French art

{{short description|none}}  [[File:Vierge a l'Enfant debout.jpg|thumb|French ivory [[Virgin and Child]], end of the 13th century, 25 cm high, curving to fit the shape of the ivory tusk.]] {{French art history}}

'''French art''' consists of the [[visual arts|visual]] and [[plastic arts]] (including [[French architecture]], woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of [[France]]. Modern France was one of the main centre for the European [[art of the Upper Paleolithic]],{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} then left many [[megalith]]ic monuments, and in the [[Iron Age]] many of the most impressive finds of early [[Celtic art]]. The [[Gallo-Roman]] period left a distinctive provincial style of sculpture, and the region around the modern Franco-German border led the empire in the mass production of finely decorated [[Ancient Roman pottery]], which was exported to Italy and elsewhere on a large scale. With [[Merovingian art]] the story of French styles as a distinct and influential element in the wider development of the art of Christian Europe begins.

Romanesque and Gothic architecture flourished in medieval France with Gothic architecture originating from the Île-de-France and Picardy regions of northern France and soon expanding in all of Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |last=carolinarh |date=2015-10-10 |title=French Romanesque I: Architecture |url=https://arsartisticadventureofmankind.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/french-romanesque-i-architecture/ |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=The Artistic Adventure of Mankind |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470996997#page=317 |title=A Companion to Medieval Art: Romanesque and Gothic in Northern Europe |date=1 January 2006 |doi=10.1002/9780470996997 |isbn=978-0-470-99699-7 |editor-last1=Rudolph |editor-first1=Conrad }}</ref> From the 16th century, the [[Italian Renaissance|Renaissance]] led to Italy becoming the main source of stylistic developments until France became the leading artistic influence in France during the late phase of Louis XIV's reign, especially during the [[Rococo]] and [[Neoclassicism]] periods.<ref>{{Cite book |page=186-187 |title=Atlas of World Art |date=2004 | isbn=9781856693776 |editor-last1=Onians|editor-first1=John }}</ref> During the 19th century and up to mid-20th century France, and especially Paris, was considered the center of the art world with art styles such as [[Impressionism]], [[Post-Impressionism]], [[Cubism]], [[Fauvism]] originating there as well as movements and congregations of foreign artists such as the [[School of Paris|École de Paris]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tate |title=Impressionism |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/impressionism |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=Tate |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=School of Paris |url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/glossary-terms/school-paris |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=www.nationalgalleries.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rewald |first=Authors: Sabine |title=Fauvism {{!}} Essay {{!}} The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{!}} Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fauv/hd_fauv.htm |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |date=October 2004 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rewald |first=Authors: Sabine |title=Cubism {{!}} Essay {{!}} The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{!}} Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |date=October 2004 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Benjamin |first=Walter |date=1969 |title=Paris: Capital of the Nineteenth Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1566965 |journal=Perspecta |volume=12 |pages=165–172 |doi=10.2307/1566965 |jstor=1566965 |issn=0079-0958|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=HIGONNET |first=Patrice L. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X-E7P9dVSbgC&dq=paris+art+world+capital&pg=PP8 |title=Paris: Capital of the World |date=2009-06-30 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-03864-6 |language=en}}</ref>

==Historic overview==

===Prehistory=== [[File:Venus of Brassempouy.jpg|thumb|left|Front and side view of the [[Venus of Brassempouy]]]] Currently, the earliest known European art is from the [[Upper Palaeolithic]] period of between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago and France has a large selection of extant [[pre-historic art]] from the [[Châtelperronian]], [[Aurignacian]], [[Solutrean]], [[Gravettian]], and [[Magdalenian]] cultures. This art includes [[cave painting]]s, such as the famous paintings at [[Pech Merle]] in the [[Lot (département)|Lot]] in [[Languedoc]] which date back to 16,000 BC, [[Lascaux]], located near the village of [[Montignac, Dordogne|Montignac]], in the [[Dordogne]], dating back to between 13,000 and 15,000 BC, or perhaps, as far back as 25,000 BC, the [[Cosquer Cave]], the [[Chauvet Cave]] dating back to 29,000 BC, and the [[Cave of the Trois-Frères|Trois-Frères cave]]; and [[portable art]], such as animal carvings and great goddess statuettes called [[Venus figurines]], such as the "[https://web.archive.org/web/20060904222320/http://www.musee-antiquitesnationales.fr/pages/page_id18159_u1l2.htm Venus of Brassempouy]" of 21,000 BC, discovered in the [[Landes (department)|Landes]], now in the museum at the [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] or the [[Venus of Lespugue]] at the [[Musée de l'Homme]]. Ornamental beads, bone pins, carvings, as well as flint and stone [[arrowhead]]s also are among the prehistoric objects from the area of France.

Speculations exist that only [[Homo sapiens]] are capable of artistic expression, however, a recent find, the [[Mask of la Roche-Cotard]]—a [[Mousterian]] or [[Neanderthal]] artifact, found in 2002 in a cave near the banks of the [[Loire River]], dating back to about [[Paleolithic|33,000 B.C.]]—now suggests that Neanderthal humans may have developed a sophisticated and complex artistic tradition.

[[File:Carnac megalith alignment 1.jpg|right|thumb|200px|''The Menec alignments'', the most well-known megalithic site among the Carnac stones]]

In the [[Neolithic]] period (''see'' [[Neolithic Europe]]), [[megalith]]ic (large stone) monuments, such as the [[dolmen]]s and [[menhir]]s at [[Carnac stones|Carnac]], [[Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens]] and elsewhere in France begin to appear; this appearance is thought to start in the fifth millennium BC, although some authors speculate about [[Mesolithic]] roots. In France there are some 5,000 megalithic monuments, mainly in Brittany, where there is the largest concentration of these monuments. In this area there is a wide variety of these monuments that have been well preserved, such as menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs and cairns. The [[Gavrinis|Cairn of Gavrinis]] in southern Brittany is an outstanding example of megalithic art : its 14 meters inner corridor is nearly completely adorned with ornamental carvings. The [[Broken Menhir of Er Grah|great broken menhir of Er-Grah]], now in four pieces, was more than 20 meters high originally, making it the largest menhir ever erected. France also has numerous painted stones, polished stone axes, and inscribed menhirs from this period. The Grand-Pressigny area was known for its precious silex blades and they were extensively exported during the Neolithic.

In France from the Neolithic to the [[Bronze Age]], one finds a variety of archaeological cultures, including the [[Rössen culture]] of {{Circa|4500}}–4000 BC, [[Beaker culture]] of {{Circa|2800}}–1900 BC, [[Tumulus culture]] of {{Circa|1600}}–1200 BC, [[Urnfield culture]] of {{Circa|1300}}–800 BC, and, in a transition to the [[Iron Age]], [[Hallstatt culture]] of {{Circa|1200}}–500 BC.

For more on Prehistoric sites in Western France, ''see'' [[Prehistory of Brittany]].

===Celtic and Roman periods=== [[File:Parade helmet.jpg|thumb|150px|left|[[Agris Helmet]]]] From the [[Proto-Celtic]] Urnfield and Hallstatt cultures, a continental [[Iron Age]] [[Celtic art]] developed; mainly associated with [[La Tène culture]], which flourished during the late Iron Age from 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the first century BC. This art drew on native, classical and perhaps, the [[Mediterranean]], oriental sources. The Celts of [[Gaul]] are known through numerous tombs and burial mounds found throughout France.

Celtic art is very ornamental, avoiding straight lines and only occasionally using symmetry, without the imitation of nature nor ideal of beauty central to the [[Classicism|classical]] tradition, but apparently, often involves complex symbolism. This artwork includes a variety of styles and often incorporates subtly modified elements from other cultures, an example being the characteristic over-and-under interlacing which arrived in France only in the sixth century, although it was already used by [[Germany|Germanic]] artists. The Celtic [[Vix Grave|Vix grave]] in present-day Burgundy revealed the largest bronze crater of the Antiquity, that was probably imported by Celtic aristocrats from Greece.

[[File:Orange roman theatre.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Théâtre antique d'Orange]]]] The region of Gaul ({{langx|la|Gallia}}) came under the rule of the [[Roman Empire]] from the first century BC to the fifth century AD. Southern France, and especially Provence and Languedoc, is known for its many intact Gallo-Roman monuments. [[Lugdunum]], modern Lyon, was at the time of the Roman Empire the largest city outside Italy and gave birth to two Roman Emperors. The city still boasts some Roman remains including a Theater. Monumental works from this period include the [[Théâtre antique d'Orange|amphitheater]] in [[Orange, Vaucluse]], the "[[Maison Carrée]]" at [[Nîmes]] which is one of the best preserved Roman temples in Europe, the city of [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]] near Lyon, which features an exceptionally well preserved temple (the temple of Augustus and Livia), a circus as well as other remains, the [[Pont du Gard]] [[aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]] which is also in an exceptional state of preservation, the Roman cities of [[Glanum]] and [[Vaison-la-Romaine]], two intact Gallo-Roman arenas in [[Arena of Nîmes|Nîmes]] and [[Arles Amphitheatre|Arles]], and the [[Thermes de Cluny|Roman baths]], and the [[Arènes de Lutèce|arena]] of [[Paris]].

===Medieval period===

====Merovingian art==== {{Main|Merovingian art}} Merovingian art is the art and architecture of the [[Merovingian]] dynasty of the [[Franks]], which lasted from the fifth century to the eighth century in present-day France and [[Germany]]. The advent of the Merovingian dynasty in [[Gaul]] during the fifth century led to important changes in the arts. In architecture, there was no longer the desire to build robust and harmonious buildings. Sculpture regressed to being little more than a simple technique for the ornamentation of [[sarcophagus|sarcophagi]], [[altars]], and ecclesiastical furniture. On the other hand, the rise of [[goldsmith|gold work]] and [[Illuminated manuscript|manuscript illumination]] brought about a resurgence of [[Celt]]ic decoration, which, with [[Christian art|Christian]] and other contributions, constitutes the basis of Merovingian art. The unification of the [[Franks|Frankish]] kingdom under [[Clovis I]] (465–511) and his successors, corresponded with the need to build churches. The plans for them probably were copied from [[Roman architecture|Roman]] [[basilica]]s. Unfortunately, these timber structures have not survived because of destruction by fire, whether accidental or caused by the [[Normans]] at the time of their incursions.

