How Figurative Painting (almost) Died
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ค. 2024
- Is Figurative Painting dead? Surely this expression is kind of excessive, maybe on purpose. I think that the best way to phrase it is to say that figuration in painting has been on life support since the second half of the twentieth century. How did this happen and is there hope for the future of figuration ?
The twentieth century was the age of excess in art, everything had to be extreme : extreme concept, extreme provocation, extreme innovation. Figurative painting was swept away and barely survived.
If figurative painting has a destiny for the future of art, it will build up slowly but surely. We’ll see what happens in the next decades but I know that figurative painting has a role to play, artists just have to claim their due.
What do you think ? Do you think that figurative painting will have a new Renaissance and become relevant again for the mainstream art world ? Do you think that it will stay a niche art form, reserved for a small number of enthusiast or do you think that it has the potential to become popular again, both for the elites and the general public ? Let me know in the comments section below.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:56 How figurative painting was rejected
02:14 Peindre avec son temps
05:36 The double Crisis of the 19th century
07:11 Why continue to paint ?
13:26 New Perspectives ?
All my pictures found on :
artsandculture.google.com
Arcadia Gallery :
arcadiacontemporary.com/
Like and subscribe !
***
➡ Thank you for supporting me on Patreon!
/ florentfarges
➡ LEARN OIL PAINTING - A 7 HOURS VIDEO COURSE :
www.florentfarges.com/the-pra...
➡ ADVANCED PAINTING COURSE ON COLOR AND PAINT - A 9HR COURSE :
www.florentfarges.com/the-art...
➡ Free Resources for artists :
www.florentfarges.com/education
✔ Social media :
Facebook :
/ florentfargesarts
Instagram :
/ florentfarges.arts
Support me on PATREON and access real-time tutorials with commentary (and more) :
/ florentfarges
If you want to connect with me, the best option is to use the contact form on my website.
Write me :
www.florentfarges.com/contact
***
About me (bio) :
Website :
www.florentfarges.com
I am an artist living and working in France. I learned the techniques of the Atelier of the Nineteenth century and now I try to share some of my knowledge with the rest of the world, because I think that beauty still has an important role to play in artistic creation. I do mostly drawing and oil painting, and my goal is always to provide techniques, thoughts and explanations that can be useful to anyone, from beginners to more advanced artists.
***
Thanks for watching !
Make sure to watch until the end to see my perspective for the future of Figurative art. Let me know what you think in the comments below ! Thanks for watching ! Joy and inspiration to you.
Nice
As long as humanity survives, so will figurative painting.
Facts!
Figure is more a reflection of our humanity , we relate to the body , as personal, as a fetish of love
As it does every other genre of painting.
As a young artist learning figurative techniques, this makes me feel even more encouraged. A part of me thought perhaps I must go in a more abstract direction to be validated as a artist. But I know what I must and want to create now. Thank you
I don’t know any schools or universities in Australia that continue to teach technique - only theory. If you can find a good teacher who is prepared to help you develop your practical ability as an artist, you are very fortunate.
You're one of the reasons why I still geek out and do traditional oil painting, among Cesar Santos,
Andrew Tischler, Esao Andrews, Diego Dayer, Miguel Escobar, Paul John Reid, Guillermo Lorca Garcia, Roberto Ferri etc. I just wish you can do a video about The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in the future cuz they are the ones who got me started with oil painting.
I really admire your ability to so clearly express your informed view. This was an amazingly articulate description of the dilemma facing painters from the nineteenth century onward.
It takes so much time and dedication to do figurative painting and those that control the market are impatient for inventory, not art. In my opinion, the market openly embraced modern art because it was cheap and fast to make. Just like we embraced fast food in lieu of finely prepared meals. A single Caravaggio took months to complete, modern art can be completed in one session and sold by the end of the week. Artists have always been slaves to their patrons: The Catholic Church, European Royalty, Captains of Industry, and now Christie's. Love the "battlefield of ruins" line. I couldn't agree more.
Whe have try to kill painting many time, but painting survive and reborn again and again. Painting his searching for beauty and transcendence, expression and cohérence.Its not a matter of réalisme, figurative or abstraction, painting will survive anyway. Its a fundamental action, like singing, dancing and making music…
Its also a lot of knowledge behind, golden number, sacred géométrie, art of composition, harmonisation of the forms, colors, tonality, atonality etc…
Painting is part of humanity !
Tanks for this video.
Thank you so much for this... I live in a country where figurative painting is dying out and as someone who loves painting figures, it's been a struggle. I tried going the subversive route but it didn't give the same satisfaction. I'm back to painting realistic figures and I'm happy with what I'm creating as it tells stories of things happening around me.
Make art that makes you happy, it will work out in the end ! 👍
I am a figurative/surrealist artist who is constantly told, "Nobody will buy that." So I had to ask myself do I change styles in the hope of attracting buyers or contuse painting what I feel? I returned to something I've said many times and that is, "The hardest part of making art is developing one's own style, a style which is original to yourself and enables you to represent what it is you, as an individual, is trying to say." My art is mine. My style belongs to me and I speak the language I need to speak via my art. Keep going. Overcome whatever fears you have. Surrender would not only be total but also devastating to your creativity.
