French Art History- 

There are different periods of French art history. In order it is: Prehistory, Medieval Period, Renaissance, Baroque, Revolution/Restoration, 19th century, and 20th century. The prehistoric period mainly consists of cave paintings and Cro-Magnon man stone sculptures but by the end of the 14th century the International Gothic style emerged and artists roamed Europe spreading their ideas. This was known as the Medieval Period. During the French Renaissance (beginning in the 15th century) culture changed drastically which brought an end to the medieval times and much of French art was influenced by the Italians. After the Renaissance was the Baroque period.It lasted from the 17th to 18th centuries, art in this period was complex and occassionally contradictory. During the past few periods of art there have been a lot of art movements coming about including classicism, romanticism, realism, impressionism, fauvism, cubism, and surrealism. For more information on these visit the website below.

Horse' Heads in the Chauvet Cave (Prehistory)

	The Coronation of the Virgin by Charonton (Medieval Period)		Charles VII of France by Jean Fouquet
	The Silver Goblet by Chardin (Baroque)		The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David (Revolution/Restoration)
	Young Women Talking by Pierre Auguste Renoir (19th century)		Jeune fille a la mandoline by Pablo Picasso (20th century)

Some famous landmarks in France are also works of art. They include the Arc de Triomphe which was made during the Revolution/Restoration period and Notre Dame which was made during the Medieval Period not to mention the Eiffel Tower.

Lots of famous artists are from France. Nicolas Poussin, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Auguste Rodin, and Pablo Picasso are among them. But most are from the 19th and 20th century periods.

In France there are many museums but the most famous is the Louvre. In the Louvre there are many famous paintings and sculptures including the Mona Lisa, Madonna of the Rocks, La Pyramide Inversee, Venus de Milo, Shepherds of Arcadia, and many more. It contains more than 380,000 objects but only 35,000 works of art are displayed.

To find out more go here (Information was found here): 

http://www.uncg.edu/rom/courses/dafein/civ/art.htm 

http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre 

Learn more about Impressionism here: French Impressionism 

Amanda