====Carolingian art==== {{Main|Carolingian art}} [[File:Karolingischer Buchmaler um 820 001.jpg|thumb|Aachen Gospels, c. 820, an example of Carolingian [[Illuminated manuscript|illumination]]]] Carolingian art is the approximate 120-year period from 750 to 900—during the reign of [[Charles Martel]], [[Pippin the Younger]], [[Charlemagne]], and his immediate heirs—popularly known as the [[Carolingian Renaissance]]. The Carolingian era is the first period of the medieval art movement known as '''[[Pre-Romanesque art and architecture|Pre-Romanesque]]'''. For the first time, Northern European kings patronized classical Mediterranean Roman art forms, blending classical forms with Germanic ones, creating entirely new innovations in figurine line drawing, and setting the stage for the rise of [[Romanesque art]] and, eventually, [[Gothic art]] in the West.

Illuminated manuscripts, metalwork, small-scale sculpture, mosaics, and frescos survive from the period. The Carolingians also undertook major architectural building campaigns at numerous churches in France. These include those of [[Metz]], [[Lyon]], [[Vienne, Isère|Vienne]], [[Le Mans]], [[Reims]], [[Beauvais]], [[Verdun]], [[Saint-Germain in Auxerre]], Saint-Pierre in [[Flavigny Abbey|Flavigny]], and [[Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]], as well as the town center of [[Chartres]]. The [[Centula Abbey]] of [[Saint-Riquier]] ([[Somme (department)|Somme]]), completed in 788, was a major achievement in monastic architecture. Another important building (mostly lost today) was "Theodulf's Villa" in [[Germigny-des-Prés]].

With the end of Carolingian rule around 900, artistic production halted for almost three generations. After the demise of the Carolingian Empire, France split into a number of feuding provinces, lacking any organized patronage. French art of the tenth and eleventh centuries was produced by local monasteries to promote literacy and piety, however, the primitive styles produced were not so highly skilled as the techniques of the earlier Carolingian period.

Multiple regional styles developed based on the chance availability of Carolingian manuscripts as models to copy, and the availability of itinerant artists. The monastery of Saint Bertin became an important center under its abbot Odbert (986–1007), who created a new style based on Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian forms. The nearby [[St. Vaast's Abbey|abbey of St. Vaast]] (Pas-de-Calais) also created a number of important works. In southwestern France a number of manuscripts were produced c. 1000, at the monastery of [[Saint Martial]] in [[Limoges]], as well as at [[Albi]], [[Figeac]], and [[Saint-Sever-de-Rustan]] in [[Gascony]]. In Paris a unique style developed at the [[abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés]]. In [[Normandy]] a new style arose in 975. By the later tenth century with the [[Cluny]] reform movement and a revived spirit for the concept of Empire, art production resumed.

[[File:Basilique de Vézelay Narthex Tympan central 220608.jpg|thumb|right|Central tympanum of the narthex of the [[Vézelay Abbey]] in [[Vézelay]], 1140–1150]]

====Romanesque art==== {{Main|Romanesque art}} [[Romanesque art]] refers to the art of Western Europe during a period of one hundred and fifty years, from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the [[Gothic Art|Gothic style]], which arose in the middle of the twelfth century in France. "Romanesque Art" was marked by a renewed interest in Roman construction techniques. For example, the twelfth-century capitals on the cloister of [[Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert]], adopt an [[acanthus (ornament)|acanthus]]-leaf [[Motif (art)|motif]] and the decorative use of drill holes, which were commonly found on Roman monuments. Other important Romanesque buildings in France include the abbey of [[Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire]] in [[Loiret]], the churches of [[Abbey Church of Saint Foy|Saint-Foy]] in [[Conques]] of [[Aveyron]], Saint-Martin in [[Tours]], Saint-Philibert in [[Tournus]] of [[Saône-et-Loire]], [[Abbey of Saint-Remi|Saint-Remi]] in [[Reims]], and [[Saint-Sernin Basilica|Saint-Sernin]] in [[Toulouse]]. In particular, [[Normandy]] experienced a large building campaign in the churches of [[Bernay, Eure|Bernay]], [[Mont-Saint-Michel]], [[Coutances Cathedral]], and [[Bayeux]].

[[File:Sainte Chapelle - Upper level 1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Interior of the Chapelle Haute, [[Sainte Chapelle]], Paris]] Most Romanesque sculpture was integrated into church architecture, not only for aesthetic, but also for structural purposes. Small-scale sculpture during the pre-Romanesque period was influenced by [[Byzantine]] and [[Early Christian]] sculpture. Other elements were adopted from various local styles of Middle Eastern countries. Motifs were derived from the arts of the "barbarian," such as grotesque figures, beasts, and geometric patterns, which were all important additions, particularly in the regions north of the Alps. Among the important sculptural works of the period are the ivory carvings at the monastery of [[Abbey of St. Gall|Saint Gall]]. Monumental sculpture was rarely practised separately from architecture in the Pre-Romanesque period. For the first time after the fall of the Roman empire, monumental sculpture emerged as a significant art form. Covered church [[façades]], doorways, and [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] all increased and expanded in size and importance, as in the [[Last Judgment]] [[tympanum (architecture)|Tympanum]], [[Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne]], and the Standing Prophet at [[Moissac]]. Monumental doors, baptismal fonts, and candle holders, frequently decorated with scenes from biblical history, were cast in bronze, attesting to the skills of the contemporary metalworkers. Frescoes were applied to the vaults and walls of churches. Rich textiles and precious objects in gold and silver, such as chalices and reliquaries, were produced in increasing numbers to meet the needs of the liturgy, and to serve the cult of the saints. In the twelfth century, large-scale stone sculpture spread throughout Europe. In the French Romanesque churches of [[Provence]], [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]], and [[Aquitaine]], sculptures adorned the façades and statues were incorporated into the capitals.

====Gothic==== [[File:Cenral tympanum Chartres.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The Western (Royal) Portal at Chartres Cathedral, ''c.'' 1145, these architectural statues are the earliest Gothic sculptures, a revolution in style and the models for a generation of sculptors]] {{Main|Gothic art}} {{Further|French Gothic architecture}} Gothic art and architecture were products of a medieval art movement that lasted about three hundred years. It began in France, developing from the Romanesque period in the mid-twelfth century. By the late fourteenth century, it had evolved toward a more secular and natural style known as [[International Gothic]], which continued until the late fifteenth century, when it evolved further, into [[Renaissance art]]. The primary Gothic art media were [[sculpture]], [[panel painting]], [[stained glass]], [[fresco]], and [[illuminated manuscript]].

Gothic architecture was born in the middle of the twelfth century in [[Île-de-France]], when [[Abbot Suger]] built the abbey at [[Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis|St. Denis]], ''c.'' 1140, considered the first Gothic building, and soon afterward, the [[Chartres Cathedral]], ''c.'' 1145. Prior to this, there had been no sculpture tradition in Île-de-France—so sculptors were brought in from [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]], who created the revolutionary figures acting as columns in the Western (Royal) Portal of Chartres Cathedral (''see image'') — it was an entirely new invention in French art, and would provide the model for a generation of sculptors. Other notable Gothic churches in France include [[Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges|Bourges Cathedral]], [[Notre-Dame of Laon|Notre-Dame de Laon]], [[Notre-Dame de Paris|Notre-Dame]] in [[Paris]], [[Reims Cathedral]], [[Amiens Cathedral]] and the [[Sainte-Chapelle]] in [[Paris]].

[[File:Goldenes Rössl.JPG|thumb|left|200px|''The Goldenes Röss'', c. [[1402]], made in Paris for king [[Charles VI of France|Charles VI]]]] The designations of styles in French Gothic architecture are as follows: Early Gothic, High Gothic, [[Rayonnant]], and Late Gothic or ''[[Flamboyant]]''. Division into these divisions is effective, but debatable. Because Gothic cathedrals were built over several successive periods, and the artisans of each period not necessarily following the wishes of previous periods, the dominant architectural style often changed during the building of a particular building. Consequently, it is difficult to declare one building as belonging to a certain era of Gothic architecture. It is more useful to use the terms as descriptors for specific elements within a structure, rather than applying it to the building as a whole : the Western portal of Chartres cathedral is an example of Early gothic while the West and North transept portals, dating back to the early 13th-century, are typical of High Gothic.

The French ideas spread. Gothic sculpture evolved from the early stiff and elongated style, still partly Romanesque, into a spatial and naturalistic treatment in the late twelfth and early thirteenth century. French architects and sculptors were active abroad, in England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire: the gothic sculptures of the Door of the Sarmental in [[Burgos Cathedral|Burgos cathedral]] in Spain were made by French artists while the anonymous German sculptor from the 13th-century known as the [[Naumburg Master]] is presumed to be of French origin. Influences from surviving ancient Greek and Roman sculptures were incorporated into the treatment of drapery, facial expression, and pose of the Dutch-Burgundian sculptor, [[Claus Sluter]], and the taste for naturalism first signaled the end of Gothic sculpture, evolving into the classicistic Renaissance style by the end of the fifteenth century.