Thank you for a wonderful video💖🌷✨ I'm a budding figurative artist currently in art school, daily vomiting internally over the ridiculous abstract-only assignments. I don't hate abstract art, but I hate the notion of it being somehow superior to figurative art instead of simply a different kind of expression. I will be creating beautiful, important and informative art with meaning and purpose and stories, and your video helped me abandon my thaughts of giving up, again- Thank You💖🌷🌿✨ Also, I think everyone is low key sick of abstraction and pointless, ugly conceptuals, but this era happened, it was necessary, but now the figurative phoenix if art will rise from the ashes roaring with haunting beauty and touch souls and awaken mankind to see its true nature, purpose and destiny💖🌿🌷✨
I feel like I was born at the wrong time. I’m a realist, figurative painter but got no instruction in painting classes when I went to school (80’s). I tried doing more conceptual and abstract work for awhile, but it didn’t hold any interest for me. I basically stopped painting for a couple of decades and still struggle with painting due to the “lesser value label” from the art world. I just paint for myself and do a couple commissions of dogs here and there. I wish I could tap into the curiosity in creating art that I had as a kid. I’m working on it though. 🙂 Thanks for the video.
That parallels my life with art very closely. I'm trying to get back to it after leaving it in the late 90s.
@@Danthehorse maybe if enough of us start up again, we’ll create a ripple in the art world 🙂 And if not, at least we are creating something.
@@ShelleyHannaArt absolutely. 🙂
Me too! Went to a prestigious northeastern college and majored in art but got very little actual instruction. Abandoned painting for almost 50 years and only started back 5 years ago with botanical art. I get more instruction on TH-cam etc than i ever did at school.
@@cockatielnation5425 great to hear you are back to painting. It’s really disappointing the abysmal instruction we got back then. I often look back to my painting instructor and wonder what he got paid for. He was terrible. I get more instruction on TH-cam as well. Good for you 👏👏👏
I have a feeling that figurative painting will survive all other art forms by the end of the day.
This is a great discussion. I disagree with some points though. I don’t think a painting has to tell a story. I think it’s ok for it to just be beautiful for beauty’s sake. I think it’s ok for artists to draw and people to enjoy apaintings whose job is nothing more and nothing less that hang on a wall as decor and make the home a little lovelier.I also find that brush strokes and other impressionistic elements are attractive to me. Because they seem to give a feeling of effortlessness and abandon. My own personality is not detail oriented and more free flowing, so that may have something to do with it. painstakingly drawn realistic paintings make me a little uncomfortable. I am glad we have such a vast variety of art so everyone can find something that they enjoy.
Exactly... If you want to tell a story you are probably better off with a pen.
@@giovannisiano574 I don't agree with that. A painting can tell a story in a way that cannot be done with a pen. But I do agree that a painting does not *have* to tell a story.
@@H3nry488 Perhaps, to be more precise, a painting presents you with an image which can hint you to build a story up. It is up to you to do it or remaining at the visual impact alone. In any case, painting is a visual language, so primary scope IMHO is to emotion you visually.
The story is simply "beauty" like you mentioned.
@@giovannisiano574 😂
What a fine, thoughtful, and rare discussion. Thanks so much for this.
I got my BFA (in painting) in the 70's when abstraction was typical of art instruction. Still, we had to take figure drawing / painting, etc. But, you could still succeed even if you were not particularly talented at realism if you were creative / ingenious enough. I also took architectural drafting, but found abstract painting to be the most liberating discipline for me.
Shortly thereafter digital art became accessible. Now it is huge, but not well accepted as legitimate.
After receiving my BFA I became a photographer and frankly, hated it. But, my colleagues thought I was something (lucky? talented? skilled? I dunno ...) because I paid the rent via "art".
I became interested in computer graphics and ended up getting a MSCS, giving up professional photography, and having a long and lucrative career as a software developer. I continued to paint along the way, but lost my edge over the years ... perhaps as a result of sheer lack of energy as I entered my senior years.
But, I think also due to lack of purpose. During my years as a photographer I became interested and even practiced various forms of "antique photography" from daguerreotypes to wet and dry plate tintypes. It was quite clear to me that photography had displaced painting and left painters wondering what their raison d'etre was. Digital art has only intensified that dilemma.
BUT, it was not long before I realized that photography (and digital art) has actually freed painters from the chains of representation. Anything goes now! Realism, abstraction, whatever. To resurrect an old phrase: If it feels good - do it!
In my country, Ireland, it seems actually that figurative painting is on the comeback...most paintings in the country's most prestigious annual exhibition are decent figurative realist works. No, art students are still not taught good drawing skills etc, however there's no big push/pressure to paint in abstract styles..many art college graduates have had successful realist careers. Hopefully people have just grown out of the abstract phase and are returning to an appreciation of academic styles. I very much believe in contemporary/modern art, but in the sense of subject matter rather than style. It's a waste of painterly skill I believe to just paint boring meaningless stuff, one has to strive to capture both the beauty and ugliness of our time on canvas in equal proportions.
Same over in my country. More and more successful exhibitions include figurative work. The figurative and classical is getting more often a bigger audience than the huge abstract galleries with massive state fundings.
Could you give me some names of contemporary realist Irish painters? :)
Florent I genuinely salute you for making this video, definitely an eye opener, the taste has drastically changed - i agree figurative art needs a come back a new movement is needed
Florent, thank you for your very thoughtful and articulate video on what I think is an incredibly important topic. I think figurative art is making a comeback. Over the last 20 years or so more and more ateliers have opened, at least in the US, and the fact that they have students shows a renaissance in interest in classical training and figurative art. As someone already mentioned, The Art Renewal Center is helping to bring greater awareness and appreciation to figurative art, and Sotheby's did their first auction in conjunction with The Art Renewal Center of figurative works. So I think the movement is happening and will continue to grow. Florent, you explained the history so beautifully, and added your own valuable perspective. It was a great video. Thank you so much!
