760-1770)
He was a student of F. Boucher and J.B.S. Chardin. Initially he was interested in historical painting, and then began to paint in the spirit of Watteau and Boucher. He often produces scenes of intimate life, erotic content, decorative panels, portraits, miniatures, watercolors, and pastels. He also engaged in etching engraving.
But in the era of classicism it lost popularity.

J.O. Fragonard "Latch" (1777). Louvre (Paris)
The painting depicts a love scene: the gentleman, without taking his eyes off the lady, reaches with his right hand to the door on which he closes the top bolt. The lady's left hand seems to repeat this movement. On the table lies an apple, a biblical symbol of temptation and the fall.
In historical paintings, Fragonard is little original. His landscapes are quite embellished. But the artist’s genre paintings are distinguished by their skillful composition, graceful design, delicate coloring and subtle taste: “Music Lesson”, “Pastoral”, “Bathers”, “Sleeping Nymph”, “Cupid Taking the Shirt off a Beauty”, “Young Guitarist”, “ A kiss on the sly."

J.O. Fragonard "A Stolen Kiss" Hermitage (St. Petersburg)
In the middle of the 18th century. The French Enlightenment put forward classical ideals as a means of education. A sentimental and moralizing direction appeared in painting, in which the artist Jean-Baptiste Greuze stood out.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805)

J.-B. Dreams. Self-portrait
Greuze especially succeeded in the genre of family life with its problems and dramas - here he has few rivals in French painting.

J.-B. Dreams "The Father's Curse" (1777). Louvre (Paris)
The painting depicts a scene of a family drama, when the son announces to his father that he is leaving for the army, and the father curses him.
As a portrait painter, he was also at his best, because... understood portraiture differently than his contemporaries, who depicted men as Apollos and women as Floras and Venuses. His portraits are full of external resemblance, filled with life and feelings.

J.-B. Dreams "Portrait of a Girl". National Museum of Arts of Azerbaijan
The St. Petersburg Hermitage contains 11 works by Greuze.
In France in the 18th century. Interest in nature and landscape painting increased. A type of landscape (“architectural fantasy”) characteristic of neoclassicism was created by Hubert Robert.

Hubert Robert (1733-1808)

Vigée-Lebrun, Marie Elisabeth Louise. Portrait of Hubert Robert (1788) Louvre (Paris)
French landscape painter; gained European fame for his large canvases with romanticized images of ancient ruins surrounded by idealized nature. His nickname was "Robert of the Ruins."

Hubert Robert "Ancient Ruins" (1754-1765). Budapest

Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825)

J.-L. David. Self-Portrait (1794)
French painter and teacher, a major representative of French neoclassicism in painting. A sensitive chronicler of his turbulent times.
Born into the family of an iron wholesaler. He was brought up mainly in a family of relatives. When the child’s ability to draw was noticed, it was assumed that he would become an architect, like both of his uncles.
David took drawing lessons at the Academy of St. Luke. In 1764, his relatives introduced him to François Boucher, but due to illness he was unable to study with the young man. In 1766, David entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and began studying in Vienne's workshop. In 1775-1780 David studied at the French Academy in Rome, studying ancient art and the work of Renaissance masters.
In 1783 he was elected a member of the Academy of Painting.
He actively participated in the revolutionary movement, was elected to the National Convention, joined the Montagnards led by Marat and Robespierre, and voted for the death of King Louis XVI. He painted a number of paintings dedicated to revolutionaries: “The Oath in the Ballroom” (1791, unfinished), “The Death of Marat” (1793). Also at this time he organized mass public festivals and created the National Museum in the Louvre.