Paris, at the time, the largest city in the [[Western world]], became a leading center for the production of luxurious artifacts in the 13th and 14th century, especially little ivory sculptures and ivory [[Casket (decorative box)|caskets]] with scenes of [[courtly love]] (such as [[Casket with Scenes of Romances (Walters 71264)|Casket with Scenes of Romances]] in the [[Walters Art Museum]]). Paris also developed into one of the most exuberant centers for the production of jewellery and precious reliquaries, such as the [[Holy Thorn Reliquary]] made for [[John, Duke of Berry|Jean, duke of Berry]] or the ''Goldenes Rössl'' of [[Altötting]], made for [[Charles VI of France|Charles VI]], king of France.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class="center" caption="French Gothic art"> File:Portail sud de la cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Bourges 09.jpg|A capital of the south portal of [[Bourges Cathedral]], circa 1160–1170 File:Cathédrale Notre-Dame - portail (Amiens).jpg|Last Judgment portal of the West facade of [[Amiens Cathedral]], 1220–1230 File:Ange au sourire cathédrale de Reims.JPG|''[[Smiling Angel]]'' of [[Reims Cathedral]], 1236–1245 File:Chartres - cathédrale - lancettes de la rosace ouest.jpg| Stained glass of the western rose lancets of [[Chartres Cathedral]], middle of the 12th century File:Casket with Scenes from Romances MET DT136.jpg|Casket with Scenes from Romances, circa 1310–1330 File:Life St Benedict MNMA Cl11493 n1.jpg|''Scenes from the Life of Saint Benedict'', 1250-1260 stone relief </gallery>

Painting in a style that may be called "Gothic" did not appear until about 1200, nearly fifty years after the start of Gothic architecture and sculpture. The transition from Romanesque to Gothic is very imprecise and by no means clearly delineated, but one may see the beginning of a style that is more somber, dark, and emotional than the previous period. This transition occurs first in England and France around 1200, in Germany around 1220, and in Italy around 1300. Painting, the representation of images on a surface, was practiced during the Gothic period in four primary crafts, [[fresco]]s, [[panel painting]]s, [[manuscript illumination]], and [[stained glass]]. Frescoes continued to be used as the main pictorial narrative craft on church walls in southern Europe as a continuation of early Christian and Romanesque traditions. In the north, stained glass and manuscript illumination remained the dominant art form until the fifteenth century. [[File:MuseeConde.jpg|thumb|150px|A page from the [[Ingeborg Psalter]], Northern France, c. 1195.]]At the end of the 14th century and during the 15th century French princely courts such as those of the dukes of Burgundy, the duke of Anjou or the duke of Berry as well as the pope and the cardinals in Avignon employed renowned painters, such as the Netherlandish [[Limbourg Brothers]], [[Barthélemy d'Eyck]] and [[Jean Hey]] and the French painters [[Enguerrand Quarton]], [[Jean Fouquet]] or [[Nicolas Froment]] who developed the so-called [[International Gothic]] style that spread through Europe and incorporated the new Flemish influence and, later, the innovations of the Italian early Renaissance artists. Sculptors from Flanders and the Netherlands - then mostly part of the Burgundian Netherlands as they were ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, a cadet branch of the Valois - also worked extensivly for the dukes [[Philip the Bold]] and [[John the Fearless]], like [[Claus Sluter]], who created the [[well of Moses]] in Dijon, and [[Claus de Werve]]. They renovated gothic sculpture with a new sense of expression and a more natutalistic style and were later joined by the Spanish [[Jean de la Huerta]] and the French [[Antoine Le Moiturier]].

Northern France was also the main European center for [[illuminated manuscript]]s production. Illuminated manuscripts represent the most complete record of Gothic painting, providing a record of styles in places where no monumental works have otherwise survived.[[File:Enguerrand Quarton, Le Couronnement de la Vierge (1454).jpg|thumb|left|260px|[[Enguerrand Quarton]], ''The Coronation of the Virgin'', 1452–53]] The earliest full manuscripts with French Gothic illustrations date to the middle of the 13th century.<ref name="stokstad 540">Stokstad (2005), 540.</ref> Many such illuminated manuscripts were royal bibles, although [[psalter]]s also included illustrations; the Parisian [[Psalter of Saint Louis]], dating from 1253 to 1270, features 78 full-page illuminations in [[tempera]] paint and gold leaf.<ref name="stokstad 541">Stokstad (2005), 541.</ref>

Illuminated manuscripts flourished especially in the 15th century, thanks to the many ducal courts that rose to power in France at the time. In the 15th century, these precious painted books were usually made by Flemish painters from the [[Burgundian Netherlands]] or French painters in the service of the main princely courts (the king's court in Paris, but also the ducal courts of Burgundy, Anjou, Berry, Bourbon, Orléans and Brittany). The king of Sicily and duke of Anjou, [[René of Anjou|René]] was himself a writer of courtly love novels and asked the best artists to decorate his own writings with elaborate paintings, such as the ''Livre du cœur d'Amour épris'' illuminated by Barthélémy d'Eyck. The Limbourg brothers were responsible for the ''[[Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry|Très riches heures du duc de Berry]]'', considered the masterpiece of International gothic manuscripts, made for the Duke of Berry, king [[Charles V of France|Charles V]]'s brother.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class="center" caption="French Gothic art"> File:Jean Fouquet 005.jpg|[[Jean Fouquet]], ''Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels'', right wing of the ''[[Melun Diptych]]'', circa 1452 File:Paris -Musée national du Moyen-âge - Triptyque - Scène de l'enfance et de la Passion du Christ - 001.jpg|Ivory triptych, ''Scenes from the Childhood and the Passion of Christ'', Paris, end of 13th-century File:God the Geometer.jpg|''God the Geometer'', illuminated manuscript, circa 1220–1230 File:Albi Sainte-Cécile Cathedral Roodscreen 2009-06-25.jpg|[[Albi Cathedral]] Roodscreen, 1474–1483 File:La Crucifixion.jpg|[[Jean Fouquet]], ''Crucifixion'', circa 1452–1460, from an illuminated manuscript File:Chartres RosetteSued 122 DSC08269.jpg|[[Chartres Cathedral]] stained glass, south rose window, 1221–1230 </gallery>

===Early Modern period=== [[File:Meister der Schule von Fontainebleau 001.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Diana the Huntress'' - School of Fontainebleau, 1550–1560]] {{Main|French Renaissance}} In the late fifteenth century, the French [[Italian Wars|invasion of Italy]] and the proximity of the vibrant [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundy]] court, with its Flemish connections, brought the French into contact with the goods, paintings, and the creative spirit of the [[Northern Renaissance|Northern]] and [[Italian Renaissance]]. Initial artistic changes to painting at that time in France were executed by Flemish artists, such as [[Jean Clouet]] and his son [[François Clouet]] (who was born in France) or the portrait painter [[Corneille de Lyon]], along with the Italians, [[Rosso Fiorentino]], [[Francesco Primaticcio]], and [[Niccolò dell'Abbate]], the last three constituting what is often called the first [[School of Fontainebleau]] from 1531. In the [[Palace of Fontainebleau]], one of [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] favorite residences, they executed numerous works for the palace's decoration, like the 64-meters long great gallery adorned with frescos, stuccos and carved wood panellings. [[Leonardo da Vinci]] also was invited to France by Francis I, but other than the paintings which he brought with him, he produced little for the French king.

But far from disappearing, Gothic art remained very much in vogue in France during the first third of the 16th century, particularly in architecture. In many cases, architects and sculptors combined Gothic structure (pointed arches, large stained-glass windows, ribbed vaults) and Renaissance decoration inspired by antiquity in a richly ornamented style that can be considered a continuation of Flamboyant Gothic. A good example is the [[Saint-Eustache, Paris|church of Saint-Eustache]] in Paris.

The art of the period from the 1530s through the reign of Henry IV is often heavily inspired by late Italian pictorial and sculptural developments commonly referred to as [[Mannerism]], which is associated with the later works of [[Michelangelo]] and [[Parmigianino]], among others. It is characterized by figures which are elongated and graceful and rely upon visual [[rhetoric]], including the elaborate use of [[allegory]] and [[mythology]]. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the French Renaissance was the construction of the [[Châteaux of the Loire Valley]], like [[Château d'Azay-le-Rideau|Azay-le-Rideau]], [[château de Chambord|Chambord]] and [[Château de Chenonceau|Chenonceau]]. No longer conceived of as fortresses, such pleasure palaces took advantage of the richness of the rivers and lands of the Loire region and show remarkable architectural skill - like the Chenonceau castle, which is built on a bridge across the river Cher.

Some important French architects who adopted the Renaissance style are [[Pierre Lescot]], who rebuilt a part of the [[Louvre Palace|Louvre palace]] for the king, [[Philibert de l'Orme|Philibert Delorme]], who built the [[Château d'Anet]] for Diane de Poitiers, [[Jean Bullant]], who rebuilt the [[Château d'Écouen]] nea Paris for [[Anne de Montmorency, 1st Duke of Montmorency|Anne de Montmorency]], and [[Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau]], remembered especially for his suites of engravings of French châteaux and the perspective views of their gardens which he published in ''Les plus excellents bastiments de France'' (1576, second volume 1579).

[[File:Tombeau Valentine Balbiani details Pilon LP397 MR1643 (cropped).png|thumb|left|320px|[[Germain Pilon]], ''Tomb of Valentina Balbiani'', 1573]] Sculpture knew a great development in France during the Renaissance and has been better preserved than painting. Though [[Francesco Laurana]] worked in France for a short period of time in the late 15th century, it was only in the beginning of the 16th century that the Italian style became prevalent in France, after the [[Italian Wars]] started. In sculpture, the arrival of the [[Juste family|Giusto family]], who followed [[Louis XII]] in France in [[1504]] was instrumental. Later, another major Italian sculptor who was employed at the court was [[Benvenuto Cellini]], who worked for François Ier from [[1540]], and imported the Mannerist style to France (one example being his ''[[Nymph of Fontainebleau]]''). Major French sculptors of the time are [[Michel Colombe]], responsible for the [[Tomb of Francis II, Duke of Brittany]] in Nantes, who had the opportunity to work alongside the Giusto brothers. Along with Colombe, [[Jean Goujon]] and [[Germain Pilon]] are considered the best French sculptors of the period, working in an elaborate Mannerist style. Goujon executed pure and graceful feminine figures for the Louvre's new decoration. They are elongated, sensual and fluid while their drapery reveals his knowledge of Greek sculpture, though certainly not at first hand. Pilon's work - mainly funerary monuments - is imbued with realism and theatrical emotions and marked by the influence of Michelangelo. Another important figure of the time is [[Pierre Bontemps]]. The Champagne region around [[Troyes]] but also the Loire valley and Normandy were important regional centres for sculpture. In the [[Duchy of Lorraine]] and Bar, a regional but very talented figure appeared in the person of [[Ligier Richier]].

In the Renaissance, [[Limoges enamel|Limoges]] became the leading the leading centre for enamel production, with several dynastic workshops, who often signed or punchmarked their work, like the one of [[Léonard Limosin]] and his descendants. Luxury pieces such as plates, plaques and ewers were painted with sophisticated Mannerist decoration of pictorial figure scenes, which were surrounded by elaborate borders. From the 1520s to around the 1550s, [[Saint-Porchaire ware]] was made in the [[Poitou]] region of Western France: very few example of it have survived. It is characterized by the use of inlays of clay in a different coloured clay. The main body is white, though covered by a thin cream glaze. There is intensive use of patterns inlaid in brown, reddish-brown or yellow-ochre slips. It might be called the first high-quality European ceramic style to show an interest in sculptural forms, rather than the decoration in paint of flattish dish surfaces typical in Hispano-Moresque ware and Italian Renaissance maiolica.