Glad you liked it, I also think figurative art is making a comeback, hope to be a part of it in France, we'll see 😊👍
Looking back, I think if I'd tried out a professional art career right after high school in the late 90s, it would have been the wrong time. As it is, I just started doing art again in 2018, and I think the timing was perfect for doing figurative art professionally. Traditional ateliers are popping up everywhere in the past few years, the Art Renewal Centre and other major groups are pushing hard to bring figurative work back to popularity on the world's stage, and only weeks ago Sotheby's had it's first major contemporary figurative artwork auction in decades (as far as I understand it.) I don't think the question is if or when figurative realism will make a comeback. The time as now, as reflected in your demonstration of major artist such as Nick Alm and Brad Kunkle, etc. And I couldn't be happier.
It's already happening. There's the Evolve Artist program that is widely known. In my own city, I'm teaching exactly this. Figurative painting and real skills. The other art programs in town are very play-date do what you want kind of things. Everyone's hungering for the skills that were once known.
Exactly! Modern abstract art schools are just a straight up scam, they teach nothing.
People were riding horses for thousands of years, today that's just a hobby. Same goes for the classic figurative painting.
I am so happy to have my own feelings about figurative art shared so eloquently! I am a peasant, painting my uneducated life away in obscurity...but at heart I am a lion with a modern Venus ready to burst out of my brush! Yay! Long live the Figure!! Keep up the CPR!, Breathe, breathe!!
Very interesting discussion. I started out drawing representational subject matter; I drew subjects that I saw with my own eyes, man made structures, nature, portraits and figures. The last few years my painting has become more abstracted than ever. That direction has been a natural progression for me. I've never seen an artists work progress in the opposite direction. I would love to see an example of that.
The important thing is that we painters learn our craft in order to express ourselves. When we utilize figurative painting, it should be to paint about our time...not about the past.
OMG, the best EVER statement about so much contemporary art: "...if the colors match the curtains, it must be a great painting"! May I also say that I truly appreciate your videos, both for their contents and because you present your subject so beautifully and succinctly.
Wow! Did you hear me shouting from Oregon? You really just nailed it, the whole thing. NFTs are an insult to everyone involved, and I'll lose my mind if I think about them anymore. Figurative, actual building of an artwork from conception through composition and completion; that will never die because it just involves the viewer on deeper levels than a stupid can of crap. (Well, one could argue about the depths that came from). I totally agree about realistic figurative painting enjoying a stunning revival, and you my dear, are at the front of this. Yay! :-) Thanks for that great video.
What is nft?
That was so well said! Bravo! As a fledgling artist myself this is something I’ve struggled with, particularly seeking out the proper technical education to do with figurative painting and drawing - something barely touch on in my Fine Art - Painting Major - University degree - and I’ve mainly taught myself from books of wonderful artist like Arisitides, Leffel, and Schmid, among others. People (friends and family mainly) say “why don’t you paint something that will sell?”, simple answer is: I don’t like it. I paint and draw what I enjoy and see around me, and I have sold works and get commissions, mainly through word of mouth, but for representation ‘they’ (agents/galleries) want “big” and “abstract”. I think people are quietly craving the return of figurative art, but they are too afraid to sound ‘out of touch’ or ‘tasteless’ as the galleries and selling agents push the abstract as being amazing and so wonderful. They feel like they have to hang an abstract piece in their home so they are seen to be ‘in the know’. There, that was my little rant! Thank you so much for your wonderful insight and videos! Mia (from Melbourne AU). 😀
Hey Mia, you would find many kindred spirits in the Victorian Artists Society as well as a number of private ateliers in Melbourne. Art colleges/unis are where you learn about commerce of art not fine art per se (based on my own experience in the Victoria college of art).
@@wenren7067 Thank you! Yes, I’ve managed to find some ‘niche’ art schools that teach ‘some’ of the technical knowledge but not enough… I’ve been seeking out short courses with others that have gone to art school at the Florence art Academy etc to try to get some of that knowledge via them. It gives me bits and pieces and I’m always searching for more! 😃 I will look up the Vic Artists Society and get on to them too. Thank you for the tip!
Non mais mr farges merci pour cette vidéo, ça fait trop plaisir de savoir qu'on n'est pas seul dans cette idéologie, et je crois qu'on est dans la nouvelle renaissance de l'art et tu l'as si bien détaillé " PEINDRE AVEC SON TEMPS " ce qui pourra remettre l'art figuratif en scène. Merci encore pour cette vidéo 🙏🏾
Merci beaucoup Charles !
Very good topic. Thank you for bringing it up.
Listen to you talking about this made me feel less outsider... Here, in a country in the north of Europe, the figurative paintings have somewhat been out of "trend" in the country's art fields, art schools, etc. Abstract arts, contemporary arts are everywhere while figurative arts can be found mostly at fine art museums (by famous and long-gone artists).
I totally agree with Florent that "figuration in painting has been on life support since the second half of the twentieth century". However, I still have hope for a better future for figurative paintings and figurative painters. :)
All the craftsmen people are dead too. You never see a blacksmith these days. Related to your point about photography, prior to 1900, physicians and all natural scientists knew how to draw. It was fundamental to their education, especially when learning about anatomy or botany.
Anyway, you're doing an excellent job bringing the figure back to the forefront of quality art. Maybe it's time for the resurgence of ateliers, and you should have one in your name.
Farriers are doing amazing blacksmithing
You can still study drawing techniques if you are studying medicine or science in some universities. It’s quite a popular elective at the university of Melbourne
I found your comments fascinating. I’m one who thought figurative painting was passé, and so I tried to paint abstract. But I just couldn’t do it! I want to paint figuratively, particularly older women (now that I am one!) Although I paint in acrylics, not oils, you have validated my own inclination, and I now plan to follow it vigorously. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts.
