The Birth Of Modern Europe:

The Birth of Modern Europe:

The Pre-History of Visual Arts in Paris

Jessy Arisohn

Today, the culture of France can be viewed as a profound influence on that of the entire Western world, particularly in the area of art. Paris, the capital and largest city in France, has long been regarded as the fountainhead of French culture. After the Middle Ages, around 1400, the renaissance sprang up in Europe, commencing the great Western age of discovery and exploration, in art and other subjects. Culturally, art became a main focus and aspiration by the monarchy and gentry, representing class status and luxuries. However, after the long and influential renaissance a new period developed, which rebelled against the renaissance ideals, called baroque. This elaborate, irregular, anti-classical period of the 17^th century produced many works of famous art in which old traditions would be carried to dramatic extremes. Artists and societies were lead to a whole new world, exploring uniqueness and individualism. Preceding this period followed the neoclassical stage, where classical Greek art was reintroduced but was linked to political events, unlike the renaissance. This neoclassical stage, although representing opposite characteristics of the subsequent artistic period, the romantic movement, was in part a smaller piece of it. The romantic period, maybe the most inspiring and to the Western civilization, showed emotion, intensity and imagination never seen before. These four different but connected artistic phases established Paris as a dominant cultural force in European civilization.

The Renaissance, meaning rebirth, was a revival of the influential Greek and Roman art during the period following the Medieval Ages, a time where cultural revelation was lacking. This new and radical era stimulated artistic love and enjoyment thus making it a central bolt in Western Culture to this present day. The Renaissance, covering the period between 1400 and 1600, created an unforeseen appreciation for the arts. The basis for Renaissance art focused on secular life and individualism, two important topics that were building blocks for Greek life also. Humanism, an attitude that emphasizes the dignity and worth of the individual, describes one of the main attitudes and movements of the Renaissance. The period sprouted in Italy and spread rapidly over Europe creating a new important movement of art. However, the French were slow to accept these new innovations. Nevertheless, during the early 16th century the adoption of Renaissance forms burst into the French culture due to the regaining of the crown from English control. Soon many Italian artists were hired to work at the court of King Francis I, like Leonardo da Vinci in 1516, and the French Renaissance commenced.

During the Renaissance, artists were no longer regarded as mere artisans, as they had been in the past, but for the first time they emerged as independent personalities. In the 15^th century one of the most influential artists of the French Renaissance, Pieter Bruegal portrayed clear and glowing color inn his work. The 'kind' of painting on which Bruegel concentrated was scenes from peasant life. He painted peasants merrymaking, feasting, and working. His art used vivid characterization and are noted for precise detail with exquisite technique. His painting of a Peasant Wedding {1566}depicts a feast which is taking place in a barn, with straw stacked up high in the background. The bride sits in front of a piece of blue cloth, with a kind of crown suspended over her head. She sits quietly, with folded hands and a grin of utter contentment on her stupid face. But what is even more admirable than the subject matter, is the way in which Bruegel has organized his picture so that it does not look crowded or confusing. Bruegal created his own realm of art that showed his true talents as a renaissance painter and the gift which he possessed.

After the rise and fall of the renaissance, a new radical artistic period was being born in France and all over Europe. Artists started to tinker with the ideals of the time molding it as the periods changed. As the crown began to obtain more power it was evident in the new aspects of art, later called the baroque period, through its dramatic rebellion against the conventional ideals of the renaissance. Baroque, meaning imperfect, grotesque or absurd does not accurately define the meaning of the style to which it refers. The baroque period is characterized by its dynamic appearance, with eccentric or fantastic modes of paintings, in contrast to the relatively static classical style of the renaissance. Heinrich Wölfflin, the author of Principles of Art History (1915} stated that "baroque is neither a rise nor a decline from classic, but a totally different art."

Nevertheless, just as Renaissance ideals spread through Europe like a forest fire so did baroque principles, creating a rich and expressive period of art. Aspects of the art were mainly preoccupied with the dramatic potential of light, called chiaroscuro, playing with its symbolism of good and evil. Since the absolute monarchy of France commissioned many of the baroque artists, they prompted the creation of works that reflected the size and splendor of the monarchy, desired by the king. Among the general characteristics of baroque art is a sense of movement, energy, and tension. Realism is another integral feature and the artists showed the figures in paintings as individuals with their own personalities, not types. The intensity and immediacy of the baroque period and its individualism makes it one of the most compelling periods ofWestern art.