In the second half of the 16th-century, [[Bernard Palissy]], a Protestant humanist who worked for the queen and the king, invented a very original style of ceramic: he is best known for his so-called "rusticware", typically highly decorated large oval platters featuring small animals in relief among vegetation, the animals apparently often being moulded from casts taken of dead specimens. In the 19th-century a revival of this style was named [[Palissy ware]] after him.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class=center caption="French Renaissance art"> File:France Loir-et-Cher Chambord Chateau 03.jpg|[[Château de Chambord]] File:Francois Clouet.jpg|[[François Clouet]], ''Portrait of Pierre Quthe'', 1562 File:Château d'Anet - Anet - Eure-et-Loir - France - Mérimée PA00096955 (52).jpg|Ceiling of the chapel of the [[Château d'Anet]] File:Germain pilon, madonna dolente, 1586, 04.JPG|[[Germain Pilon]], ''Virgin of Sorrows'', 1586 File:Tombeau de Louis de Brézé.jpg|[[Jean Goujon]] and others, Funerary monument of Louis de Brezé in [[Rouen Cathedral]], 1536–1544 File:Deluge masseot abaquesne faience ecouen.jpg|[[Masseot Abaquesne]], faience pavement, 1550 File:Bottega di bernard palissy, vassoio rustico, 1575-1600 ca..JPG|[[Bernard Palissy]] (attributed to), plate, 1575–1600 File:Cabinet MET ES5023.jpg| Cabinet by [[Hugues Sambin]] File:Ancy-le-Franc Château d'Ancy-le-Franc Innen Galerie de Pharsale 03.jpg|Pharsalus gallery of the [[Château d'Ancy-le-Franc]], 1560s File:Maître IC - Assiette Orphée charmant les animaux.jpg|Master I. C, [[Limoges enamel]] plate, Second half of the 16th-century File:Vitrail Collégiale Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais de Gisors.jpg| [[1545]] stained glass window in Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais church in [[Gisors]] File:Troyes (10) Église Saint-Jean-au-Marché - Intérieur - Groupe sculpté de la Visitation.jpg|''Visitation'', [[1520]] c., [[Troyes]], Church of Saint-Jean-au-Marché </gallery>

====Baroque and Classicism==== {{main|17th-century French art}} [[File:Nicolas Poussin - L'Enlèvement des Sabines (1634-5).jpg|thumb|left|250px|''The abduction of the Sabines'' by Nicolas Poussin, 1634-35.]]

The seventeenth century marked a golden age for French art in all fields as the country recovered from its [[French Wars of Religion|Wars of Religion]] and established itslef as the leading European political power under the reigns of [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]], [[Louis XIII]] and [[Louis XIV]]. In the early part of the seventeenth century, late [[Mannerism|mannerist]] and early [[Baroque]] tendencies continued to flourish in the court of [[Marie de Medici]] and her son Louis XIII. Art from this period shows influences from both the north of Europe, namely the Dutch and Flemish schools, and from Roman painters of the [[Counter-Reformation]]. Artists in France frequently debated the contrasting merits of [[Peter Paul Rubens]] with his Flemish baroque, voluptuous lines and colors to [[Nicolas Poussin]] with his rational control, proportion, Roman classicist baroque style. Another proponent of classicism working in Rome was [[Claude Gellée]], known as Le Lorrain, who defined the form of classical landscape.

Many young French painters of the beginning of the century went to Rome to train themselves and soon assimilated [[Caravaggio]]'s influence, for example [[Valentin de Boulogne]] and [[Simon Vouet]]. The latter is credited with bringing the baroque in France and at his return to Paris in 1627 he was named first painter of the king. But French painting soon departed from the extravagance and naturalism of Italian baroque, and painters such as [[Eustache Le Sueur]] and [[Laurent de La Hyre]], following Poussin's example, developed a classicist way known as [[Parisian Atticism]], inspired by Antiquity, and focusing on proportion, harmony and the importance of drawing. Even Vouet, after his return from Italy, changed his manner to a more measured but still highly decorative and elegant style.

[[File:Georges de La Tour 009.jpg|thumb|190px|[[Georges de La Tour]], ''The Penitent Magdalene'', c. 1640.]]

But at the same time there was still a strong ''[[Caravaggisti]]'' school represented by the amazing candle-lit paintings of [[Georges de La Tour]], who was mainly active in his native [[Lorraine]] but also worked for a short period of time in Paris. The wretched and the poor were featured in a [[Utrecht Caravaggisti|quasi-Dutch manner]] in the paintings by the three [[Le Nain]] brothers. In the paintings of [[Philippe de Champaigne]] there are both propagandistic portraits of first minister [[Cardinal Richelieu]] and other more contemplative portraits of people in the Catholic [[Jansenist]] sect.

In architecture, architects such as [[Salomon de Brosse]], who built the [[Luxembourg Palace]] in Paris, [[François Mansart]] and [[Jacques Lemercier]] helped define the [[French Baroque architecture|French form of the baroque]]. They developed the formula of the urban [[hôtel particulier]] that was to influence all of Europe and strongly departed from the Italian equivalent, the [[palazzo]]. Many aristocratic castles were rebuilt in the new classic-baroque style, some of the most famous being [[château de Maisons|Maisons]] by Mansart and [[château de Cheverny|Cheverny]], characterized by high roofs ''"à la française"'' and a form that retained the medieval model of the castle adorned with prominent towers, now converted in elegant pavilions.

From the mid to late seventeenth century, French art is more often referred to by the term "Classicism" which implies an adherence to certain rules of proportion and sobriety uncharacteristic of the Baroque, as it was practiced in most of the rest of Europe during the same period. Under [[Louis XIV]], the Baroque as it was practiced in Italy, was not in French taste, for instance, as [[Bernini]]'s famous proposal for redesigning the Louvre was rejected by Louis XIV. Through [[propaganda]], wars, and great architectural works, Louis XIV launched a vast program designed for the glorification of France and his name. The [[Palace of Versailles]], initially a tiny hunting lodge built by his father, was transformed by Louis XIV into a marvelous palace for fêtes and parties, under the direction of architects [[Louis Le Vau]] (who had also built the [[château de Vaux-le-Vicomte]]) and [[Jules Hardouin Mansart]] (who built the [[Les Invalides|church of the Invalides]] in Paris), painter and designer [[Charles Le Brun]], and the landscape architect [[André Le Nôtre]] who perfected the rational form of the [[French garden]] that from Versailles spread in all of Europe. In portrait painting, two figures emerged in the 1680s with the portraitists [[Hyacinthe Rigaud]] and [[Nicolas de Largillière]], whose theatrical yet psychologically refined portraits set a new model for the 18th century.

[[File:Le chateau de Vaux le Vicomte.jpg|left|thumb|260px|[[Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte]] by [[Louis Le Vau]].]] French sculpture of the 17th-century moved away from late Mannerism to a more sophisticated, classical yet grand style in the 1630s thanks to the likes of [[Jacques Sarazin]], [[Simon Guillain]] and the [[François and Michel Anguier|Anguier brothers]]. The many châteaux, hôtels particuliers, churches' altarpieces and funerary monuments that were built over the century meant that the demand for sculpture was high and many skilled artists flourished. French sculpture also found its own distinctive way in the pursuit of classicism, particularly during the reign of Louis XIV, which proved to be a seminal moment for the development of sculpture thanks to the King's protection of artists such as [[Pierre Puget]] (who was also active in Italy), [[François Girardon]], [[Antoine Coysevox]] and [[Nicolas Coustou]]. They all produced sculptures for the gardens of Versailles and then [[Château de Marly|Marly]] and the [[Les Invalides|Invalides]], where ambitious decorative programs involved tens of sculptors, and also extensivly worked for the high nobility. In Rome, where many young French sculptors were sent to study Antiquity and the Renaissance, [[Pierre Legros the Younger]], working in a more baroque manner, was one of the most influential sculptors of the end of the century alongside [[Pierre-Étienne Monnot]].

Outside of Paris and other major centers, the 17th-century saw significant activity in the redecoration of religious buildings in the provinces, with the creation of countless elaborate altarpieces and reredos in stone or wood—works, combining architecture, painting, and sculpture. They were produced by local workshops in a style decidedly more Baroque and decorative than the one in vogue at court. Some of these workshops enjoyed great success over several generations and developed vernacular styles that spread throughout various regions. This was the case with the altarpiece makers of [[Laval, Mayenne|Laval]], a town near which black and red marble quarries were discovered, and whose style spread to the provinces of Maine, Anjou, Tourraine and eastern Brittany, with artists such as [[Pierre Corbineau]] and [[Tugal Caris]], who were often both architects and sculptors. In western Brittany, local artists developed a different genre, based on very elaborate and highly carved wooden and painted altars. In southern France, dynasties of sculptors and architects were very active in the [[Pyrenees]], with the Ferrère dynasty of altarpiece makers for instance, and in [[Provence]] where highly-trained sculptors like [[Christophe Veyrier]] or the members of the Péru familiy in Avignon were active, building palaces, churches, fountains and altarpieces alike.

[[File:Monument du coeur du duc Henri Ier de Longueville (Louvre, MR 3099) - Bataille de Senlis.jpg|thumb|285px|[[François and Michel Anguier|François Anguier]], ''The battle of Senlis'', 1661-1663, bronze relief from the Funerary monument of [[Henri I of Longueville]].]]

