The French artist Jacques-Louis David is famous for the history of art with The Death of Marat. On 17 February, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York opened Jacques-Louis David: The Radical Cartographer, showcasing a life of mastering great artistic and political divisions– from his birth in Paris in 1748 to his death in exile in Brussels in 1825. His work captures the suffering and vision of a nation that still resonates today. He sat in the revolutionary parliament, participated in the design of the new republic, and in 1792 proudly voted to send King Louis XVI of France to the guillotine.
The exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York brings together more than 80 works on paper by the main promoter of French neoclassicism, spanning his youthful study of Roman art, the fall of the "Jacobin" period, the creation of heroic images of Napoleon, and his forced exile in Brussels during the Bourbon Restoration.
David, The Death of Socrates, 1787, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
As a youth, you are ambitious and try to change the world; as an artist, you are accepted to the most prestigious academies and win the favor of top collectors; but if your country is suffering from cascading crises, what can art do?
And when the world changes, how far will you go? Maybe all the way to the temple of power, where you experience unexpected things. When your allies execute their enemies, you applaud them; and when they themselves are murdered, you honor them as martyrs. You'll end up in jail, begging to pick up a paintbrush and record a country that longs to forget you.
David, The Head of the Dead, Jean Paul Mara, 1793
It is also because of your records that art history has not forgotten you, Jacques-Louis David.
David portrayed the French Revolution from the perspective of an artist and moralist. It was you who, in the 1780s, abandoned the lightness and joy of the Rococo style and extracted the language of serious history painting from classical works; when the "Bastille", a symbol of the French autocratic dynasty, was attacked, he directed the classical stories of the Roman era into current affairs images and expressed real life directly with a paintbrush.
David, "Androma's Lamentations for the Dead Husband Hector", 1782 (oil painting exhibited at the Shanghai Museum)
What is discussed here is not just a creative soul, but the influence of great artists who were in the same era as David on future generations. He sat in the revolutionary parliament, participated in the design of the new republic, and in 1792 proudly voted to send King Louis XVI of France to the guillotine.
David, The Coronation, circa 1804-1805
It was the first exhibition to focus on David's works on paper, most of which are hidden in the Louvre. It is also an academic feat, with exhibits from numerous institutions and private collections, and even some works from recent discoveries and debuts. These works can help experts interpret how David prepared sketches and created immortal works. For the wider public, exhibitions force us to think hard about the real power behind the work – that art not only reflects history, but also plays an important role in it.
David, The Death of Socrates, 1782
David, The Death of Socrates, 1786
David, The Sitting Old Man (Plato) and a Standing Young Man (Sketch of the Death of Socrates), circa 1786-1787
David's work is a response to political turmoil and social transformation, and if his oil paintings such as The Death of Mara become static monuments and enter art history textbooks, then works on paper are the product of artistic experimentation and innovation, extending their creative process and directly tracing the relationship between his art and changing political and social trends.
David, The Triumph of the French People, 1794
David never approved of painting as an object on the wall of a collector, for whom the work was an extension of the mind, a springboard for the imagination, and a means of self-fulfillment. Nor is his art detached, but at the center of the storm. He was regarded as the "visual storyteller" of the French Revolution and played an important role in the Revolution. After a few incidents, David spent the last decade in exile. However, the pictorial legacy he left behind was enormous—he was a practitioner of neoclassicism, turning the fanatical Rococo decorativism of art towards a solemn depiction of Greek and Roman mythology.
David, A Group of Characters Inspired by "Leonidas at the Hot Springs Pass", 1817
Although David focuses on the distant past, his work is seen as a milestone towards modernity. In fact, from ancient times to the present, artists have been depicting contemporary events, but always covering their purpose with a broader framework such as classicism and symbolism. But all this changed with the French Revolution, which shattered the idols of the past, without kings and without God.
As art historian Timothy James Clark said of David's most famous work, The Death of Marat: "There is nothing to draw upon—no established content, no substance and theme, no form, no past available." ”
Clark argues that after David's political paintings, he could never return to the canonical and allegorical perspective. That's probably right.
