Characteristics of French Paintings

French artists have arguably had the greatest influence on fine art painting. The Salon, the numerous Écoles des Beaux-Arts, or schools of fine arts, and their progeny have led to the creation of numerous artist organizations and art movements. French painting has evolved a good deal over the centuries, but the most successful painters have maintained adherence to certain standards and ideals, whether more technical or idealistic in nature.

French Renaissance

From the early sixteenth through the late seventeenth centuries, elongated forms characterize the subjects of many French paintings. Graceful subjects and overall composition conveyed visual metaphor, often with mythological subjects, as in the painting, "Diane the Huntress," which portrays the Roman goddess of the hunt.

French Baroque and Classicism

The French Baroque period took place in the seventeenth century, after which the Classicist movement became predominant. While Baroque art was characterized by a vibrant color palette and rounded lines, French Classicist art contained generalized subjects, lighting and effects, and focused more on form and composition.

Neoclassicism

Around the middle of the eighteenth century, French painters increasingly turned to Greek and Roman forms and subjects, signaling the beginning of Neoclassicism. Jacques-Louis David was one such painter, whose themes are evidenced in works such as "The Death of Socrates."

Impressionism and Post-Impressionism

French Impressionist painters, such as Paul Cézanne and Paul Gaugin, experimented with color, lighting effects and brush strokes in the 1860s. The Post-Impressionist era that followed extended into the early twentieth century and was characterized by distortion of form, sometimes unnatural color and geometric shapes.

Twentieth Century French Art

The twentieth century saw an explosion of experimental art. Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art comprised a vast departure from prior schools of thought and practice. Surrealist painters, for example, depicted non-sequitur subjects and altered recognizable forms.

Resources

• The Louvre Museum
• "A History of French Painting" by Clara Cornelia Harrison Stranahan