The 17th-century also saw an important renewal in printmaking, France (especially Paris and the Duchy of Lorraine) becoming one of the main centers for engraving and etching. At the beginning of the century, [[Jacques Bellange]] worked in Lorraine with a refined style still influenced by mannerism, producing expressive etchings full of emotion intricated with a feminine elegance. Another of the main engravers of the period was also from Lorraine: [[Jacques Callot]]. He made important technical advances to printmaking, developing the ''échoppe'', a type of etching-needle with a slanting oval section at the end, which enabled etchers to create a swelling line, as engravers were able to do. He produced more than 1,400 etchings that chronicled the life of his period, featuring soldiers, clowns, drunkards, Romani, beggars, as well as court life, like in his series ''[[Les Grandes Misères de la guerre|The Miseries and Misfortunes of War]]'' (1632–33). One of Callot's devotees, [[Abraham Bosse]], was active in Paris. He spread Callot's innovations all over Europe with the first published manual of etching. His combination of very carefully depicted grand interiors with relatively trivial domestic subjects was original and highly influential on French art. Also based in Paris, [[Claude Mellan]] was known for the technical virtuosity of his prints, thanks to an idiosyncratic technique, in which, instead of creating shade by cross-hatching, he used a system of parallel lines - a famous example being his ''Face of Christ'' (1649), created from a single spiralling line that starts at the tip of Jesus' nose. Finally, in the second half of the century emerged [[Robert Nanteuil]], considered the undisputed master of French portrait engraving.

In the decorative arts, France pursued a state-impulsed policy favouring new state-owned or supervised factories to rival Italian, Flemish and Dutch productions: [[Nevers faience|Nevers]] and [[Rouen porcelain|Rouen]] faience factories, though private, were first granted royal monopolies in [[1603]] and [[1647]] respectively. They produced fine earthenware inspired from Italian and Asiatic styles and under Louis XIV worked extensively for the French crown. The [[Gobelins Manufactory]] in Paris, founded in [[1601]] with the support of [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]], was purchased by minister [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]] on behalf of the French crown in [[1662]] and reorganized. It soon produced the most refined tapestries of Europe, while France also became the foremost European center for cabinetmaking and furniture production thanks to the ''[[Ébéniste|ébénistes]]'' [[André-Charles Boulle]] (who invented the [[Boulle work]] style of furnituremaking, an inlay of tortoiseshell, brass and pewter into ebony) and [[Pierre Gole]], who helped establish the fashionable [[Louis XIV style]].

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class=center caption="17th-century French art"> File:0 Versailles musée de l'Histoire de France - Apollon servi par les nymphes - F. Girardon (1).JPG|[[François Girardon]], ''Apollo served by the Nymphs'', [[1667]]-[[1675]] File:Simon Vouet (French - Venus and Adonis - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Simon Vouet]], ''Venus and Adonis'', c. [[1642]] File:Colbert-5.jpg|[[Claude Lefèbvre]], ''Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Colbert'', [[1666]] File:Salomon sacrifiant aux idoles - Jacques Stella (1993-1).jpg|[[Jacques Stella]], ''[[Solomon Worshipping Idols]]'', [[1647]] File:Jean Baptiste de Champaigne and Nicolas de Plattemontagne - Double Portrait of both Artists - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Jean Baptiste de Champaigne]] and [[Nicolas de Plattemontagne]], ''Double Portrait of both Artists'', [[1654]] File:Kabinet met marqueterie van verschillende houtsoorten, koper, tin, schildpad, hoorn en lapis lazuli.jpeg|[[André-Charles Boulle]], marqueterie cabinet, c. [[1670]]-[[1675]] File:Tenture des Mois ou des Maisons Royales, Avril, Versailles, Mobilier national.jpg| [[Gobelins Manufactory]], ''Tenture des Mois ou des Maisons Royales, the month of April'', [[1668]]-[[1683]], designed by [[Charles Le Brun]] File:Wine jug (one of a pair) MET DT8115.jpg|[[Nevers faience]], Pair of wine jugs, c. [[1685]], depicting [[François Chauveau]]'s ''Rape of Europa''

</gallery>

====Rococo and Neoclassicism==== [[File:Salon ovale de la princesse in the Hôtel de Soubise (11).jpg|thumb|Boiseries of the ''Salon de la princesse'' by [[Germain Boffrand]], [[hôtel de Soubise]], Paris]]

[[Rococo]] and [[Neoclassicism]] are terms used to describe the visual and plastic arts and architecture in Europe from the early eighteenth century to the end of the eighteenth century. In France, the death of [[Louis XIV]] in 1715 led to a period of freedom commonly called the [[Régence]]. Versailles was abandoned from 1715 to 1722, the young king [[Louis XV]] and the government led by the [[Philippe II, Duke of Orléans|duke of Orléans]] residing in Paris. There a new style emerged in the decorative arts, known as ''rocaille'' : the asymmetry and dynamism of the baroque was kept but renewed in a style that is less rhetoric and with less pompous effects, a deeper research of artificiality and use of motifs inspired by nature. This manner used to decorate rooms and furniture also existed in painting. Rocaille painting turned toward lighter subjects, such as the ''[[Fête galante|fêtes galantes]]'', theater settings, pleasant mythological narratives and the female nude. Most of the time the moralising sides of myths or history paintings are omitted and the accent is put on the decorative and pleasant aspect of the scenes depicted. Paintings from the period show an emphasis more on color than drawing, with apparent brush strokes and very colorful scenes, reflecting the debates in the Royal Academy of painting, ultimately won by the Rubenists faction at the start of the century. Important French painters from this period include [[Antoine Watteau]], considered the inventor of the ''fête galante'', [[Nicolas Lancret]] and [[François Boucher]], known for his gentle pastoral and galant scenes (especially his ''pastorales''), and [[Jean-Marc Nattier]], admired for its graceful and charming oil portraits of ladies at Louis XV's court. [[Pastel]] portrait painting became particularly fashionable in Europe at the time and France was the major center of activity for pastellists, with the prominent figures of [[Maurice Quentin de La Tour]], [[Jean-Baptiste Perronneau]] and the Swiss [[Jean-Étienne Liotard]]. Other important artists in the genre of history painting during the first half of the century were [[François Lemoyne]] (who painted the vault of the [[Salon d'Hercule]] in the palace of Versailles), [[Jean-François de Troy]], [[Charles-André van Loo|Carle Van Loo]] and [[Charles-Joseph Natoire]]. [[File:Prometheus Adam Louvre MR1745.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Prometheus'' by [[Nicolas-Sébastien Adam]], 1762]]

The [[Louis XV style]] of decoration, although already apparent at the end of the last reign, was lighter with pastel colors, elaborate wood panels, smaller rooms, less gilding, and fewer brocades; shells, garlands, and occasional Chinese subjects predominated. The [[Chantilly porcelain|Chantilly]], [[Vincennes porcelain|Vincennes]] and then [[Sèvres porcelain|Sèvres manufacturers]] produced some of the finest porcelain of the time. In the second half of the century the [[Limoges porcelain|Limoges manufacture]], established in 1771, was the first in France to produce hard-paste porcelain. The highly skilled ''[[ébéniste]]s'', cabinet-makers mostly based in Paris, created elaborate pieces of furniture with precious wood and bronze ornaments that were to be highly praised and imitated in all of Europe. The most famous are [[Jean-François Oeben]], who created the work desk of king Louis XV in Versailles, [[Bernard II van Risamburgh]], [[Jean-Henri Riesener]], [[Martin Carlin]] and the chair-makers [[Georges Jacob]] and [[Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené]]. Highly skilled artists, called the ''ciseleur-doreurs'', specialized in bronze ornaments for furniture and other pieces of decorative arts - the most famous being [[Pierre Gouthière]] and [[Pierre-Philippe Thomire]]. Talented silversmiths such as [[Thomas Germain]] and his son [[François-Thomas Germain]] created elaborate silverware services that were highly praised by the various royalties of Europe. Rooms in ''châteaux'' and ''hôtels particuliers'' were more intimate than during the reign of Louis XIV and were decorated with rocaille style [[boiseries]] (carved wood panels covering the walls of a room) conceived by architects such as [[Germain Boffrand]] and [[Gilles-Marie Oppenord]] or ''ornemanistes'' (designers of decorative objects) such as [[Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier]]. [[File:Bordeaux Place de la Bourse de nuit.jpg|thumb|right|270px|[[Place de la Bourse]] in Bordeaux by [[Ange-Jacques Gabriel]]]] The most prominent architects of the first half of the century were, apart Boffrand, [[Robert de Cotte]] and [[Ange-Jacques Gabriel]], who designed public squares such as the [[place de la Concorde]] in Paris and the [[place de la Bourse]] in [[Bordeaux]] in a style consciously inspired by that of the era of Louis XIV. During the first half of the century, France replaced Italy as the artistic centre and main artistic influence in Europe and many French artists worked in other courts across the continent (like the painters [[Pierre Subleyras]] for [[Pope Benedict XIV]] in Rome, [[Antoine Pesne]] for the king of Prussia in Berlin, [[Jean Ranc]] and [[Louis-Michel van Loo]] for the king of Spain in Madrid, [[Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg]] in London, the sculptors [[Étienne Maurice Falconet]] for [[Catherine the Great]] in Saint Petersburg and [[Louis-François Roubiliac]] in London or the ironworker [[Jean Tijou]] in England).

The most prominent sculptors of the first half of the century were [[Guillaume Coustou the Elder]], famous for his last royal commission, the [[Marly Horses]] (1743–1745), and his son [[Guillaume Coustou the Younger]], [[Robert Le Lorrain]], celebrated for his ''Sun Horses'' relief in the [[Hôtel de Rohan]] in Paris (1737), and [[Edmé Bouchardon]], a precursor of neoclassicism, whose main public commission was the [[Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons]] (1739-1745) in Paris. He was also renowned for his marble busts of members of the high-nobility, reminiscent of the Antique.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class=center caption="1700-1750 French art"> File:L'Embarquement pour Cythère, by Antoine Watteau, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|[[Antoine Watteau]], ''[[The Embarkation for Cythera]]'', 1718. File:François Boucher - The Afternoon Meal - WGA2877.jpg|[[François Boucher]], ''The Afternoon Meal'', 1739. File:François Lemoyne - L'Apothéose d'Hercule - Google Art Project.jpg|[[François Lemoyne]], painted ceiling of the [[Salon d'Hercule]], Palace of Versailles, 1733-1736. File:Soap Bubbles 1733-5 Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin.jpg|[[Jean Siméon Chardin]], ''[[Soap Bubbles (Chardin)|Soap bubbles]]'', 1733-1735. File:Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier - Covered Tureen on Stand (Pot-à-oille couvert) - 1977.182 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|[[Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier]], Covered Tureen on Stand (''Pot-à-oille couvert''), 1735-1738. File:Commode MET DP105699.jpg|[[Bernard II van Risamburgh]], Commode, c. 1740–45. File:(Agen) Nature morte avec trois oiseaux morts, des groseilles, des cerises et des insectes - Jean-Baptiste Oudry - Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Agen.jpg|[[Jean-Baptiste Oudry]], ''Still life with three dead birds, redcurrants, cherries and insects'', 1712. File:2023 Église Saint-Paul-Saint-François-Xavier Bordeaux (5).jpg|[[Guillaume Coustou the Younger]] and Pierre Vernet, Main altar of Saint-Saint-Paul-Saint-François-Xavier church in [[Bordeaux]], 1741-1748. File:Parc du Château de Versailles - Le Pavillon Français.jpg|The [[French Pavilion of Versailles|Pavillon Français]] in the Palace of Versailles by [[Ange-Jacques Gabriel]], 1750. </gallery>

