During the 18th century, many countries experienced revolutions in their culture and art; France being one of the main countries. In the early 18th century, many artists painted the lavish lifestyle of the French elite. But, over time, artists gradually became more critical of these artworks and began to shift the focus of their art towards more abstract landscape forms. This will continue until the style of the painting is so distorted that the subject matter of the paintings becomes questionable. This article will show how 19th century French artists did not follow the continuity of 18th century artists by becoming more abstract in their artistic style and using broader brushstrokes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay From the late 17th century to the early 18th century, an artistic style originating in France called Rococo became very popular in many other European countries. Rococo is an artistic style that primarily uses pastel colors with subjects that generally highlight the carefree and lavish lifestyle of the French elite; the landscapes not being the center of attention. But as time passed towards the mid-18th century, French artists began to become more critical of this artistic style. But it was not until the end of the 18th century that Edouard Manet painted “Dijeuner sur l’hebe”. This can be shown in Figure 1. This painting challenged not only Rococo, but also many social ideas about the gaze of a nude woman. At that time, if there was a painting of a nude woman, one's gaze would never be directed to what would be the viewer's point of view. With the naked woman looking at the viewer, this painting was considered scandalous. Another big difference was the brushstrokes, which became broader and less blended; which gives the painting a more textured look with oil paints. This is marked by some as the beginning of Impressionism. Impressionism was the French movement born in response to the excessive glorification of the artistic style and lifestyle depicted by Rococo. The use of brightly colored oil paints was imitated from the Rococo style and was mainly themed around vast landscapes done with less blended brushstrokes. Over time, contemporary living became more favored towards the end of the 18th century. With other factors such as color theory being extended to how colors affect the viewer's emotions and the public's growing distaste for the elite, Impressionism became extremely beloved. This led to this artistic style being adopted by painters around the world, 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 impressionist artistic style. One of his famous works can be shown in Figure 3. As the subject of his paintings was initially primarily racehorses, he became more successful once he broadened his subject matter to be more interested in “urban leisure”. The piece "The Dance Class" was created while he was visiting London, England in 1871. With Degas' success, it encouraged more other impressionist artists. This allowed Pierre-Auguste Renoir to complete "Danse au Moulin de la Galette" in 1876, as shown in Figure 2. This also led to him being called another founder of this style of art, because it was made inretaliation for the rejection of the exhibitions. . This led Renoir to join other artists in the first Impressionist exhibition. While artists became more abstract over time, it wasn't until the early 19th century that a new wave of artistic style emerged. It would soon become widely popularized and once again modify the continuity of French art. The artistic style was named Cubism. Cubism was an artistic style consisting of 3D structures on 2D surfaces. The initial phase of this art style was called Analytical Cubism; which emphasizes perception and realism. This made the public love the style. Georges Braque became one of the leading pioneers of Cubism with his painting "l'Estaque" in Figure 4. His painting brought about further innovations in the Analytical Cubism phase, and with its success, Henri Le Fauconnier completed his painting in Figure 5. Soon after, Fernand Liger completed his painting in 1912, as shown in Figure 6. Although all artists used oil paints on canvas, the styles of each painting are different . Even in all three paintings, the brushstrokes and color combinations were already changing. By the end of the 19th century, abstractions became so much more obvious that they were no longer considered Cubism; change artistic continuity in France again.Keep in mind: this is just a sample.Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.Get a custom essayFrom the 18th to the 19th century, French artists modified artistic continuity three times. Moving from Rococo, then to Impressionism and finally to Cubism. As the paintings of French artists became more abstract, they in turn altered the continuity of the art.Appendix of ImagesFigure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 1: Edouard Manet, Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, c. 1863, oil on canvas, 6.82" x 8.68", Paris, France (Paris, France. Accessed November 18, 2019. https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in- focus/search /commentaire/commentaire_id/luncheon-on-the-grass-7201.html)Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 2: Pierrer – Auguste Renoir, Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, c. 1876, oil on canvas, 4.29" x 5.74", Paris, France (Paris, France. Accessed November 18, 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, c. 1874, oil on canvas, 2.67" x 2.5", New York, New York, United States (New York, New York, United States. November 18, 2019. https://www.metmuseum.org/ en/art/collection/ search/438817)Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 4: Georges Braque, Maisons à l’Estaque, c. 1908, oil on canvas, 1.33" x 1.05", Villeneuve d'Ascq, France (Villeneuve d'Ascq, France. November 19, 2019. https://www.musee-lam.fr/fr/rechercher? query= House%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 Léger, The Woman in Blue, c. 1912, oil on canvas, 6.33" x 4.26", Biot, France (Biot, France. November 19, 2019. https://en.musees-nationaux-alpesmaritimes.fr/fleger/node/100)Work cited “Cubism – Oxford Reference. Cubism - Oxford Reference, November 6, 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&res ult=1 . Farewell, Beatrice. “Manet, Édouard. » Grove Art, 2003., 2003.-2251.