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Jean-Paul Laurens
1838-1921
French, Academic Classicists Painter and Sculptor
Stylistically influenced by the following painters - Adolphe-William Bouguereau, and Thomas Couture
Education - studied under Léon Cogniet and Alexandre Bida
Laurens was one of the most gifted painters of the
French Academic style. He excelled in classically inspired religious
and historical scenes. He was a professor at the École nationale
supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he was well regarded for his
intellect and application of theoretical knowledge According to French
art historian W. C. Brownell, "An historical painter like Jean Paul
Laurens, interested as he is in the memorable moments and dramatic
incidents of the past, and exhibiting as he does, first of all, a sense
of what is ideally forceful and heroic, is nevertheless clearly
concerned for the realistic value of his representation far more than a
generation ago he would have been."
Laurens style was influenced by the high standards of the French
Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of
Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Academic Classicism attempted to merge
both techniques to create the perfect style. The movement is
characterized by an emphasis on simplicity, proportion, and restrained
emotion.
Although Laurens vigorously opposed monarchical and religious
censorship he secured important commissions including the apse of the
Panthéon and the mural ceiling of the Odéon Theater.
About the Academic Classicism Painting Style
Followers of this movement were influenced by the high standards of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Academic Classicism attempted to merge both techniques to create the perfect style. It is characterized by adhering to a strict manner of painting, following narrow compositional rules and delicacy of color. The atmospheric effects are sumptuously luminescent. According to art historian, Walter Pater "To produce such effects at all requires all the resources of painting, with its power of indirect expression, of subordinate but significant detail, its atmosphere, its foregrounds and backgrounds."
Explanation of the
Jean Paul Laurens Academic Classicism Painting style
Laurens styled his painting technique on the rigid academic standards
set forth by the French Académie des Beaux-Arts. French Academic Classicism
endeavored to join together the Neoclassicism and Romanticism styles
into one perfect style. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, one of the
greatest Academic Classicists observed, "The movement of natural
elements cannot be captured by the brush: to paint lightning, a gust of
wind, or the splash of a wave from nature is inconceivable."
Themes used in Rococo art such as historical and mythalogical were once again in vogue. This style favored interpretations of Greek, Roman and Renaissance themes. Imagery often centered around Biblical stories, Arthurian legends and mythology. According to Solomon Gessner, the great German painter and art historian, "By studying the works of Greek sculptors the painter can attain the sublimest conceptions of beauty, and learn what must be added to nature in order to give to the imitation dignity and propriety.
The greatest painters associated with Academic Classicism, William Bouguereau, Paul Delaroche and Jean-Leon Gerome, had an extraordinary way of capturing nature's passionate, "feral" qualities and yet, at the same time, create in the viewer an almost inspirational feeling of harmony and serenity. High drama, blithe sophistication, and unrequited passion characterize this magnificent painting style.
Famous Painters of Academic
Classicists Movement Ivan
Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, 1817-1900 Adolphe-William Bouguereau1825-1905 Charles Emile August Carolus-Duran, 1837-1917 Leon Francois Comerre, 1850-1916 Pierre-Auguste Cot 1837-1883 Thomas Couture, 1815-1879 Paul Delaroche 1797-1856 Eugene Fromentin, 1820-1876 Jean Leon Gerome, 1824-1904 Jean-Paul
Laurens1838-1921 Adolphe
Alexandre Lesrel, 1839-1929 Luc Olivier Merson, 1846-1920 Hans Makart,
1840 - 1884 Giulio Rosati, 1858-1917 Franz
Xavier Winterhalter, 1805-1873 William Clarke Wontner, 1857-1930
Important Terms, Words, and Phrases Associated With The
Academic Classicism Painting Style - Classicism,
rigid Academic standards, ancient Greece, Rome, Herculaneum, Pompeii,
neoclassicism, romantic movement, European academies, French Académie
des Beaux-Arts, Romanticism, academism, academicism, accademic
training, highly romantic, inspired by historical and mythological
stories, L'art pompier, the Grand Tour, eclecticism, classical realism,
historicism, 19th century, syncretism, academician, Victorian Classicism
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