As a digital artist, I think it's more a change about "beauty" and also medium. Lot of figurative painter, like me, you and artists you present at end, paint darker and deep subject. No more nude young girls with angels or complex multi figures mythological scene. But just a truth and reality of our contemporary world.
Lot of students also skip composition and storytelling since they aren't really taught in Art School. We now focus on creativity and sometimes absurdities.
Also, medium is a game changer, specially with digital art and help of 3D (for anatomy and complexes poses) who the learning curve is clearly faster than traditional (oil for example). So yeah, since they still have humans in this planet, I'm not worried about figurative painting. But I think in the "unconscious collective", it will stay a niche for real passionate and true lover of Art.
Interesting points about medium as a game changer, thanks for sharing your thoughts ! 🔥
Ich danke dir für dieses Video. Das mit der Nahtoterfahrung ist ein wunderbares Bild. Ich teile deine Gedanken, was die Wiedergeburt der figurativen, oder „klassischen“ Malerei angeht und bin schon auch ein wenig stolz, Teil dieser unserer Zeit zu sein und als Maler vielleicht auch etwas dazu bei tragen zu können, die Malerei zu retten ;-) . Eines lässt sich nämlich nicht verleugnen; das die KUNST ohne die Malerei auch irgendwann sterben würde.
Ein Gemälde, figurativ oder realistisch, lässt uns in Stille verweilen, wir werden ruhig und unsere Gefühle und Gedanken sind in höchstem Maße aktiv. Da lenkt uns keine Bewegung ab, keine Effekthascherei im Farbenrausch, es knallt nichts und wenn wir uns erschrecken, dann nachhaltig und aus tiefster Seele. Wirkliche Malerei zu betrachten und zu wissen, das es „nur“ eine Technik ist, ein Handwerk das, erst wenn es jemand beherrscht, ihm die Möglichkeit gibt sein Talent zu entfalten, ist immer wieder so, als würde man sich ein ganz klein Wenig verlieben.
Ahh - I enjoyed this so very much. Your insight and commentary are incredibly valuable as I am navigating through and finding my place in today's art world. Thank you for sharing.
i'm loving these videos!! Making me think things i've never thought! Thank you
One can see you have researched the topic thoroughly for which I highly compliment you. Great food for thought and to improve my self.
Thank you for putting some titles to my unspoken frustrations with modern painting. “Brushstrokes as subject matter. Impasto as subject matter. Surface as subject matter. Etc.” Also thank you for turning me onto a few new artist names to follow in my Instagram!
I always respect, admire, and enjoy the thoughts you share. Maybe my concept of figurative painting is too inclusive, but I feel it is alive and well. To be sure, there is a strong counter-trend (to put it gently) in the celebrity art market, but as best I'm able to see the larger market and taste trends, figurative work has a strong presence. Just saying, maybe the present and future of figurative painting is quite hopeful! (This is not disagreement, but an attempt at context from a different perspective.)
Thank you for your analysis and insights. I value them greatly.
Figurative painting takes talent and dedication. Today, the museum takes everything sacred out of painting and elevates it. They give preferences to degree holders. The masters degree at a university focuses on academic linguistic skills and studio is secondary. I would recommend studying under someone great, If you want to paint the figure or from life.
More degrees for the self centered secular artist, create more degenerate art with a academic way of describing one thing 10 different ways.
this is an interesting take on the state of where art is headed right now and I really enjoy your thoughts. thanks for the food for thought today
I believe figurative art never truly died out but with youtube I definetly think it's making a hefty comeback with fellas like you, Cesar Santos, SLEW, and many others are all bringing attention to principals of painting and drawing, and people are loving it. It's the same thing with 2D hand drawn animation, people are getting tired of simple designs made for puppet rigs. More and more folks want to learn to the level of art Disney had and Dreamworks had for their 2D films. I don't think any "traditional" technique will ever die out, there's always people who want to go into a field to learn something that seems "dead" to those who don't care for it.
I went briefly to two different animation colleges but absolutely dreaded both. One was always trying to force me to do weird abstract stuff and didn't truly teach animation. The other was forcing me to become a machine for companies without any artistry, just puppet rigs and cheap tricks to hash out work. With schools like that it's no wonder animation is where it is, neither really taught any fundamentals for animation. That being said, animation colleges are terrible but online there's many great real animation courses. 2D animation, figurative painting, even film photography won't die out just because of new inventions
Superb essay. Picks up where "The Shock of the New" ended. Well done Florent
Hi Florent Farges. I'm an artist myself, and like you, I love figurative paintings, Great insight.
Extremely clear analysis of the current situation- I agree with you in most of it. To look at the newest art trends in the worlds, in Paris and New York for example, leaves me empty and makes me think: "Where did most modern artist go wrong?" It seems, the soul has been exchanged for spectacularity and massive formats. We have to define a new expression of the inner values I guess. But thanks for your great presentation.
The rebirth of figurative easel painting was proclaimed in the 1980s. The end of minimalism and conceptual art. Major exhibitions, such as A New Spirit in Painting, London, 1981, featured painters such as Malcolm Morley and Georg Baselitz. Critics wrote of a Post Avant Garde and the Classical Sensibility of painters including Carlo Maria Mariani , Milet Andrejevic.
