Fine Canvas Art Blog

Mars désarmé par Vénus, Jacques-Louis David, 1824

David / French / Greco-Roman / Neoclassical / Paintings (Reproductions) - 1 year ago - troycapc

This is a reproduction of “Mars Disarmed by Venus” of 1825 by Jacques-Louis David.  This masterpiece was one of the last produced by the French master of Neoclassicism after forty-three years of creating masterpieces.  He began this work in Brussels at the age of seventy-three.  The monumental painting depicts the removal of the armor of Mars by the three Graces and Cupid.  The painting was exhibited in Paris just before David’s death and was hailed as the bridge between Classicism and Romanticism.  The original painting is 265 cm wide and 308 cm high and is in the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique in Brussels.

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The Intercession of the Sabine Women by Jacques Louis David, 1799

David / French / Greco-Roman / Neoclassical / Paintings (Reproductions) - 1 year ago - troycapc

A masterpiece by Jacques Louis David composed from 1796 to 1799 housed in the Musee du Louvre in Paris.  This wonderful masterpiece is themed in reconciliation as the Sabine Women who had been forcibly taken as wives by the new male citizens of Rome urge their brothers and fathers not to attack their husbands.

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Leonidas at Thermopylai by Jacques Louis David, 1813

David / French / Greco-Roman / Neoclassical / Paintings (Reproductions) - 1 year ago - troycapc

This French Neo-classical by Jacques Louis David depicts a scene from Greek history in which the Spartans held the pass against the invading Persians.  It was completed in 1813 after fifteen years of work and can easily be read as a commentary on the abdication of Napoleon in that both events were seen as a military defeat that reflects a moral victory.  Therefore there is a weighty quality to the painting which many account as a severe attempt at conveying a historical moral.

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The Oath of the Horatii by Jacques Louis David of 1784

David / French / Greco-Roman / Neoclassical / Paintings (Reproductions) - 1 year ago - troycapc

This French Neo-classical by Jacques Louis David depicts a scene from Roman history in which the brothers Horatius swear an oath to defend Rome to the death.  The masterpiece has almost universally acclaimed as the perfect example of Neoclassicism in two dimensional art.  The painting was commissioned by King Louis XVI to be an example of loyalty to the state, but it came to represent the call to patriots to oppose tyranny and therefore to point forward in time to the French Revolution.

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Patroclus by Jacques-Louis David of 1780

David / French / Greco-Roman / Neoclassical / Paintings (Reproductions) - 1 year ago - troycapc

This early Neoclassical work by Jacques-Louis David was created in 1780. It is now displayed in the Musee Thomas Henry in Cherbourg, France.  Jacques-Louis David was born in 1748 Paris and was the foremost of the French Neoclassicists, in the opinion of many critics.  His efforts were very influential in turning tastes from Rococo towards the realistic depiction of historical scenes, which was the hallmark of Neoclassicism.  Orphaned at an early age, Jacques-Louis David was raised by prosperous uncles who begrudgingly allowed him to attend the Royal Academy.  On his fourth try, David won the Prix de Rome in 1774.  He went to Italy the next year and avidly drank in all the classical images and was overwhelmed by the art in Pompeii.  From this point, David was devoted to the “eternal concepts” of the Classics.

Returning to Paris in 1780, David was quickly recognized as a genius, if an eccentric one.  He was given lodgings in the Louvre at royal expense and married a rich heiress.  He was commissioned to paint Oath of the Horatti and he went to Rome to do so.  Returning to France, David joined in the political discussions which were rapidly moving the kingdom in the direction of revolution.  Jacques-Louis David continued to produce revolutionary art in the Neoclassical manner until his death in 1825.

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Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David, 1787

David / Paintings (Reproductions) - 2 years ago - troycapc

Click here to purchase our reproduction of this masterpiece.

Thomas Jefferson attended the unveiling of this masterpiece in Paris, and was reportedly thrilled by it.  Death of Socrates was hailed as a clarion call, pointing out the oppression of the current aristocratic regime.  France was reeling as the Assembly of Notables had just been dissolved and the prisons were filled with prisoners and many reformers had fled into exile.  The great English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds was struck by the painting calling it “in every sense perfect”.

The Work: The Death of Socrates

This masterpiece was commissioned on the eve of the French Revolution by the Trudaine de Montigny brothers, advocates of an open society and economic system.  David held Socrates to be a philosophical father-figure who was unjustly condemned by an oppressive government.  Following his condemnation in trial, Socrates was offered the means to escape execution by fleeing into exile.  He scornfully dismissed the idea, preferring to be offered up as a sacrifice to higher principal.  David contrasts the firmly controlled Socrates with his wilting disciples and followers.  He uses shadow, texture and highlights to create a clear call for self-control and nobility in the midst of adversity.

Plato is portrayed slumped at the end of the bed while Crito grasps his teacher’s leg and only they among the disciples seem to have a grip on their emotions.  Socrates reaches for the fatal cup of hemlock while still exhorting his pupils to excellence with the left forefinger pointed upwards stressing his admonition.  This dramatic piece culminated the trends that had been converging in David’ life.

The artist’s life:

Jacques-Louis David was born in 1748 Paris and was the foremost of the French Neoclassicists, in the opinion of many critics.  His efforts were very influential in turning tastes from Rococo towards the realistic depiction of historical scenes, which was the hallmark of Neoclassicism.  Orphaned at an early age, Jacques-Louis David was raised by prosperous uncles who begrudgingly allowed him to attend the Royal Academy.  On his fourth try, David won the Prix de Rome in 1774.  He went to Italy the next year and avidly drank in all the classical images and was overwhelmed by the art in Pompeii.  From this point, David was devoted to the “eternal concepts” of the Classics.

Returning to Paris in 1780, David was quickly recognized as a genius, if an eccentric one.  He was given lodgings in the Louvre at royal expense and married a rich heiress.  He was commissioned to paint Oath of the Horatti and he went to Rome to do so.  Returning to France, David joined in the political discussions which were rapidly moving the kingdom in the direction of revolution.

Jacques-Louis David continued to produce revolutionary art in the Neoclassical manner until his death in 1825.  He was devoted first to Robespierre and then to Bonaparte.  His masterpieces include Patroclus, Oath of the Horatii, Death of Marat, Intervention of the Sabine Women, Napoleon Crossing the Alps, Coronation of Napoleon,  Paris and Helen, Leonidas at Thermopylai and the Anger of Achilles.  In the entire history of art, few have had such an impact as Jacques-Louis David.

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