In the second half of the century the leading French sculptors were the portraitist [[Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (sculptor)|Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne]], known for his expressive portrait busts, both im marble and terracotta, which captured the passing nuances of expression and gave a sense of movement, [[Jean-Baptiste Pigalle]], celebrated for his impressive funerary monument of [[Maurice de Saxe]] in Strasbourg (1753-1765) and his naked statue of Voltaire portrayed as an antique philosopher (1776), [[Étienne Maurice Falconet]], who created the monumental ''[[Bronze Horseman]]'' equestrian monument in Saint Petersburg for Catherine the Great (1768–1782), and [[Claude Michel|Clodion]], known for his delicate and intimate terracotta reliefs. [[File:Jean-Honoré Fragonard - Inspiration.jpg|thumb|left|''Inspiration'' by [[Jean-Honoré Fragonard]], 1769]] In the later part of the reign of Louis XV, sculptors began to give greater attention to the faces and give way to the principles of neoclassicism. The leaders of this new style were [[Jean-Antoine Houdon]], noted for his busts of celebrated authors and statesmen and his bronzes with clean lines, combining the elongation of the body reminiscent of Mannerism with the colder rigor of Neoclassicism (like in his allegory of ''[[Winter (sculpture)|Winter]]''), [[Augustin Pajou]] and [[Pierre Julien]].

The latter half of the eighteenth century continued to see French preeminence in Europe, particularly through the arts and sciences, and speaking the [[French language]] was expected for members of the European courts. The French academic system continued to produce artists, but some, such as [[Jean-Honoré Fragonard]] and [[Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin]], explored new and increasingly impressionist styles of painting with thick brushwork. Although the hierarchy of genres continued to be respected officially, [[Genre works|genre painting]], [[Landscape art|landscape]], [[portrait]], and [[still life]] were extremely fashionable. Chardin and [[Jean-Baptiste Oudry]] were hailed for their still lifes although this was officially considered the lowest of all genres in the hierarchy of painting subjects.

One also finds in this period a ''Pre-romanticist'' aspect. [[Hubert Robert]]'s images of ruins, inspired by Italian ''capriccio'' paintings, are typical in this respect as well as the image of storms and moonlight marines by [[Claude Joseph Vernet]] and the allegorical nudes of [[Pierre-Paul Prud'hon]], who adopted a vaporous touch inspired by Leonardo da Vinci and Correggio, testifying to the emergence of a romantic sensibility in opposition to the rigor of the neoclassical line. So too the change from the rational and geometrical ''French garden'' of [[André Le Nôtre]] to the ''English garden'', which emphasized artificially wild and irrational nature, like in the garden made by [[Richard Mique]] for Marie-Antoinette on the grounds of the [[Petit Trianon]], in Versailles, which includes an artificial lake, hill and grotto. One also finds in some of these gardens—curious ruins of temples—called "follies", like the neo-antique [[Temple de l'Amour]], also in the Petit Trianon's gardens.

[[File:Jacques-Louis David - Oath of the Horatii - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|[[Jacques-Louis David]], ''[[Oath of the Horatii]]'', 1786]] The last half of the eighteenth century saw a turn to [[Neoclassicism]] in France, that is to say a conscious use of Greek and Roman forms and [[iconography]]. This movement was promoted by intellectuals such as Diderot, in reaction to the artificiality and the decorative essence of the ''rocaille'' style. In painting, the greatest representative of this style is [[Jacques-Louis David]], who, mirroring the profiles of Greek vases, emphasized the use of the profile. His subject matter often involved classical history such as the death of Socrates and Brutus. The dignity and subject matter of his paintings were greatly inspired by the works of [[Nicolas Poussin]] from the seventeenth century. Poussin and David were in turn major influences on [[Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres]], who started his career in the very last year of the century. Other important neoclassical painters of the period are [[Jean-Baptiste Greuze]], celebrated for his moralizing genre painting, [[Joseph-Marie Vien]] and, in the portrait genre, [[Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun]], who was a favorite of Marie-Antoinette. [[Louis-Léopold Boilly]] became active at the end of 1770s and painted genre paintings documenting French middle-class social life and the French Revolution, small portraits and trompe-l'oeil in a style of great precision and meticulousness. Neoclassicism also penetrated decorative arts and architecture.

Architects such as [[Claude-Nicolas Ledoux|Ledoux]] and [[Étienne-Louis Boullée|Boullée]] developed a radical style of neoclassical architecture based on simple and pure geometrical forms with a research of symmetry and harmony, elaborating visionary projects, for example the complex of the [[Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans|Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans]] by Ledoux, a model of an ideal factory developed from the rational concepts of the [[Enlightment philosophers|Enlightenment]] thinkers.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class=center caption="1750-1800 French art"> File:Vigée Le Brun Baronne de Crussol (RO 307).jpg| [[Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun]], ''The Baronne de Crussol'', 1785. File:Fontainebleau (77) Château Boudoir 416.jpg| The ''Boudoir de la Reine'' by Pierre Rousseau with [[Jean Henri Riesener|Riesener]]'s Cylinder Secretary of Marie-Antoinette, [[Palace of Fontainebleau]], 1786. File:Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory - Potpourri Vase (Vase potpourri à vaisseau) - Walters 48559.jpg|[[Manufacture nationale de Sèvres|Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory]], [[Sèvres pot-pourri vase in the shape of a ship|Pot-pourri vase in the shape of a ship]] (''Vase potpourri à vaisseau''), 1764. File:Mantel clock MET DP108708.jpg|[[Augustin Pajou]], [[Jean-Baptiste Lepaute]] and Étienne Martincourt, Mantel clock, 1780-1790. File:Nancy Neptune fountain 02.jpg|Neptune Fountain by [[Barthélemy Guibal]] with ironwork by Jean Lamour, [[Place Stanislas]], Nancy, 1751-1755. File:Diana Allegrain Louvre MR1746.jpg|[[Christophe-Gabriel Allegrain ]], ''Diana'', 1777-1778. File:Jacques-Louis David - La Mort de Marat.jpg|[[Jacques-Louis David]], ''[[The Death of Marat]]'', 1793. File:France arc et senas saline royal main building 1.jpg|Director's house at the [[Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans]] by [[Claude Nicolas Ledoux]] (1775–79). File:Hubert Robert - Projet d'aménagement de la Grande Galerie du Louvre (1796).JPG|[[Hubert Robert]], ''[[Project for the Transformation of the Grande Galerie du Louvre]]'', 1796. </gallery>

=== Modern period ===

==== 19th century ==== {{main|19th-century French art}}

[[File:Scène des massacres de Scio.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[The Massacre at Chios]]'', Eugène Delacroix, 1824]] The [[French Revolution]] and the [[Napoleonic Wars]] brought great changes to the arts in France. The program of exaltation and myth making attendant to the Emperor [[Napoleon]] was closely coordinated in the paintings of David, Gros and Guérin. In architecture and decorative arts, the [[Empire style]] was created for imperial residences by architects [[Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine|Pierre Fontaine]] and [[Charles Percier]], drawing heavily on references to Roman and Egyptian Antiquity. Cabinet-maker [[François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter|Jacob Desmalter]] created original furniture in the Empire style, mainly employing mahogany veneers with heavy gilt-bronze mounts. Seats, made in mahogany when they were not painted or gilded, were inspired from seats and thrones designs of Antiquity, derived from details on ancient reliefs and Greek vases. [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]] was the main figure of neoclassicism in painting until the 1850s and a prominent teacher, giving priority to drawing over color. Meanwhile, [[Orientalism]], Egyptian motifs, the tragic [[anti-hero]], the wild landscape, the [[historical novel]], and scenes from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance—all these elements of [[Romanticism]]—created a vibrant period that defies easy classification. The most important romantic painter of the period was [[Eugène Delacroix]], who had a successful public career and was the main opponent of Ingres. Before him, [[Théodore Géricault]] opened the path to romanticism with his monumental ''[[Raft of the Medusa]]'' exposed at the [[Salon of 1819]]. [[Camille Corot]] tried to escape the conventional and idealized form of landscape painting influenced by classicism to be more realist and sensible to atmospheric variations at the same time.

Romantic tendencies continued throughout the century, both idealized landscape painting and [[Realism (arts)|Realism]] have their seeds in Romanticism. The work of [[Gustave Courbet]] and the [[Barbizon school]] are logical developments from it, as is the late nineteenth century [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] of such painters as [[Gustave Moreau]], the professor of [[Henri Matisse]] and [[Georges Rouault]], as well as [[Odilon Redon]].

[[Academic painting]] developed at the [[École des Beaux-Arts de Paris|Ecole des Beaux-Arts]] was the most successful with the public and the state: highly trained painters such as [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]], [[William Bouguereau]] and [[Alexandre Cabanel]] painted historical scenes inspired by the antique, following the footsteps of Ingres and the neoclassical artists. Though criticized for their conventionalism by the young avant-garde painters and critics, the most talented of the Academic painters renewed the historical genre, drawing inspiration from multiple cultures and techniques such as the Orient, and the new framings made possible by the invention of photography

[[File:Claude Monet - Rouen Cathedral, Facade (Sunset).JPG|thumb|175px|left|[[Claude Monet]], ''Rouen Cathedral, Facade (Sunset)'', c. 1892-1894]] For many critics who wrote about the nineteenth century and the idea of modernity, [[Édouard Manet]] is the main figure leading to the rise of an [[avant-garde]] movement as opposed to Academism and official painting (as much as [[Charles Baudelaire]] is for poetry at the same time). His rediscovery of Spanish painting from the Golden age, his willingness to show the unpainted canvas, his exploration of the forthright nude, and his radical brush strokes are the first steps toward Impressionism. [[Impressionism]] would take the [[Barbizon school]] one step farther, rejecting once and for all a belabored style and the use of mixed colors and black, for fragile transitive effects of light as captured outdoors in changing light (partly inspired by the paintings of [[J. M. W. Turner]] and [[Eugène Boudin]]). It led to [[Claude Monet]] with his cathedrals and haystacks, [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]] with both his early outdoor festivals and his later feathery style of ruddy nudes, and [[Edgar Degas]] with his dancers and bathers. Other important impressionists were [[Frédéric Bazille]], [[Alfred Sisley]], [[Camille Pissarro]] and [[Gustave Caillebotte]].