Well done, this is a superb article not only on figurative painting but also art history. Thank you
Wonderful presentation mr. Farges, I have painted people for four decades, at times struggling with relevant as we see people spending more time staring at glowing colorful imagery on phones. I am a barber and present my work in my salon. People do still enjoy and admire the skills of painters from my perspective, maybe more as an admired skill than subject itself. My opinion anyway. Wonderful presentation again! Enjoyed.
Thank you kindly 🙏😊
Great video. I have recently taken up art, again (did a lot as a child, but not an adult). I am experimenting with lots of styles and subjects, but I am starting to realise that I really love figurative painting. This video has really got me thinking. I agree with what you are saying, and I think yes, there is a place for it, now and in the future. We just need good creative people (like yourself), to produce the best art they can, in the most creative styles and emotional level that they can, and the rest of the world will start to take notice and appreciate it, at some point (hopefully).
excellent presentation! i'm looking forward to more videos like this ! got to understand a lot more about the art world ! would love to hear more of your insights about nowadays contemporary artists
Figurative really pushes the strenghts of humanity to view humanity from the eyes of the artist. A world created, resembling their world, on a canvas. Hence it will survive but it has to be nurtured and cultivated back. Thank you. Very thought provoking.
What music to my ears. Technic is not taught anymore, and an over reliance on expression through mixed media. It is a joy to see a hardcore of artists that are fighting back, breaking down the walls of the 20th century asilum that was art.
Content is King. Thank you again and again ♡♡♡
Florent, merci si beaucoup pour le video excellent. I think what is missing today and what could be explored are two things: (1) why are you painting?; and (2) who is your audience? The resonating truly with your particular "why" makes a real connection to your fire within and you make your paintings really shine, regardless of subject; you'll imbue them with life. Being true to your "why" is crucial support in order to convey "what" you're trying to say. Think of singers who can emote and connect with their song and those who don't and, even if technically perfect, they are boring to listen to. Back to visual art, do you want to look at a perfectly painted "photo" that doesn't draw you in? A great painting could be deep and aim to tell you something, or it could simply be interesting by making you look at the subject differently... or even just thinking or feeling deeper than before. The piece should be "magnetic" and pull the audience in. The second, and specifically to one of the video's key points, select a subject of interest to people now and have them feel or think or consider something. You can challenge them if that's what you're feeling, but most of the paintings with the widest appeal have large parts that are appreciated by all people and not just acadaemics... that's why they're not dusty and fussy. Great video and thanks for making me think about what (and why) I do... I got several ideas to explore whilst watching your video! Cheers,
I really want to learn the figurative painting because I think that’s a really beautiful , I also admired your last painting with the lady who is glowing in the middle , respect !
Thank you so much 😀
Finally! A reasonable and truthful and common sense discussion of the subject of art and art history. Thank you.
LOVED this! But I need your definition for what you call "figurative painting". How does something with a more benign subject-matter fit in - like a realistic landscape?
I think when he refers to figurative work, he generally means all of the classical aspects which also includes landscapes.
Great discussion! I like that you put Art in perspective and the possibilities for figurative art evolution. As everything humans create it has embedded the natural cycle of constant change and transformation. It is time now for figurative art to experience its own. Thanks again!
Beautifully elaborated, really enjoyed it! Thank you!
Fugurative painting doesn't mean it has to be realistic. The impressionists, the fauvists, the abstracts...all can have figuration.
Exactly!
Great video. I am interested in this subject can you tell me the books to read related to this video and idea.
Sometimes I can appreciate the technical skill or imagination in an 'abstract' painting, or how a picture of 'nothing' still looks attractive in some way. I'm really tired though, from having to read an essay in order to understand what the heck I'm looking at.
Thank you very much for this. It was very thought-provoking. I think figurative painting is still alive but the digital world is where people spend much of their time now. I have seen a lot of beautiful art in video games.
A great rant, Florent! ❤❤ (Everything rang true to me. I have half a century of perspective on this. I'll take a long walk and think. Maybe I'll have some comments to make after.)
Thank you for the videos! I plan to take lessons soon. Let’s keep painting alive.
Thanks for another great talk of your! And, I DO hope figurative painting will comeback as I'm a big fan & not so much into contemporary art on the other hand I'm afriad.
Hopefully there will be a resurgence in figurative painting. I love the work of Malcolm Leipkie and Chris Guest.
During the 19 century in France the most highly regarded, successful , wealthy , acclaimed artist was one almost unheard of today. The writers of the history of art distort the facts to make impressionism seem to have taken over completely. Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier , despite the fame during his life time , (1815-91) has slipped into obscurity.
Je vis une vraie souffrance quand je vois l'état de l'art actuel: l'impression d'être un ovni ramené du passé.
J'ai voulu me former mais après contact avec les beaux arts en France, stupéfaction : les anciennes techniques ne sont plus enseignées...!
Un choc.
Pour l'avenir je me base sur un simple constat : l'oeuvre la plus visitée au monde est...la Joconde, l'incarnation ultime du figuratif ! Les musées ont aussi toujours énormément de succès, et quand je vois des gens venir du monde entier pour admirer des "vieux" tableaux... je me dis que tout n'est pas perdu et que ce n'est qu'une question de temps avant que la roue tourne.
As usual, you have given a great deal of thought and analysis of the topic. I suspect another factor is the change of cultural control that has taken place over the last 100 years. Certainly in the UK. after 1945 when the Arts Council set up - there has been a change of patronage. So many bodies are now composed of a narrow range of professional artist and academics who are keen to curate a certain story. Add to these the super rich who tend to buy what their financial advisors tell them at inflated prices, this is also the pattern of companies. Such works tend to be in corporate headquarters, or public galleries - few people would have the space for conceptual works or installations in their own homes. Even fewer, would hang them on their walls. There is a place for the still life, figurative painting or landscape in the homes of a wide variety of people. This is not the world of the academic, critic or cultural superiors who tend to sneer and look down on domestic taste. I think that one of the great engines for the revival of figurative art is the internet and TH-cam! How many artists have taken to the internet to teach or inspire - there seems to be no end of tuition or cultural enlightenment on offer. How come Julian Baumgarten gets millions of viewers for his restoration of paintings? The excellent film made by you, Ian Roberts and other talented people are inspiring so many. It would be interesting to see how many views log on to 'conceptual art' channels! Also in the UK the tradition of 'War Artists' is over a century old - the Imperial War Museum collection of 21st Century recording of recent events is worth a look.
Thank you for that insightful essay on the state of figurative art! Yes, you made a very good, accurate point about how the emergence of photography gave many artists a start; I wasn't aware until recently that such a great and towering master of the Academy like Ingres was using photographs towards the end of his life, and to his despair. I would say that the Impressionists and artists like Paul Cezanne George Seurat invented, or perfected new ways of visualizing the observed world to create, craft beautiful works of Art. Yes, it does seem that the twentieth century saw the visual arts being torn apart from every sort of "ism" possible, from Cubism to Abstract Expressionism, to Pop and, quasi, politically inspired, badly executed...rubbish! I attended art school back in the 1980s, where we did learn the fundamentals of creating well-crafted works of art, but as soon as we could, a lot of us were imitating so much of the pastiche, the hubris that was all the rage in SOHO (New York). I've had to put my artistic aspirations on the back burner, but now that I'm in a position to take early retirement, I've plans to take up pencils, brushes and canvass and jumping into the foray of creating art. Whether or not I will ever be "discovered" by a gallery or collector is not important to me; in fact, you made a good point in telling us that a very small minority, the financial and culturally elite, have had a strangle hold on what is exhibited and promoted. Point well taken! Personally, I could care less. However, an artist cannot live and work in a vacuum, but must be part of a community, a peer group of some kind. Well, I didn't mean to be so long-winded, but I really did enjoy listening to your lecture, and I enjoy watching your videos.
Excellent video with a lot of insightful comments - thank you Florent. I do think figurative art, which I love, is on the cusp of a resurgence but only time will tell how successful or otherwise it is. A lot may depend on what is being taught to the new emerging artists.
Well said! I totally agree. In France, unfortunately, where I live, a lot of the old knowledge was lost because it was banned in the twentieth century in art institutions to make place for modernism. Fortunately this knowledge survived but it will take time to be a part of mainstream art education again.
I resonate with this so much as a painter. I love figurative work but get stuck making abstract to present in a professional format. Although, I paint figuratively more than abstract anymore. I'd rather create for creating sake.
I expect a Renaissance of the figurative painting for one main reason: art schools have been accessible for many years now to people without a drop of talent and figurative painting requires ‘blood, sweat and tears’ in terms of technique. It will be only the best who will be able to present a masterfully painted figure with a back story…. Prime example for this is Norman Rockwell. He can paint, no doubt, but what is the most precious in his art and what he spent huge efforts in, was finding and presenting a story. A contemporary, relevant human story that is valid even now. Another example is Artemisia Gentileschi. No doubt she is classic as they come, but the facial expressions of her figures are valid nowadays as they are so deeply representative and exposing of the human nature. I long good figurative painting. The contemporary search for something new proved to be unsatisfying. Compare any Etruscan jewellery with the latest collections of Bulgari.
That might happen only in post apocalyptic world.
I agree with you 110 percent. My art American school is a disappointment because so little time is dedicated to learning figurative painting, drawing, and composition. Our galleries are full of postmodern art and sculptures. The few good figurative pieces in the galleries are never given awards. I don't believe we have one instructor who is a classical figurative artist. I am very tired of viewing soup cans glued to chicken wire, shopping carts filled with bricks, or painted trash taken from the city dump. People paid thousands of dollars to learn art in American colleges and the best they can do is to spray paint garbage.
interesting story/ies leading potentially to non boring paintings. Fast food is complemented today by slow food and „healthy/ier“ food trends trying to find a way forward and still including to cook what grandmothers cooked/ate. So with art I think I.e. struggling to find a „good“ path forward. I think that you are one of those talented/practiced painters who hit a chord with your video based on so many good comments from your audience. Authentic beauty representation will not die imo. Time will show where this will lead too re paintings in our „hyper..“ times without time.
I believe the need to draw, to represent in two dimensions our 3D world, is a fundamental need, preceding even the rise of consciousness in a child. It was my experience. I now, for example, draw with thread, doing embroidery from my imagination. The need to express in this way is simply part of our constitution, so good representation will always find a resonant heart and hearth. 🙏
my perspective as a young (18-20) digital artist, is that people in online digital art circles are very interested in figurative painting. illustrators can create stories that are relevant to today’s time. in my illustrations, i would like to represent people and stories that are not commonly seen. im not sure if anime and cartoon styles count as figurative..? but people seem interested in painting clear stories, they just use some shortcuts in style to convey stories at a faster rate (that i think is necessary because of how social media makes art a lot easier to view)
i think visual art has started to become absorbed into other forms of media (video games, movies, and comics). i feel this need for my art to be usable in another medium, like concept or character art for a video game or movie
Anna Weyant became famous with her traditional style paintings. But her paintings shows new compositions. From an amateur's view, I can do anything I like and there are not many classical realism amateur painters here in Korea, so that is the reason why I am going to do classical realism - do the rare thing.
