On Delacroix and Courbet

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On Delacroix and Courbet

The period surrounding 1781 to 1855 in France’s history is united by social and political change, an evolution of ideological struggles towards the best possible political struggle amongst anchoring human faults. The life of the artist too underwent change and struggled with the hierarchy that existed to validate artistic triumph. Changes are apparent amongst a broad spectrum, including David, Ingres, history paintings and caricatures. Artists that demonstratively epitomize the shifts, overwhelmingly united by a shift from acceptance to defiance, are Eugene Delacroix (1789 – 1863) and Gustave Courbet (1819 – 1877). Artistic and cultural differences that developed are transparent through understanding of the paradigmatic differences of these two artists. This essay will identify motivating factors in the two artists’ work, explore how they interact with one another, and, ultimately, validate their significance and vitality within the history of French painting. Delacroix and Courbet will both be ultimately described as triumphant in defiance, possessors and enablers of creativity.

To start with the end, Courbet is an artist that triumphed defiance through definitions. Courbet’s work was bold in subject matter, just like the artist's lifestyle. To understand this as a success, we must consider an artist directly involved in the height of the artistic institution – Delacroix, the Romantic painter. Romantic painters were from what Baudelaire calls "… the most recent, the latest expression of the beautiful." Delacroix’s work shows an artist that believes in following the way of his predecessors, to grow from what he is dealt. Courbet’s work shows an artist who insists on forging his o...

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... "no single focus of attention...no exchange of gaze or glance... it was it's declared lack of significance which offended most of all..." Ultimately, the vitality of Courbet is in his revolutionary approach, which placed emphasis on subjects taken from contemporary life while rejecting the historical and fictional subject matter that was favored by the French Academy.

Courbet and Delacroix both put pointed personal opinions into their paintings. Courbet is from a time where virtually everything – art, politics, etc. – is up in the air. Delacroix’s place is just before this, after history paintings have grown wary and innovation becomes achievable. Little remains consistent in the politics of France or the art system itself. These two artists paved the way for less resistance and more embracement of defiance, culminating in the redefining of defiance as art.

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