J.-L. David "The Death of Marat" (1793). Royal Museums of Fine Arts (Brussels)
This painting is one of the most famous paintings dedicated to the Great French Revolution.
Jean Paul Marat is a journalist for the radical newspaper Friend of the People, leader of the Jacobins. Having fallen ill with a skin disease, Marat did not leave the house and, to alleviate his suffering, took baths. On July 13, 1793, he was stabbed to death in his apartment by noblewoman Charlotte Corday.
The inscription on the wooden stand is the author’s dedication: “MARATO, David.” Clutched in Marat’s hand is a piece of paper with the text: “July 13, 1793, Marie Anne Charlotte Corday to citizen Marat. I am unhappy, and therefore I have the right to your protection.” In fact, Marat did not have time to receive this note, because... Corday killed him first.
In 1794 he was imprisoned for his revolutionary views.
In 1797 he witnessed the ceremonial entry of Napoleon Bonaparte into Paris and since then became his ardent supporter, and after he came to power - the court “first artist”. David creates paintings dedicated to Napoleon’s crossing of the Alps, his coronation, as well as a number of compositions and portraits of people close to Napoleon. After Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, he fled to Switzerland, then moved to Brussels, where he lived until the end of his life.

J.-L. David "Bonaparte at St. Bernard's Pass" (1801)
This painting of David opens the era of Romanticism in European painting. It is a highly romanticized equestrian portrait of General Napoleon Bonaparte, who led the Italian army through the St. Bernard Pass high in the Alps in May 1800.
The natural background also gives the painting a romantic meaning: steep mountain cliffs, snow, strong winds and bad weather. Below, if you look closely, you can see the carved names of three great commanders who passed this road: Hannibal, Charlemagne and Bonaparte.

J.-L. David "Coronation of Napoleon" (1805-1808)
The canvas was created under the impression of Rubens’ painting “The Coronation of Marie de’ Medici.”
Jacques-Louis David was buried in Brussels, and his heart was transported to Paris and buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.
In the 18th century In France, historical painters Jean Jouvenet, Nicolas Colombel, Pierre Subleira, portrait painters Claude Lefebvre, Nicolas Largilliere and Hyacinthe Rigaud worked.
In the middle of the 18th century. The Vanlo family was famous, especially the brothers Jean-Baptiste and Charles and other artists.

French artists are the greatest names in world culture. Moreover, it was the French masters who broke all records for prices for works of art at the best auctions. It’s only a pity that their authors received only posthumous fame, but such are the vicissitudes of the fate of many creators of beauty.

Artists of France: the phenomenon of French impressionism

So, the most expensively sold, and therefore the most famous and recognized in the world, were the French artists of the 20th century. Even people completely inexperienced in fine arts know their names. First of all, these are impressionist artists. France was unfriendly to them during their lifetime, but after their death they became real national pride.

The greatest artists of France, who have received worldwide recognition, fame and fame in wide circles, are Pierre Renoir, Edouard Manet, ‎Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet And Paul Gauguin. All of them are representatives of the most famous and best-selling movement in painting of the twentieth century - impressionism. Needless to say, this movement originated in France, and it most fully reveals its place and significance in the history of world art. The amazing combination of original technique and great emotional expressiveness fascinated and continues to fascinate connoisseurs of beauty around the world in impressionism.

Artists of France: the formation of French painting

But French artists are not only about impressionism. As elsewhere in Europe, painting here flourished during the Renaissance. Of course, France cannot boast of giants like Leonardo da Vinci or Raphael, but it still made its contribution to the common cause. But Italian influences were too strong for the formation of an original national school.

The first great French artist who completely freed himself from external influences was Jacques Louis David, who is rightfully considered the founder of the national pictorial tradition. The artist’s most famous painting was the famous equestrian portrait of Emperor Napoleon entitled “Napoleon at the Saint Bernard Pass” (1801).

Artists of 19th century France working in a realistic direction are, of course, less famous than the Impressionists, but they still made a significant contribution to the development of world painting. But the 20th century became a triumph of French art, and Paris became the center of the muses. The famous district of the French capital Montmartre, which gave shelter to dozens of poor artists who later became part of the golden fund of the heritage of mankind, including the names Renoir, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Picasso And Modigliani, became a center of fine arts, and still attracts crowds of tourists. Famous contemporary French artists also traditionally live in Montmartre.