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Jacques
Louis David - LoveToKnow 1911
Jacques-Louis David (August 30, 1748 – December 29, 1825) was a highly
influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be
the prominent painter of the era. In the 1780s his cerebral brand of
history painting marked a change in taste away from Rococo frivolity
toward a classical austerity and severity, chiming with the moral
climate of the final years of the ancien régime.
David later became an active supporter of the French Revolution and
friend of Maximilien Robespierre, and was effectively a dictator of the
arts under the French Republic. Imprisoned after Robespierre\'s fall
from power, he aligned himself with yet another political regime upon
his release, that of Napoleon I. It was at this time that he developed
his \'Empire style\', notable for its use of warm Venetian colours.
David had a huge number of pupils, making him the strongest influence in
French art of the 19th century, especially academic Salon painting.
Jacques-Louis David was born into a prosperous family in Paris on August
30, 1748. When he was about nine his father was killed in a duel and
his mother left him with his prosperous architect uncles. They saw to it
that he received an excellent education at the Collège des
Quatre-Nations, but he was never a good student: he had a tumor that
impeded his speech, and he was always preoccupied with drawing. He
covered his notebooks with drawings, and he once said, \"I was always
hiding behind the instructor’s chair, drawing for the duration of the
class\". Soon, he desired to be a painter, but his uncles and mother
wanted him to be an architect. He overcame the opposition, and went to
learn from François Boucher, the leading painter of the time, who was
also a distant relative. Boucher was a Rococo painter, but tastes were
changing, and the fashion for Rococo was giving way to a more classical
style. Boucher decided that instead of taking over David’s tutelage, he
would send David to his friend Joseph-Marie Vien, a mediocre painter,
but one who embraced the classical reaction to Rococo. There David
attended the Royal Academy, based in what is now the Louvre.
David attempted to win the Prix de Rome, an art scholarship to the
French Academy in Rome, four times between 1770 and 1774; once, he lost
according to legend because he had not consulted Vien, one of the
judges. Another time, he lost because a few other students had been
competing for years, and Vien felt David\'s education could wait for
these other mediocre painters. In protest, he attempted to starve
himself to death. Finally, in 1774, David won the Prix de Rome.
Normally, he would have had to attend another school before attending
the Academy in Rome, but Vien\'s influence kept him out of it. He went
to Italy with Vien in 1775, as Vien had been appointed director of the
French Academy at Rome. While in Italy, David observed the Italian
masterpieces and the ruins of ancient Rome. David filled twelve
sketchbooks with material that he would derive from for the rest of his
life. While in Rome, he studied great masters, and came to favor above
all others Raphael. In 1779, David was able to see the ruins of Pompeii,
and was filled with wonder. After this, he sought to revolutionize the
art world with the \"eternal\" concepts of classicism.
Jacques-Louis David (August 30, 1748 – December 29, 1825) was a highly
influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be
the prominent painter of the era. In the 1780s his cerebral brand of
history painting marked a change in taste away from Rococo frivolity
towards a classical austerity and severity, chiming with the moral
climate of the final years of the ancien régime.
David later became an active supporter of the French Revolution and
friend of Maximilien Robespierre, and was effectively a dictator of the
arts under the French Republic. Imprisoned after Robespierre's fall from
power, he aligned himself with yet another political regime upon his
release, that of Napoleon I. It was at this time that he developed his
'Empire style', notable for its use of warm Venetian colours. David had a
huge number of pupils, making him the strongest influence in French art
of the 19th century, especially academic Salon painting.
Male Nude known as Hector
Male Nude known as Patroclus
Portrait of a young Woman in a Turban
Portrait of Louise Trudaine
The Courtship of Paris and Helen
The Death of Seneca
The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis |
