Retired Tradition

The1789French Revolution significantly transformed Académie des Beaux-Arts. With the overthrowing of the old regime, represented by the church and themonarchy, Académie des Beaux-Arts was banned and reestablished. As a guardian oftraditions and norms in history, Acad é mie des Beaux-Arts was unsurprisinglyconservative. However, besides artists inheriting from the traditional paintingtechniques, the innovation was also brewing in ateliers where specific education wasexecuted. The painting ideas taught by the tutors at Ecole des Beaux-Arts weregradually forming the basis of“anti-academy”painting apart from the Classicism.After the monarchy was overthrown, under the social context of the frequentturnover of government in the first half of the nineteenth century, art inevitablybecame an efficient tool for the government to build power. The solitary chainbetween the royalty and the Academy in seventeen and eighteenth century had beenbroken. The expedient choice the government made then encouraged the growingRomanticism, the Barbizon School painters, and the Eclecticism. Sponsored by thegovernment, entering into the Academy was no longer with the same glory of charmas before for painters.At the same time, France after the Revolution was almost completely politicized.Utopian socialism, republicanism, anarchism, and other social theories emerged andthe interconnectedness between style and politics began to formulate. Art criticismtransported ideas of the intellectual realm towards society, history, religion, andculture onto painting, and the currently used concept of “Avant-guard” was putforward. Thereafter,“anti-academy” became the basic tone of the radical art criticismthroughout the nineteenth century. This also provided theoretical support for thedevelopment of independent artistic styles outside the academicism. Thought in thisway, under the dual pressures of both government and the public opinion, Académiedes Beaux-Arts began to admit some independent artists, its glory was gone.This article is primarily based on this background. The first chapter delves intothe influence the Academy system had on independent artistic styles through the lensof teaching methods, while the second and the third chapters explore the situation ofthe Academy in the first half of the nineteenth century with a special focus on officialpolicies.