19th-century French art

This era saw a debate between the proponents of line, exemplified by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, and those favoring violent colors and curves, like Eugène Delacroix.

The birth of Modernism in the late 19th century, centered in Paris, was marked by artistic innovation across domains including music, dance, architecture, and literature.

This era of artistic exploration laid the foundations for many modern art movements, reflecting a continuous dialogue between past traditions and innovative techniques, including the emerging influence of photography.

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 classicism.

In order to understand the amazing diversity of artistic expressions which Paris gave birth to from the 1860s to all nightboulevards, but also replaced poorer neighborhoods and created fast routes to move troops through the city to quell unrest.

Café culture, cabarets, arcades (19th century covered malls), anarchism, the mixing of classes, the radicalization of art and artistic movements caused by the academic salon system, a boisterous willingness to shock — all this made for a stunning vibrancy.

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 step toward Impressionism.

Claude Monet with his cathedrals and haystacks, Pierre-Auguste Renoir with both his early outdoor festivals and his later feathery style of ruddy nudes, Edgar Degas with his dancers and bathers.