Nicolas Poussin, a very famous 17th-century French baroque artist used mathematically derived spacing and severe colors to create an ordered, solemn painting. A careful consideration of his paintings often reveals a historical, literary, or biblical story, identifying with the religious aspect of baroque art. Poussin’s Landscape with the Burial of Phocion (1648} depicts the burial of Athenian general Phocion, who was put to death in 317 BC on a false charge of treason.

As baroque became the new trend throughout Europe another artistic phase also began to come of age in the mid 18^th century. Classicism, a term that generally means clearness, elegance and symmetry, was similar to the renaissance in that it displayed renewed interest in the art of ancient Greece and Rome. When revolutionary movements established republics in France, the new governments adopted neoclassicism as the style for their official art, by virtue of its association with the democracy of ancient Greece and republican Rome. Later, as Napoleon rose to power in France, the style was modified to serve his propagandistic needs.

Noted usually as "neo-classicism" it can be seen as the first phase of the romantic movement, although they each have very different and unique characteristics. Neo-Classicism relied on traditional styles derived from concepts of beauty and decorum established by the high renaissance artists, such as Michelangelo and Raphael. This "Age of Reason" focused on realism and rational sense to the universe. Rene Descartephilosopher stated, "Cogito ergo sum" which means "I think, therefore I am." This statement portrays the artist’s motivation behind their paintings, displaying the head of the neoclassical period.

Jacques-Louis David, recognized as a great genius of the neoclassical period, was one of its main leaders from the time of the revolution to the fall of Napoleon. He focused on drawing subject matters from ancient sources and based form and gesture on Roman sculpture. His famous Oath of the Horatii celebrated the theme of stoic patriotism of the neoclassical era. The picture's boxlike architectural space and freeze frame arrangement of figures reflect neoclassical concern for compositional logic and clarity. The firm contours and harsh light give these figures a statuesque quality. Not only did it portray pure neoclassical artistic traits but also it consciously was intended as a proclamation of the new neoclassical style in which dramatic lighting, ideal forms, and clarity were emphasized. The masculine theme and obvious doric roman arches are just two main characteristics of neoclassical art exemplified in this painting. Created in 1786, it represented the feelings of the French Revolution and the people’s need to unify as one. The father, representing the king, is handing swords to his three sons, the people of France. This propaganda, although mainly representing support for the king could have also been symbolic of the republic and the need to fight against the crown. The double interpretationdisplays how France was on the brink of a revolution. Presenting a lofty moralistic and patriotic theme, the work became the principal model for noble and heroic historical painting of the next two decades.

The romanticism movement, developing in the late 18^th century, stressed emotion, imagination and freedom from classical correctness in art forms. This rebellion against social conventions characterized a highly influential movement involving art, literature, music, and social criticism in Western society. Generally, romantic paintings can be characterized by a highly imaginative and subjective approach, involving emotional intensity with a dreamlike quality. Unlike neoclassicism, it was represented by the heart and disregarded realism but instead portrayed individuality through expression and gestures. Jean Jacques Rousseau, a French writer, stated in his novel Moral Letters, "For us, existence is feeling: and our capacity to feel inarguably precedes our reason." This statement sums up the feelings surrounding the romantic period and how it was portrayed through art.

In France the influential stage of romanticism coincided with the Napoleonic Wars, thus inspiring many French romantic artists to paint contemporary events, also seen in the previous movements. Eugene Delacroix, one of the most significant artists of the Romantic period, painted the Liberty Leading the People an overtly romantic and allegorical glorification of the idea of liberty. This painting confirmed the clear division between the romantic style, which emphasized color and spirit, and the neoclassical approach, which represented realism and rationalism. Painted in 1830, it ran parallel to the July Revolution, thus displayed in the painting itself. Delacroix’s portrayal of the revolution shows the desire for political liberalism by ae classes, including the poor and the aristocracy and their unified fight for the one goal.

In conclusion, these four important artistic periods shaped and built Paris into a highly cultural and enriching city. The renaissance motivated artists all over Europe to express themselves through art, thus developing four different kinds of phases. Although all different, the renaissance, baroque, neoclassical and romantic period each shared commonalities by inspiring one after the other. The parallels between the paintings and their representations and the problems endured by society and the government show how influential and important these artists and phases really were to Paris as a society.

Bibliography:

2. History of France. http://www.kipar.org

3. French History-Renaissance. http://www.france.com

5. From Neoclassical to Romanticism. http://clover.clavis.pitt.edu

8. The Emergence of Modern Paris. http://www.greatcities.com

9. The Dictionary of Art: Neoclassicism. http://www.grovereference.com

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