David, Fables of the Nantes Revolution, circa 1789–1790
The exhibition focuses more on David in the history of art than on his place in history. By focusing on his work on paper and showing the way he works, he achieves what curator Perrin Stein calls "hard-won triumphs."
The Death of Socrates, in the Metropolitan Museum's collection, is one of David's most famous works, showing that even after taking poison, philosophers continue to teach with composure. Here, it is exhibited along with many sketches and early sketches, and the public can see the birth of the masterpiece.
David, The Oath of the Brothers of Horace, circa 1782
David, The Oath of the Brothers of Horace, circa 1784-1785
In the exhibition, you can also see the study of "The Oath of The Horatii", the changes in composition, the adjustment of angles, the evolution of colors are all shown in sketches, and sometimes, David will rearrange the scene with the help of a telescope, we see a vision in our hearts, and frame by frame becomes the focus. When this work was painted, five years before the French Revolution, the tense political situation of this period can be seen.
David, Children and Caretakers of Horace (Sketch of the Characters of the Oath of the Brothers of Horace), 1785
David, Sabine (The Oath of the Horace Brothers) Character Sketch, 1785
The Oath of the Horace Brothers is actually a commission from the royal family, telling the parable of loyalty to the country, in fact, it was originally discussed that David would depict the surviving Holatius returning home to find his sister cursing Rome because his fiancé had been killed, and he had killed her for fear that Rome would be cursed. Sketches depicting this scene show Horatius raising his sword and his sister lying down beside him. But in the end, David did not paint the agreed scene, but showed a progressive view. He believed that the original theme could not convey the message of public responsibility, and that patriotism could not go to the opposite side of human nature.
David, The Death of Camilla, circa 1781 (sketch for The Oath of the Brothers of Horace)
David, The Death of Camilla, 1781 (sketch for The Oath of the Brothers of Horace)
Instead, David's next theme chose "The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons." In this tragic work, David highlights his personal image. In a study in the exhibition on "The Woman Sitting and Lamenting," the contrast between a strong arm and a sad face can be clearly felt. The exhibition also brings together sketches and finished manuscripts of Paris and Helen, not only showing the subtle changes in David's creative process, but also the joy of the viewer changing from black and white to color.
David, Paris and Helen, circa 1775-1780
David, Paris and Helen, circa 1782–1786
David, Paris and Helen, circa 1786-1787
These sketches do not only show David's painting process, they also have their own independent charm, reminding people of unfinished beauty. The most obvious example is the Declaration of the Tennis Court (aka The Oath of the Tennis Court), a rally to explore new models of governance and an unfinished work. The course of the revolution left some visions behind and shelved in ink.
The revolution failed, but David's paintings endured, and the lines arced in eternity.
David, "Declaration of the Tennis Court" represents the combo chart, circa 1790-1791
David, Declaration of the Tennis Court, 1791
Attached: Jacques-Louis Grand Sanitary Flat
Foundation Building (1764-1780)
When David was 9 years old, due to the death of his father, he was left in Paris to be raised by two uncles. In the mid-1760s, he entered the studio of Joseph Marie Vien, a professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In his early years of studying painting, he experienced setbacks, including three failures to win the Prix de Rome (a scholarship for young French artists to study painting in Italy).
David, The Sitting Male Nude, circa 1774-1775
However, in 1774, David won the fourth "Rome Prize" and arrived in Rome in 1775. He began to record the city's vast artistic wealth in sketchbooks. Looking at it now, this large amount of material collected for future use seems deliberate, and David at that time already had his own ambitions to reinvent French art.
David, "Head Study (The Young Man with the Laurel Garland)," circa 1775-1780
David, The Landscape of a Carriage Crossing a Mountain Pass (Roman Album, vol. 10, p. 17), circa 1775–1780
During his time in Italy, his style underwent a huge change, and the process of change can be traced back from the time marked in the work. In particular, several sketches from 1779 show an exploration of his painting ideas, which draw inspiration from antiquity, including themes, figure modeling, composition, and so on.