You are one of my favourite painters Florent, I think you would have been a much respected master in the renaissance
Dear Florent, I have been following your chanel for a while and greatly enjoy your content. However, in this video you have surpassed yourself. British philosopher Roger Scruton has written extensively on the need for beauty and American cartoonist Saul Steinberg has ridiculed the new “Academy of The Avantgarde”. The fact is that you are absolutely right. The public is tired of what I call methonymic art, in which an artist concentrates on only a part of the whole, be it color, texture, brushstroke os simply a concept. As you said, there is an innate human need for narrative and representation. Keep up the good work!
A very courageous presentation, a nerver endings discassion. Because you talk a lot about Bouguereau, there is a video by William Graf that contemplates the part played by art dealers. In El Prado there are now new rooms where they exposed the paintings that had been out of sight for almost a century, as they were also in Paris,hidden, when I lived there, one wouldn't even hear about art pompier.
There’s always going to be figurative artists. To create great works of figurative art requires a lot of time and effort. I think that most of the young artists want quick results so they find other methods of expression. They shy away from formal figurative art education.
This is a very interesting topic that speaks to me a lot. I was once thaught in a class that there is only art BEFORE and AFTER Duchamp (speaking of his "readymades" shown in the video). It was told that since we live after Duchamp, so HAS our thinking in art to be, that all figurative comes from some kind of dark ages and it is completely obsolete in the world of today. However, this was in an architecture lecture, which does have a great connection to the same issue.
Apparently the fate of classical and traditional architecture seems to be tied very close to the fate of figurative art. It is partly accepted in its existence in our cities but is seen as an absolute no go for new builds. To have any kind of recognition as an architect one is forced to always find something new and revolutionary, creating all the weird- and uglyness of todays urban worlds. Which is the same thing as in painting and sculpture.
There is one more dimension to all of this which you did not mention in your video.
In most academic discourse (in my experience at least), all kind of figurative art and classical architecture are linked to the "bad guys" of the past 2 centuries. European Imperialism - the empires of the 19th and early 20th century, and the Nazis. Because this is were, from an official side, abstract, "modern" art was seen as something worthless and even forbidden (e.g entartete Kunst). Therefore, if you pursue in creating figurative art or classical architecture in the world of today, you are a Nazi or Imperialist.
The fact that the Nazi card is constantly played on classical art makes it impossible to have any kind of discourse on the topic in the context of the 21st century.
It might only be a local phenomenon in germany and austria, I dont know, it would be very interesting how this is seen in different countries?
I have no idea of any nazi card used on classic stuff here, but it seems that the most ugly architecture is often one that ostensibly tries to mimic and idealize the old stuff while failing to understand it, as in a lot of post-modern architecture. A bit like "Remember the glorious architecture ? Now look at that unholy amount of gables."
@@kroustyman it's because this sentiment of modern decay and glorious past is very popular with fascists, it's one or the main driving for of fascism
Very interesting video, thank you for posting it.
I personally do not believe figurative painting is dead. On the contrary, there is an observable massive resurgence of a new kind of figurative Art, that can be measured through the flourishing of dozens of new small painting ateliers worldwide, dedicated to the study of the figure, still life and academic training to serve a new kind of Art, revolving primarily around realism, but also imagination. And many of them are linked to, as you mentioned, the entertainment world (film, video games animation and comic books).
It is also visible through the presence of organizations like the ARC (Art Renewal Center), whose yearly unique Salon has gathered tremendous momentum and success over the past 20 years or so.
It is also visible in some major Art Expos, like the one in LA, which were dedicating every year more than two thirds of their space to "modern Art" and "Conceptual Art" until now. These past couple of years, the tendency was reversed. Not that modern or abstract Art is all gone, but I feel that both realism and and modern Art have really started to integrate each other in a more meaningful way, where craftsmanship has now taken more of a center stage role to serve a theme, or a visual concept or language.
In a way, places like China are kind of ahead of the western world with this right now, because they never rejected their classical academic past, like Europe did, but instead integrated it, to produce a new kind of modern realism.
In the US, the come back of realism has gathered momentum and started to reintegrate major Expos and competitions nationwide, and I can see now competitions both in the US and Europe that are now open to all kinds of representational Art, with realism and abstract sometimes being separated, sometimes not.
Europe, though, is still behind and still overall reluctant to come back to realism, I can feel it. Which makes sense when you consider that this is the place where the collapse of figurative Art happened.
But there is a change happening, even if the main institutions haven't embraced the movement yet. And the feeling is definitely very different from what it was when I left France in 1996.
So, I believe there is hope.
Keep fingers crossed.
Really great video. Well thought and very interesting. People need to see this.
I appreciate that! Thanks 👍
I totally agree with the comments. Since Lascaux, to which all figurative painting is an homage, people have been painting “in their time” though the “figures” in that time were animals (probably more important to the artists than people as the subjects were a source of food; or, on the other hand, could kill and eat the artist). Figurative painting can and will flourish as it can create a narrative, stir the imagination and emotions from enchantment to uneasiness, create an ambiguity, curiosity or wonder or leave the viewer disturbed or concerned. This is what makes it art. The viewer should be able to immediately relate to the work emotionally, whether consciously or subliminally and without it having to be explained by an over-intellectualized curator or gallery “sales representative.”
Excellent video with thoughtful commentary but I wholeheartedly disagree with the premise that figurative realism painting is dying. I would say rather that figurative realism is enjoying a second renaissance. Look how many fine artists have become tremendously popular online. Millions of regular people follow highly talented / skilled artists. Atelier academies are more common now than any time since the 19th century. New exhibitions of realist artwork are coming up and new museums are opening to specifically feature realism. It is a great time to be a realist painter.