After that threshold was crossed, the next thirty years became a litany of amazing experiments. [[Vincent van Gogh]], Dutch born, but living in France, opened the road to [[expressionism]]. [[Georges Seurat]], influenced by color theory, devised a [[pointillism|pointillist]] technique that governed the Impressionist experiment and was followed by [[Paul Signac]]. [[Paul Cézanne]], a painter's painter, attempted a geometrical exploration of the world, that left many of his peers indifferent. [[Paul Gauguin]], a banker, found symbolism in [[Brittany]] along with [[Émile Bernard]], and then exoticism and primitivism in [[French Polynesia]]. These painters were referred to as [[Post-Impressionism|Post-Impressionists]]. [[Les Nabis]], a movement of the 1890s, including painters such as [[Paul Sérusier]], [[Pierre Bonnard]], [[Édouard Vuillard]] and [[Maurice Denis]], was influenced by Gauguin's example in Brittany: they explored a decorative art in flat plains with the graphic approach of a Japanese print. They preached that a work of art is the end product and the visual expression of an artist's synthesis of nature in personal aesthetic metaphors and symbols. [[Henri Rousseau]], the self-taught dabbling postmaster, became the model for the naïve revolution.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" class=center caption="19th-century French painting"> File:Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres - La Baigneuse Valpinçon.jpg| [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]], ''[[The Valpinçon Bather]]'', 1808. File:JEAN LOUIS THÉODORE GÉRICAULT - La Balsa de la Medusa (Museo del Louvre, 1818-19).jpg|[[Théodore Géricault]], ''[[The Raft of the Medusa]]'', 1818-1819. File:La Liberté guidant le peuple - Eugène Delacroix - Musée du Louvre Peintures RF 129 - après restauration 2024.jpg|[[Eugène Delacroix]], ''[[Liberty Leading the People]]'', 1830. File:Edouard Manet - Olympia - Google Art ProjectFXD.jpg|[[Édouard Manet]], ''[[Olympia (Manet)|Olympia]]'', 1863. File:A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat, 1884.png|[[Georges Seurat]], ''[[A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte]]'', 1884-1886. File:Edgar Germain Hilaire Degas 045.jpg|[[Edgar Degas]], ''After the Bath, Woman Drying her Neck '', 1895-1898. File:Paul Cézanne - Still life - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Paul Cézanne]], ''Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit'', c. 1890. File:Paul Gauguin - The Yellow Christ (Le Christ jaune) 1889.jpg|[[Paul Gauguin]], ''[[The Yellow Christ]]'', 1889. File:La Porte de l'enfer - Kunsthaus 2010-08-17 19-25-54 ShiftN.jpg|[[Auguste Rodin]], ''[[The Gates of Hell]]'', 1880-1917. </gallery>

==== 20th century ==== {{Main|20th-century French art}} [[File:Henri Matisse, 1909, La danse (I), Museum of Modern Art.jpg|thumb|225px|[[Henri Matisse]], ''[[Dance (Matisse)|Dance (I)]]'', 1909.]] The early years of the twentieth century were dominated by experiments in colour and content that [[Impressionism]] and [[Post-Impressionism]] had unleashed. The products of the far east also brought new influences. At roughly the same time, [[Fauvism|Les Fauves]] ([[Henri Matisse]], [[André Derain]], [[Maurice de Vlaminck]], [[Albert Marquet]], [[Raoul Dufy]], [[Othon Friesz]], [[Charles Camoin]], [[Henri Manguin]]) exploded into color, much like German [[Expressionism]].

The discovery of African tribal masks by [[Pablo Picasso]], a Spaniard living in Paris, lead him to create his ''[[Les Demoiselles d'Avignon]]'' of 1907. Working independently, Picasso and [[Georges Braque]] returned to and refined Cézanne's way of rationally comprehension of objects in a flat medium, their experiments in [[cubism]] also would lead them to integrate all aspects and objects of day-to-day life, [[collage]] of newspapers, musical instruments, cigarettes, wine, and other objects into their works. [[Cubism]] in all its phases would dominate paintings of Europe and America for the next ten years. (See the article on [[Cubism]] for a complete discussion.)

[[World War I]] did not stop the dynamic creation of art in France. In 1916 a group of discontents met in a bar in Zurich, the [[Cabaret Voltaire (Zürich)|Cabaret Voltaire]], and created the most radical gesture possible, the anti-art of [[Dada]]. At the same time, [[Francis Picabia]] and [[Marcel Duchamp]] were exploring similar notions. At a 1917 art show in [[New York City|New York]], Duchamp presented a white porcelain urinal (''[[Fountain (Duchamp)|Fountain]]'') signed ''R. Mutt'' as work of art, becoming the father of the ''[[Readymades of Marcel Duchamp|readymade]]''.[[File:Violin and Candlestick.jpg|175px|thumb|left|[[Georges Braque]], ''Violin and Candlestick'', 1910]]

When [[Dada]] reached Paris, it was avidly embraced by a group of young artists and writers who were fascinated with the writings of [[Sigmund Freud]], particularly by his notion of the [[unconscious mind]]. The provocative spirit of Dada became linked to the exploration of the unconscious mind through the use of [[automatic writing]], chance operations, and, in some cases, altered states. The [[surrealism|surrealists]] quickly turned to painting and sculpture. The shock of unexpected elements, the use of [[Frottage (surrealist technique)|Frottage]], [[collage]], and [[decalcomania]], the rendering of mysterious landscapes and dreamed images were to become the key techniques through the rest of the 1930s.

Immediately after this war the French art scene diverged roughly in two directions. There were those who continued in the artistic experiments from before the war, especially surrealism, and others who adopted the new [[Abstract Expressionism]] and [[action painting]] from New York, executing them in a French manner using [[Tachism]] or [[L'art informel]]. Parallel to both of these tendencies, [[Jean Dubuffet]] dominated the early post-war years while exploring childlike drawings, graffiti, and cartoons in a variety of media.

===== École de Paris ===== {{Main article|School of Paris}} [[File:Ecole de paris 001.jpg|thumb|238x238px|[[André Warnod]], Les Berceaux de la jeune peinture, sketch by Modigliani]] Between the two world wars, an art movement known as the ''[[School of Paris|École de Paris]]'' (School Of Paris), flourished. Centered in Paris, the movement gave rise to a unique form of [[Expressionist art|Expressionist Art]]. It included many foreign and French artists, many of whom were [[Jews|Jewish]]; these artists were primarily centered in [[Montparnasse]].<ref name=":53">{{Cite web |title=Paris School of Art {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/paris-school-art |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> These Jewish artists played a significant role in the École de Paris, several had sought refuge in Paris from Eastern Europe escaping persecution and pogroms.<ref name=":42">{{Cite web |date=2021-11-25 |title=The Jewish painters of l'École de Paris-from the Holocaust to today |url=https://k-larevue.com/en/the-jewish-painters-of-lecole-de-paris-from-the-holocaust-to-today/ |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=Jews, Europe, the XXIst century |language=en-US |quote=“ l’École de Paris is a term coined by the art critic André Warnod in 1925, in the magazine Comœdia, to define the group formed by foreign painters in Paris. The École de Paris does not designate a movement or a school in the academic sense of the term, but a historical fact. In Warnod’s mind, this term was intended to counter a latent xenophobia rather than to establish a theoretical approach.}}</ref> Prominent figures such as [[Marc Chagall]], [[Jules Pascin]], [[Chaïm Soutine]], [[Yitzhak Frenkel|Isaac Frenkel Frenel]], [[Amedeo Modigliani]], and [[Abraham Mintchine]] were among notable contributors to the movement in France and abroad.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=Nieszawer |first=Nadine |title=Histoire des Artistes Juifs de l'École de Paris: Stories of Jewish Artists of the School of Paris |year=2020 |isbn=979-8633355567 |location=France |language=French}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-02 |title=Alexandre FRENEL |url=https://ecoledeparis.org/alexandre-frenel/ |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=Bureau d’art Ecole de Paris |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-02 |title=Marc CHAGALL |url=https://ecoledeparis.org/marc-chagall/ |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=Bureau d’art Ecole de Paris |language=en-US}}</ref> These artists often depicted Jewish themes in their work, imbuing it with intense emotional tones.<ref name=":52">{{Cite book |last=Barzel |first=Amnon |title=Frenel Isaac Alexander |publisher=Masada |year=1974 |location=Israel |pages=14 |language=English}}</ref>

The term "l’[[School of Paris|École de Paris]]," coined in 1925 to counter [[xenophobia]], acknowledged the foreign, often Jewish, artists. However, the Nazi occupation led to the tragic loss of Jewish artists during the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]], resulting in the decline of the School of Paris as some artists left or fled to [[Israel]] or the [[United States]].''<ref name=":42"/>''<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 July 2021 |title=Les peintres juifs de " l'École de Paris " imposent leur génie au MahJ |language=French |work=[[Times of Israel]] |url=https://fr.timesofisrael.com/les-peintres-juifs-de-lecole-de-paris-imposent-leur-genie-au-mahj/}}</ref><ref name=":32"/><ref name=":53"/>

===== Post War ===== In the 1940s, abstract painting gained momentum and critical recognition after [[World War II]] with the [[Abstraction lyrique]] or [[Tachisme]], the French versions of [[Informalism|informal art]]. Its main representants were [[Jean Fautrier]], [[Pierre Soulages]], [[Jean Dubuffet]], [[Nicolas de Staël]] and [[Georges Mathieu]]. By the 1950s Paris was again the main European artistic capital, drawing painters from all over the world, like [[Hans Hartung]], [[Serge Poliakoff]], [[Gérard Ernest Schneider|Gérard Schneider]], [[Simon Hantaï]] and [[Zao Wou-Ki]]. The late 1950s and early 1960s in France saw art forms that might be considered ''[[Pop Art]]''. [[Yves Klein]] had attractive nude women roll around in blue paint and throw themselves at canvases while [[Martial Raysse]] incorporated photography, adverts and collage in his works. [[Affichiste|Affichistes]] like [[Raymond Hains]] and [[Jacques Villeglé]] practiced [[Décollage]], images created by ripping and tearing away or otherwise removing pieces of an original image.