David, Rome Album No. 8, completed in 1826, with most drawings completed in 1775-1780
David, Rome Album No. 4, completed in 1826, with most drawings completed from 1775 to 1780
Rising Star (1780-1789)
Returning to Paris in 1780, David soon received membership in the Royal Academy of Arts in Paris, and as an art institution under the monarchy, the Royal Academy of Arts was assigned to the monarch for teaching and exhibitions. David's work, submitted to the Academy's biennial salon exhibition, has taken on the characteristics of flat composition and sculptural figures, heralding a strong neoclassical style. His works The Oath of the Horatii and The Death of Socrates soon became classics and his reputation grew.
David, Caracalla Kills Her Brother Gaita in Her Mother's Arms, 1782
David, The Ghost of Septimus Severus Appears before Caracalla After Geita's Murder, circa 1783
In 1782, he married Marguerite Charlotte Pécoul and had four children. With the success of his work in public exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts, students flocked to the city, many of whom became the great painters of the next generation. By the end of the 18th century, David had a firm position in the field of art, but the Revolution that began in 1789 brought great turmoil and opportunities to French artists.
David, Marchus Attilius Regulus Goes to Carthage, circa 1786
Revolutionary Artist (1789-1799)
The Revolution of 1789 transformed France. David was delighted with change, and he had long been harsh on the monarchy's art management, leading the reform of the Academy of Arts, which he saw as an undemocratic, elitist institution, and joined the "Jacobins" who advocated "extreme egalitarianism."
The existing art patronage system was abolished, and what kind of works would artists paint to express the earth-shaking changes that took place at that time? David did not depict a historical legend, but celebrated the victory of the revolution and commemorated the martyrs of the revolution. In order to serve the young republic founded in 1792, he even used his talents for routine tasks such as designing uniforms for officials.
David, "A Study by Dubois-Cransey and Robespierre (Declaration of the Tennis Court"),, circa 1790-1791
The year 1794 was one of the bloodiest phases of the French Revolution, when the internal struggles of the Jacobins tended to isolate them, and the people began to oppose the policy of terror. The Thermidorian coup overthrew Robespierre's dictatorship and beheaded him. David was arrested along with other fallen Robespierre allies, but during his sentence and after his release the following year, he reinvented his reputation through artistic activities.
David, Jean-Bon-Saint-André, 1795
Napoleonic era (1799-1816)
After his release in 1795, David spent several years completing a large oil painting, The Intervention of the Sabine Women (in the collection of the Louvre, Paris), a work derived from ancient Roman mythology, whose purpose was interpreted as calling for reconciliation with a country that had been divided by the revolution and its aftermath.
David, "Hecilla Surrounded by Sabine Women and Children," circa 1795
David, The Sabine Woman kneeling and holding up the baby, circa 1796-1797
David, The Warrior on Horseback, 1796
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was born in Corsica, quickly came to power. David seems to have concluded that his path to greater glory would depend on large-scale thematic creations that made him famous in the 1780s. To this end, he decided to link himself to Napoleon's fate and carefully "arranged" the glorious coronation ceremony for the general who ascended to the throne.
David, Napoleon Crowns Himself, 1805
David, Queen Josephine, circa 1804–1805
David, The Distribution of the Eagle Flag, circa 1809-1810
In addition to singing the praises of imperial exploits as Napoleon's chief painter, he also returns to his perennial source of inspiration, classical stories. He carefully selected and developed his subjects as a means of implicit commentary on contemporary society, which was also his long-standing habit.
David, Leonidas at the Spa Pass, 1813
Artist in exile (1816–1825)
In 1816, a series of military defeats led to the fall of the Napoleonic regime and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. David, who openly opposed the Restoration, was exiled by the new government, and spent his last decade in exile in Brussels.
David, The Prisoner, circa 1816–1822
David, The Judges Before Furyn (a Greek prostitute), c. 1816–1820
He occasionally sent several paintings back to Paris, but for the most part his later paintings showed a personal focus. He painted portraits of his family, but also some mysterious sketches. These sketches depict the period of David's greatest fame, but they are fragmented, like unfettered memories floating on paper.
David, The Four Figures, 1821
David, Eugène David and His Wife Anne-Teresa, 1825
Note: The exhibition lasts until May 15, this article is compiled from the website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the New York Sun, the New York Times, and the pictures in this article are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.