France has a fascinating history of art. Most of the provincial areas of France are blessed with impressive monuments of art and architecture. Most of France's cultural enrichment took place during the crucades. The intellectual and artistic life of France flourished the most in the 12th century. French Art can be divided into five different periods, Pre-history, Celtic and Roman period, Medieval Period, Early Modern Period and Modern Period.
Art in France comprises of Paleolithic Art, Neolithic and Celtic Art, Archeological Influence, Romanesque Art, Gothic Art, Renaissance Art, Mannerism, The Baroque, Late Baroque and Rococo, Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Impressionism, Symbolism and the pre-Raphaelites, Art Nouveau, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism; Modernism, Dadaism and Surrealism, Abstract Art, Folk Art, Primitive Art; Realism and Pop-Art and Contemporary Architecture.
The earliest known European Art belongs to the Upper Palaeolithic period. There are cave paintings including famous paintings at Pech Merle, Lascaux, Cosquer Cave, Chauvet Cave and the Trios-Freres Cave and portable art.
Tourists can explore France's Gallo-Roman legacy in Southern France at the Pont du Gard or at the amphitheatres in Nimes and Arles. The theatre at Orange is another place to explore French Art. The Gallo-Roman architectural style was adopted later to create masterpieces like Poitier's Eglise Notre Dame la Grande.
Some Gothic structures include Avignon's massive pontifical palace and the seminal cathedral at Chartres. Art Nouveau (1850-1910) was an art form that combined iron, brick, glass and ceramics in new ways. Some renouned Impressionists of France are Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pisarro and Pieree-Auguste Renoir. This art form captured the ever-changing aspects of reflected light.
Artists like Pablo Picasso and George Braque mastered the art of Cubism. It's a form of art that's based on abstract and geometric representation.
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