Return to order

The Return to Order (French: retour à l'ordre) was a European art movement following the First World War that rejected the extreme avant-garde art of the years up to 1918 and emphasized the classical ideals of order and rationality.

Among the many artists who participated in the movement were notable figures in modernism such as Picasso and Braque, Matisse, Cezanne, Renoir, and much of the Italian Futurists.

Many of the works made during the period display modernist tendencies alongside classical subjects and techniques.

This change of direction was reflected and encouraged by the magazine Valori plastici published in Italian and French from 1918 to 1922.

The term return to order to describe this renewed interest in tradition is said to derive from Le rappel à l'ordre, a book of essays by the poet and artist Jean Cocteau published in 1926.