Impact of Graphic Art on the French Revolution
Impact of Graphic Art on the French RevolutionThe Impact of Graphic Art on the French Revolution
Art has allways been an important part of history. Sometimes it is even able to change or influence
history by acting upon public opinion. Many artists of all ages are known for their political
involvement. Although it is argued that the most important reason for the outbreak of the French
Revolution was the political and economical instability of France during this period, there is place
for an agrument that art also had influence in starting the Revolution.
One of the most famous artists of the French Revolution was Jaques-Louis David. In the early
years of the Revolution, David was a member of the extremist Jacobin group led by Robespierre,
and he became an energetic example of the politically committed artist. He was elected to the
National Convention in 1792, in time to vote for the execution of Louis XVI. By 1793, as a
member of the art commission, he was virtually the art dictator of France and was nicknamed "the
Robespierre of the brush."
Not all of the people in France at the time of the Revolution could read, and not even those who
could read necessarily understood the writings of Voltaire or Rousseau. However, many more
people could understand visual art. Although the French Revolution is usually treated as a
revolution of the poor, it is also important to take into consideration that it was not started by the
peasantry, but by the nobility and wealthy businessmen of the Third Estate. These were the people
who had the time and money to attend theater and patronize artists. These were the people that
came to the galleries to view David's works.
His works were of a new style, never seen before. The art of the French Revolution represented a
sharp break with the art of the early part of the eighteenth century, when rococo reigned. Rococo
art glorified the aristocracy, maybe because it coincided with the peak of absolutist monarchy. The
"common people" were nowhere to be seen in rococo paintings. However, influenced by the ideas
of the Enlightenment, a few artists made an abrupt change. Old ideas of republicanism and
democracy were being resurrected among these new artists, known as the neoclassicists. This era
of art was to be known as the neoclassical era due to its heavy reliance on classical Greek and
republican Roman themes. Oath of the Horatii (1784), Death of Marat (1793), Junius Brutus
(1789),...
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