During the 18th century, many countries went through revolutions in their cultures and arts; France is one of the main countries. In the early 18th century, many artists depicted the lavish lifestyles of the French elite. But, as time passed, artists slowly became more critical of those works of art and began to move from the elite as the subject of their art to more abstract forms of landscapes. This continued until the painting style became so distorted that the subject matter of the paintings became questionable. This article will show how 19th century French artists did not follow the continuity of 18th century artists by becoming more abstract in artistic style and with broader brushstrokes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay From the late 17th century until the early 18th century, an artistic style originating from France called Rococo became very popular in other European countries. Rococo is an artistic style that predominantly used pastel colors with subject matter usually showing the carefree and lavish lifestyles of the French elite; with landscapes not being the main focus. But as time passed, towards the middle of the 18th century, French artists began to become more critical of that artistic style. But it was only at the end of the 18th century that Edouard Manet painted “Le dijeuner sur l'hebe (Breakfast on the grass)”. This can be shown in figure 1. This painting challenges not only rococo but also many social views on the gaze of a naked woman. During this time, if there were a painting of a naked woman, her gaze would never be directed towards what would be the viewer's perspective. With the naked woman staring at the viewer, this painting was thought to be scandalous. Another huge difference was the brushstrokes, which became broader and less nuanced; making the painting appear more textured with oil paints. This is considered by some to be the beginning of Impressionism. Impressionism was the French movement that occurred in response to the excessive glorification of the artistic style and lifestyle represented by Rococo. The use of brightly colored oil paints was imitated from the Rococo style and mainly featured themes of vast landscapes made with less nuanced brushstrokes. As time passed contemporary life became more favored towards the end of the 18th century. Other factors such as the expansion of color theory on how colors affected the viewer's emotions and the public's growing disgust with the elite, impressionism became extremely popular. This caused the artistic style to be embraced by global painters, but French artists Edgar Degas and Pierre-Auguste Renoir became known as the founders of this movement. In the 1860s, Edgar Degas began painting in the artistic style of Impressionism. One of his famous works can be shown in figure 3. Since the subject of his paintings in the beginning were mainly racehorses, he found more success once he broadened his subject to focus more on "urban leisure". The piece "The Dance Class" was made while he was visiting London, England in 1871. With Degas' success, he gave more encouragement to other Impressionist artists. This allowed Pierre-Auguste Renoir to finish “Dance at the Moulin de la Galette” in 1876, as shown in figure 2. This also caused him to be called another founder of this artistic style as it was done in retaliation for being rejected from exhibitions . This caused Renoir to join othersartists in the first impressionist exhibition. Although artists became more abstract as time went on, it was not until the early 19th century that a new artistic style occurred. He would soon become widely popular and change the continuity of French art again. The artistic style was called Cubism. Cubism was an artistic style that incorporated 3D structures on 2D surfaces. The initial phase of this art style was called analytical cubism; which emphasizes perception and realism. This made the style popular with the public. Georges Braque became one of the main pioneers of Cubism with his painting “l'Estaque” in figure 4. His painting caused new innovations in the phase of Analytical Cubism, and with its success, Henri Le Fauconnier finished his painting in figure 5 . Shortly thereafter Fernand Liger finished his painting in 1912 as shown in figure 6. Although all the artists used oil paints on canvas, the styles of each painting appear different. Even in the three paintings, the brushstrokes and color schemes were already changing. Towards the end of the 19th century the abstractions became so much more evident that they were no longer considered Cubism; changing the artistic continuity in France again. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Throughout the 18th to 19th centuries, French artists changed artistic continuity three times. Moving from Rococo, then to Impressionism and finally to Cubism. As French artists' paintings become more abstract, they in turn are changing the continuity of art. Image Appendix Figure SEQ Figure * ARAB 1: Edouard Manet, Luncheon on the Grass, ca. 1863, oil on canvas, 6.82 x 8.68", Paris, France (Paris, France. Accessed 18 November 2019. https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/ search /commentaire/commentaire_id/luncheon-on-the-grass-7201.html)Figure SEQ Figure * ARAB 2: Pierrer – Auguste Renoir, Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, ca. 1876, oil on canvas, 4.29" x 5.74", Paris, France (Paris, France. Accessed 18 November 2019. https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting /commentaire_id/dance-at-le- moulin-de-la-galette-7138.html?cHash=f8e493dbca)Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 3: Edgar Degas, The Dance Class, ca. 1874, oil on canvas, 2.67" x 2.5", New York , New York, USA (New York, New York, USA. 18 November 2019. https://www.metmuseum.org/en/art/collection/ search/438817)Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 4: Georges Braque, Case all 'Estaque, ca. 1908, oil on canvas, 1.33 x 1.05', Villeneuve d'Ascq, France (Villeneuve d'Ascq, France. 19 November 2019. https://www.musee-lam.fr/ en/rechercher?query= Maison%20%C3%A0%20l%27estaque)Figure SEQ Figure * ARAB 5: Henri Le Fauconnier, L'Abodance, c. 1910, oil on canvas, 6.33 x 4.04", Den Haaq, Netherlands (Den Haaq, Netherlands. November 19, 2019. https://useum.org/artwork/Abundance-Henri-Le-Fauconnier-1911 )Figure SEQ Figure * ARAB 6: Fernand Leger, La Femme en Bleu, ca. 1912, oil on canvas, 6.33 x 4.26”, Biot, France (Biot, France. 19 November 2019. https://en .musees-nationaux-alpesmaritimes.fr/fleger/node/100)Work cited“Cubism - Oxford Reference." Cubism - Oxford Reference, 6 November 2019. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192806871.001.0001/acref-9780192806871-e-8573.Distel, Anne. “Renoir, (Pierre-)Auguste.” Shibboleth Authentication Request, July 1, 2018. https://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2250/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000071492?rskey=wE5PbX&result = 1.Goodbye , Beatrice. «Manet, Edouard.» Grove Art, 2003. https://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2250/Groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001,0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000053749?rskey=brskeyckey.awersult=16 Reference .” Impressionism - Oxford Reference, 13 March 2019., 2003.-2251.