The French Revolution did not affect only on the French economy and politics. It also had a significant and remarked influence on the art during the eighteenth century. It was born due to thoughts and ideas of thinkers and artists, who wanted to enlighten the people during that time, and after that, it affected those artists and their styles. This essay will discuss the effect of the French Revolution on painting and sculpture during that time using some examples to show the connection between the revolution and the artworks.
The French Revolution has an enormous influence on France and the Western world in general. That period suffered from a series of political and economic disturbances in several areas. The Revolution started in
1789 and lasted until the
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That new art should be rational, not sensual and related to their fact. The art critic Diderot stated that in Essai sur la peinture, the aim of art is “to make virtue attractive, vice odious, ridicule forceful; that is the aim of every honest man who takes up the pen, the brush or the chisel.”
(Khan Academy, n.d.).
That new art was known as the Neoclassicism, and Jacques Louis David was one of the most famous
Neoclassicists. He supported the rebels on the King Louis XVI through his paintings, which called to sacrifice for the good of France. Ironically, Oath of the Horatii was commissioned by the king himself and was finished before the revolution. (McCoy, n.d.). However, David conveyed messages of the Revolution through it, and he symbolized the personal sacrifice for the country in an amazing way. His message was that he belonged to his country, not to the monarchy. Through those three brothers and their father raising their hands towards the swords and taking an oath to save Rome, he insisted that there is no safe nor freedom without self-sacrifice.
The French Revolution began in the year of 1789, which would soon change the course of history for both France and surrounding nations. During this time, peasants were rebelling because they were being treated unfairly and changes needed to be made for the future of the country. While rebelling, the people used some of the ideas from the American Revolution, which had a positive impact on the people. The revolution did not only affect the French people, but it also had an impact on the countries watching. One can argue that the French Revolution wasn’t effective, however, the members of the third estate rebelled because they weren’t given social or economical equality and their rebellious actions lead to a change in government and the Declaration
The French Revolution, also known as bourgeois revolution freed peasants and bourgeois from the unequal and resisted life, and changed the France, which was struggling in many ways, such as financial overstretch, Philosophy of enlightenment, and American war of independence. All the factors are considered as the significant long-term cause of the revolution; however, the most significant cause of the revolution is the support of France to the American war of independence.
Between 1789 and 1814 the French Revolution astonished and impacted the world. The Revolution has been talked about for years because of its contributions and the way it affected the world. The significant figures from the Revolution also played important roles in history and in areas outside of France. King Louis’ absolutism and the unfair treatment between classes were political, social, and economical causes of the French Revolution. This Revolution impacted the people of France by terrorizing and affecting their rights, yet at the same time the French Revolution served as a template for other countries when it came to radical changes and Revolutions.
His concept of war in order to obtain peace, is a modern outlook that for many frenchmen justified their cause. Because the monarchy is continuing to foster unjust treatment for their people, the people of France have no choice other than
Jacques- Louis David is known as the main pioneer of neoclassicism. He was part of both the arts and politics during the French Revolution, changing both during this time. Neoclassicism is the defined as the emulation of Greek and Roman art and many of the object painted were Roman because Rome represented a republican government. The first neoclassicism painting is David’s The Oath of the Horatii (1784).
Art had played an important role in building up civilizations from all over the world through thousands of centuries. It is and will always still the way of projecting artists’ ideas and thoughts into meaningful and tangible objects which we called “work of art”. In addition, It was the path through all these years that dug its way to reach to our current century to show us the beauty of every single era starting from the Upper Paleolithic Period of time (42,000 – 8,000 BCE) reaching to our contemporary artists of today.
Paul Hanson summed up the importance nicely by stating “This may be the most important legacy of the French Revolution, the “sense of possibility,” not only expressed but realized at the time – a conviction that ordinary people, working together, could rise up and change their world.” It has been said that much of modern society owes much of its origins from the French Revolution. The French Revolution is directly related to the ideas of allegiance to a nation, the right to self-determination and individualism. The revolution helped to end feudalism in Europe because of the fear of other peasants rising up and taking control. The French Revolution also helped to change the reasons of why wars were fought which was largely attributed to the influence of the Enlightenment which celebrated science and reason over faith and religion.
were against the king. The young nobles, and some of the old ones, who had not
The French Revolution (1789-1799) alarmed the ruling classes in Europe which
Art is able to evoke different feelings and emotions to each person that sets their eyes on it. The act of ‘looking’ is simple, but a lot comes from it. Where the eyes are first drawn to, the duration that the eyes are focused on a specific detail, and the thoughts that flood one’s brain when viewing art is all significant. These actions say more than the piece itself, it reveals emotions of both the artist and the audience. Art can be expressed through infinite forms, but the underlying importance is not with the art itself. It represents a place in time, displaying what was noteworthy to an individual in their own life. It serves as a lasting creation representative of human imagination with the ability to bring out a multitude of emotions from whoever views it. When art is created it represents the creativity of the human mind compacted into a physical object. Art has little usage aside from pure observation, yet it has prevailed throughout time, showing its importance to humanity. Art provides a lens into humanity, showcasing the human ability over time. When studied through history, art is a view into the development of humans and their interests. Through something as basic as commonly using symmetry to transitioning to asymmetry, the European’s perspective following the Renaissance is revealed. The making of art is solely up to one individual and their creativity. It is the pinnacle of
The effect of the French Revolution on painting has been a great work in the Revolutionary age which most of the artwork has shown over the years one of them is the painting of Jacques-Louis David and the other foremost painters Oath of the Horatio which has clearly shown that they are in support of the French Revolution, most of the Neoclassicists has always look back to "French painter Nicolas Poussin for their inspiration (Poussin's work exemplifies the interest in classicism in French art of the 17th century ). The decision to promote "Poussiniste" painting became an ethical consideration—they believed that strong drawing was rational, therefore morally better. They believed that art should be cerebral, not sensual.
Why is the French Revolution important in history? The French Revolution had a very big impact in our history. There's many important points that caught my attention were the feudalism, class system, monarchy and economy. How does it affect us today?
To begin with, “The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of ideological, political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French polity, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of republicanism, citizenship, and rights.” (New World Encyclopedia, n.d.) As a result of this French Revolution, the painting and/or sculpture were affected in any way. I believe that the purpose of art was drastically changed during this time; the art became freer to present the messages.
As we continue to study art history, we were impressed to discover how the human beings are looking every day for change and develop, and the art work as a mirror that reflect that change. Starting from Neoclassicism art which was a reaction to the Rococo art. To the Romanticism art that was a reaction to the Neoclassicism art, and reaching the Realism art which was a reaction to both Neoclassicism and Romanticism arts. All these art movements came as a reaction to the previous one, but that does not mean that the artist of the new art would reject the preceding art elements completely. The artist would reshape some of the former art elements and work to develop them in order to reflect the era change constantly.
The French Revolution was caused by many factors; some were significant and played a large role while others were of minor consequence. France was one of the richest and most powerful nations even though they were facing some economic difficulties. The French Revolution was a pivotal period in the history of French, European and Western civilization. During this period of time there was the formation of republicanism which replaced the absolute monarchy in France.