Yeah, that's pretty much what I say in the end ;) Don't know if it's ever going to become mainstream that's the thing though...We'll see.
You are a genius of the first order! Everything you say in this video can be extrapolated to landscape painting as well. I often think that the crisis in 19th century art is also a reaction to all technology rather than just photography. A reaction against the steam engine trying to take control of the hand holding the brush. And the twentieth century, with its nationalism, gangsterism, war, brutality and horror is represented perfectly in the lack of coherent construction and organisation in modernist painting. And postmodernist painting is self mocking because even a love poem cannot be disentangled from the bombs dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki, or the death camps of Poland. To find a way forward for representational art, it needs to wriggle free of this semantic hook. Mankind has lost its innocence and art must reflect that in all its despair and pathos. And perhaps, as redemption, art can also provide a glimmer of hope?
Une très juste rétrospective de l’évolution de la peinture au sein des différents paradigmes régissant l’art ! Un avenir prometteur c’est certain
Bravo, Florent!! I'm passing this on to our students and instructors at the Angel Academy of Art, Florence (of which I am the Director of Studies). I'm adding a point or two: first, it is the Realist painters who are the avant guarde, and we are running into all the usual difficulties from the perennially conservative art establishment.
Second, I don't believe that the small cliche of buyers of art-establishment works should be characterized as "elite"-such buyers are easily led and are pretty low on the scale of artistical intelligence. The works they buy are vacuous and pretty undemanding (which is part of their appeal). As Tom Wolfe pointed out many decades ago, it is the critics' writings that are the work of art; the "art works" themselves are just illustrations to the text. Don't misunderstand me, I have no objection to anybody buying and living with something that appeals to them, no matter how silly it is-some people enjoy superhero films, but it is daft to put those films on the same artistical level as films by Scorsese, Truffaut or Orsen Wells. People read books by Danielle Steel, and that's fine.
Modern Realists lack a mythology on which to build their narratives. Few people know who the old gods are, and even fewer understand Christian mythology beyond a mindlessly superficial level (if that). So, where are our stories? There are some great painters who are working towards solving this, but we have a way to go yet.
I have seen a very beautiful fan art. Maybe one day it will become a serious genre ...
I think that there have been so many generations come and go who have had bad or no education in regards to painting. I think this is the root of the problem. I see many artists and the public fixated on technique but little or no content in the work. Look at the work of David Linn. It’s going in the right direction.
If artists support each other then the love of art and its delicacy of creation is not labelled as done.
Paint, illusions, pomp, pop, whos to say what is love
I had always thought that if I can make a picture that excites the eye and engages the brain, I might have something that people will want to see.... It's been a though call and I'm still working on it, but I do think that if you want to engage with the world that would be a start.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts ... I totally agree with you, I often wonder where art goes ... My opinion is that beautiful will always be beautiful, like music. The problem arises from the fear that we must not allow competition, I hope that humanity will be able to overcome it ... Book and film, photography and painting, theater and cinema, everything has its purpose. In my opinion, the only thing that matters is that the artist does what fulfills him and considers it beautiful ... not to succumb to the opinion that someone sets. Thanks ... We're not alone
One look at the output of living painters whose works are currently setting records on the market shows that non-abstract painting is very much making a comeback.
If everything is art, then nothing is.
If nothing is art, then everything is.
There are many contemporary or near-contemporary figurative painters who are recognized as first class: Hockney, Freud, Tuymans, Currin, Marlene Dumas, Rauch, Saville, Doig, Salle, Clemente, Katz. Countless Latin American painters: Botero, Beatriz González, Adriana Varejão, Iturria, and so many others come to mind. Of course Richter, on and off. And the photorealists of a generation ago: Estes, Goings, Close, and Pop artists today and in the recent past. One could argue that it is abstraction that is in decline, not figuration. Laurent complains that figurative painters today are more interested in the brushwork than the subject matter. But in traditional figuration too, the subject matter was often just a pretext to show off the painter´s virtuosity.
I am glad you studied philosophy. I can see it guides you to adequately talk about this subject. I am glad you spoke about this. I want and hope that figurative painting becomes relevant once again. I will do what I can to help the world to enjoy the figure once again.
The arrival of contemporary Museums and organisations like documenta has given priority to experiments. Painting however continued the road of questioning humanity with exceptional artists like Balthus and Lucian Freud. Even later in the century artist returned to work from models and classic genres. These works were so actual that they even were refused on social media….. examples are plenty but two painters come to my mind Jean Rustin and Harry Holland.
Salut Florent. Tu viens de m'expliquer comment j'associe l'art vidéo et la peinture/ gravure figurative, c'était un mystère même pour moi!
That’s why the main focus for artists should be creative, perspective, and subject matters which photography cannot capture. Like things indeed in video game concep art that is highly creative about getting the idea down generally inspired by some time period and then visually enhanced yes by either Impressionism texture and brush strokes, beauty is still to be found and has meaning, it’s just not “required” but neither are chocolate bars or sugar to sustain the human race
Telling a story with one still image often involves quoting a known story, & it comes across as significant if people give the story credit & importance. Telling new stories from one image is very rare; we are drawing from contexts & pre-existent narratives. Paintings can still serve as icons for narratives but we aren't telling the fundamental stories through them. Videos & films that narrate stories deliver the intelligible meaning nowadays, & the image goes on to function a fixed shorthand reminder & emotive trigger. It is hard to tell which of our stories will be most relevant to the distant future.