De David à Cézanne: de L'art au service de la Révolution à la crise de la modernité / From Revolutionary Art to Modernity

Close study of the themes and styles of painters who exemplify successive movements throughout the nineteenth century. Jean-Louis David, whose neoclassical iconography was radically hostile to the values of the Ancien Régime. Delacroix and Géricault, who introduce the romantic movement: individual and political revolt, and the metaphysical quest. The cult of eroticism and violence with the discovery of the "oriental" world will lead to discarding of greco-roman references, while nocturnal themes introduce the irrational and other-worldly perspectives. With Courbet comes social realism, and we will examine his conception of the nude, as well as innovations in landscape and his relation to photography. Manet's enigmatic realism is linked to the past and the impressionist will to experiment, where with Caillebotte comes the new urban scene of Napoleon III an Haussmann but also radical changes to perceptions of space and modernity. Finally, Cézanne's misunderstood destruciton of perspective and cubist approach to forms is a link to Picasso's aggressive synthesis of Cézanne's break with the past and discovery of African art.