French Artists

Since France is home to many museums, and French is one of the most widely known languages in the world – one can only expect that a whole lot of art in this world is thanks to the contribution of famous French artists throughout history. Let’s take a look at some of the most famous artists from France, some information about them and their most famous works. Surprisingly, most of the famous artists from France are from the “Impressionist” period.

Claude Monet: 1840-1926

Monet is no doubt one if not the most famous French artist(s) of all time – in fact, he is claimed to be the founder of impressionism. Originally, Monet was born in Paris but he moved with his family to Normandy in the year 1845. Aside from spending his later years in Normandy, he also resided in London and Holland for short periods of time. It wasn’t until 1980 when Monet purchased his final home in Giverny – where he would spent the remaining years of his life.

In regards to his painting style, Monet was especially interested in the effects of light and would regularly paint the same scene in different lighting conditions (or different times of the day). Looking at just one example, Monet painted around 20 different versions of the “Rouen Cathedral,” from dawn until dusk. Monet’s most famous French paintings include his “Water-lilies” series as well as his depictions of his home and gardens in Giverny.

Paul Cézanne: 1839-1906

Dubbed the father of modern French art, the paintings of Cézanne (who was a native of Aix en Provence), were extremely influential in the development of 20th century art (including Cubism and Fauvism). Like Monet, Cézanne is also considered one of the most famous French artists and is also known as a “post-impressionist” painter.

Post-impressionist style of painting is similar to impressionism (including the use of vivid colors with a thick application of paint), but it differentiates from its limitations (such as the lack of form in impressionist art). His most famous paintings include his “Mont St. Victoire” and “Bathers” series. A little side note on Cézanne: not only did he have a bad temper, but he was also a slow painter hence the reason his subjects look tired in the paintings.

Henri Matisse: 1869-1954

Matisse was another important and famous French artist from the 20th century – he was dubbed the “master of color,” due to his vivid use of color in his paintings. Matisse is highly considered as one of the leaders of the Fauvist movement – which, simply explored the use of color as a symbolic means rather than just for the use of depicting scenes.

Matisse had an extremely unique artistic career with unlimited possibilities – he painted in many different styles ranging from impressionist to abstract. Mainly, his paintings are known for his vivid use of colors, thus the title “master of color.”

There are many more French artists that have contributed beautiful artistic pieces into the many museums of France, including Alexandre Cabanel and Edgar Degas just to name a few.