The Romanian-born [[Victor Vasarely]] invented [[Op-Art]] by designing sophisticated optical patterns while the eleven artists regrouped in the collective [[Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel]], like [[François Morellet]] and [[Julio Le Parc]], investigated a wide spectrum of kinetic art and op art optical effects by using various types of artificial light and mechanical movement. Artists of the [[Fluxus]] movement such as [[Ben Vautier]] incorporated [[graffiti]] and found objects into their work. [[Niki de Saint Phalle]] created bloated and vibrant plastic figures. The [[Nouveau réalisme|Nouveaux Réalistes]] group incorporated real objects from everyday life in their work: [[Arman]] gathered together found objects in boxed or resin-coated assemblages, and [[César Baldaccini]] produced a series of large compressed object-sculptures. César created large waste sculptures by compressing discarded materials, for instance, automobiles, metal, rubbish, and domestic objects.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-11|title=César Baldaccini: Master of Compression|url=https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/cesar-baldaccini/|access-date=2021-11-23|website=DailyArt Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref>

Pop Art painting arrived in France in the early 1960s and was known as [[New Figuration|Figuration narrative]], a more politically engaged version than its American counterpart. Some of its main tenants were [[Hervé Télémaque]], [[Gérard Fromanger]], [[Bernard Rancillac]] and [[Jacques Monory]].

In May 1968, the radical youth movement, through their ''atelier populaire'', produced a great deal of poster-art protesting the moribund policies of president [[Charles de Gaulle]].

Many contemporary artists continue to be haunted by the horrors of the Second World War and the specter of the Holocaust. [[Christian Boltanski]]'s harrowing installations of the lost and the anonymous are particularly powerful.

==French and Western Art museums of France==

===In Paris=== [[File:Louvre Museum Wikimedia Commons.jpg|thumb|480px|[[Musée du Louvre]]]] [[File:MuseeDOrsay.jpg|thumb|480px|[[Musée d'Orsay]]]] * [[Musée du Louvre]] * [[Musée d'Orsay]] * [[Musée National d'Art Moderne]] * [[Musée de Cluny]] * [[Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris]] * [[Petit Palais]] * [[Musée Picasso]] * [[Musée Rodin]] * [[Musée de l'Orangerie]] * [[Musée Zadkine]] * [[Musée Maillol]] * [[Musée Bourdelle]] * [[Musée Gustave Moreau]] * [[Musée Jacquemart-André]] * [[Musée national Eugène Delacroix]] * [[Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner]] * [[Musée Marmottan Monet]] * [[Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris]] * [[Musée Nissim de Camondo]] * [[Musée Cognacq-Jay]] * [[Musée Carnavalet]]

===Near Paris=== * [[Musée Condé]] in [[Chantilly, Oise|Chantilly]] * [[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chartres]] in [[Chartres]] * [[Château d'Écouen|Musée de la Renaissance]] in [[Écouen]] * [[National Archaeological Museum (France)|Musée d'archéologie nationale]] in [[Saint-Germain-en-Laye]] * [[Musée départemental Maurice Denis "The Priory"]] in Saint-Germain-en-Laye * [[Musée d'art et d'archéologie de Senlis]] in [[Senlis, Oise|Senlis]] * [[Sèvres - Musée de la céramique]] in [[Sèvres]]

===Outside Paris=== [[File:Lille palais des beaux-arts.JPG|thumb|[[Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille]]]] [[File:MBA Lyon facade nuit.jpg|thumb|[[Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon]]]]

====Major museums==== (alphabetically by city) *[[Faure Museum (Aix-les-Bains)|Musée Faure]] in [[Aix-les-Bains]] *[[Musée Granet]] in [[Aix-en-Provence]] *[[Musée Toulouse-Lautrec]] in [[Albi]] *[[Musée de Picardie]] in [[Amiens]] *[[Musée de l'Arles et de la Provence antiques]] in [[Arles]] *[[Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon|Musée du Petit Palais]] in [[Avignon]] *[[Fondation Calvet]] in Avignon *[[Musée Albert-André]] in [[Bagnols-sur-Cèze]] *[[Musée Bonnat]] in [[Bayonne]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'archéologie de Besançon]] in [[Besançon]] *[[Musée Fernand Léger]] in [[Biot, Alpes-Maritimes]] *[[Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux]] in [[Bordeaux]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen]] in [[Caen]] *[[Goya Museum]] in [[Castres]] *[[Musée d'Art Moderne de Céret]] in [[Céret]] *[[Musée d'art Roger-Quilliot]] in [[Clermont-Ferrand]] *[[Unterlinden Museum]] in [[Colmar]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon]] in [[Dijon]] *[[Musée départemental d'Art ancien et contemporain]] in [[Épinal]] *[[Chaalis Abbey|Jacquemart-André museum]] in [[Fontaine-Chaalis]] *[[Museum of Grenoble|Musée de Grenoble]] in [[Grenoble]] *[[Grenoble Archaeological Museum]] in Grenoble *[[Matisse Museum (Le Cateau)|Musée Matisse]] in [[Le Cateau-Cambrésis]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts André-Malraux]] in [[Le Havre]] *[[Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille]] in [[Lille]] *[[Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon]] in [[Lyon]] *[[Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon|Musée gallo-romain]] in Lyon *[[Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille]] in [[Marseille]] *[[Musée Cantini]] in Marseille *[[Museums of Metz]] in [[Metz]] *[[Centre Pompidou-Metz]] in Metz *[[Musée Ingres]] in [[Montauban]] *[[Musée Fabre]] in [[Montpellier]] *[[Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art]] in [[Montsoreau]] *[[Museum of Fine Arts of Nancy|Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy]] in [[Nancy, France|Nancy]] *[[Musée de l'École de Nancy]] in Nancy *[[Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine|Musée Lorrain]] in Nancy *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes]] in [[Nantes]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice|Musée des Beaux-Arts]] in [[Nice]] *[[Musée national Message Biblique Marc Chagall]] in [[Nice]] *[[Musée archéologique de Nîmes]] in [[Nîmes]] *[[Musée Camille Claudel]] in [[Nogent-sur-Seine]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims]] in [[Reims]] *[[Palace of Tau|Palais du Tau]] in Reims *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes]] in [[Rennes]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen]] in [[Rouen]] *[[Musée d'art moderne de Saint-Étienne]] in [[Saint-Étienne]] *[[Fondation Maeght]] in [[Saint-Paul, Alpes-Maritimes]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg]] in [[Strasbourg]] *[[Musée d'art moderne et contemporain of Strasbourg]] in Strasbourg *[[Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame]] in Strasbourg *[[Musée des Arts décoratifs, Strasbourg]] in Strasbourg *[[Musée des Augustins]] in [[Toulouse]] *[[Musée Saint-Raymond]] in Toulouse *[[Fondation Bemberg]] in Toulouse

====Other museums==== (alphabetically by city) *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Brest]] in [[Brest, France|Brest]] *[[Musée Théodore Deck et des pays du Florival]] in [[Guebwiller]] *[[Musée historique de Haguenau]] in [[Haguenau]] *[[Musée Eugène Boudin]] in [[Honfleur]] *[[Musée Crozatier]] in [[Le Puy-en-Velay]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Libourne]] in [[Libourne]] *[[Musée Girodet]] in [[Montargis]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Mulhouse]] in [[Mulhouse]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes]] in [[Nîmes]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pau]] in [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau]] *[[Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud]] in [[Perpignan]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pont-Aven]] in [[Pont-Aven]] *[[La Piscine Museum]] in [[Roubaix]] *[[Musée Paul-Dupuy]] in [[Toulouse]] *[[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes]] in [[Valenciennes]]

===Textile and tapestry museums=== (alphabetically by city) *[[Musée des tapisseries]] in [[Aix-en-Provence]] *[[Château d'Angers]] in [[Angers]] *[[Bayeux Tapestry|Musée de la tapisserie de Bayeux]] in [[Bayeux]] *[[Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs]] in [[Lyon]] *[[Musée de l'impression sur étoffes]] in [[Mulhouse]] *[[Musée Galliera]] in [[Paris]] *[[Gobelins Manufactory]] in Paris *[[Musée du papier peint]] in [[Rixheim]]

==Vocabulary== French words and expressions dealing with the arts: * ''peintre'' — painter ** ''peinture à l'huile'' — [[oil painting]] * ''tableau'' — painting * ''toile'' — canvas * ''gravure'' — [[printmaking|print]] * ''dessin'' — drawing * ''aquarelle'' — [[watercolor]] * ''croquis'' — sketch * ''ébauche'' — draft * ''crayon'' — pencil * ''paysage'' — [[Landscape art|landscape]] * ''nature morte'' — [[still life]] * ''la peinture d'histoire'' — [[History painting]], see [[Hierarchy of genres]] * ''tapisserie'' – [[tapestry]] * ''vitrail'' – [[stained glass]]

==See also== * [[List of French artists]] * For information about French literature, see: [[French literature]] * For information about French history, see: [[History of France]] * For other topics on French culture, see: [[French culture]]

==References and further reading== * [[Anthony Blunt]]: ''Art and Architecture in France 1500–1700''. {{ISBN|0-300-05314-2}}. * André Chastel. ''French Art Vol I: Prehistory to the Middle Ages''. {{ISBN|2-08-013566-X}}. * André Chastel. ''French Art Vol II: The Renaissance''. {{ISBN|2-08-013583-X}}. * André Chastel. ''French Art Vol III: The Ancient Régime''. {{ISBN|2-08-013617-8}}. * [https://frenchart.umsl.edu/ French Art at the Saint Louis Art Museum]

'''Specific''' {{Reflist}}

[[Category:French art| ]]