Characteristics of Academic Art

The most important principles of Academic art, as laid down by the French Academy, can be
expressed as follows:

1. Rationality

The Academy was at pains to promote an "intellectual" style of art. In contrast, say, to the
"sensuous" style of the Rococo, the "socially-aware" style of French Realism, the "visual"
style of the Impressionism, or the "emotional" style of Expressionism. It considered fine art
to be an intellectual discipline, involving a high degree of reason, thus the "rationality" of a
painting was all-important. Such rationality was exemplified by a work's subject-matter, its
use of classical or religious allegory, and/or by its references to classical, historical or
allegorical subjects. Careful planning - through preliminary sketching or use of wax models -
was also valued.

2. Message

Great importance was placed upon the 'message' of the painting, which should be
appropriately "uplifting" and have a high moral content. This principle was the basis for the
official "Hierarchy of the Genres", a ranking system first announced in 1669, by the
Secretary to the French Academy. The genres were listed in the following order of
importance: (1) History Painting; (2) Portrait art; (3) Genre Painting; (4) Landscapes;
(5) Still Life Painting. The idea was that history paintings were better platforms from which
to communicate a highminded message. A battle scene or a piece of Biblical art would
convey an obvious moral message about (say) courage or spirituality, whereas a still-life
picture of a vase of flowers would struggle to do the same. In practice, artists succeeded in
injecting moral content into all types of pictures, including still lifes. See, for instance, the
genre of vanitas painting, mastered by Harmen van Steenwyck (1612-56) and others, which
typically depicted an array of symbolic objects, all of which conveyed a series of moral
messages based on the futility of life without Christian values.

As well as Christian principles or humanistic qualities, academic artists were encouraged to

communicate some eternal truth or ideal to the viewer. Hence some academic paintings are
no more than simple allegories with names like "Dawn", "Evening", "Friendship" and so on,
in which the essence of these ideals are embodied by a single figure.

3. Other Artistic Conventions

Over time the Academic authorities gradually built up a series of painterly rules and
conventions. Here is a small selection:

• Artists should use 'idealized' rather than 'overly realistic' forms; thus realism - in faces,
bodies, or details of scenes, was discouraged. Ironically, Ingres, the doyen of the Academy,
was criticized for the abnormal length of the model's back in La Grand Odalisque (1814,
Louvre).

• History paintings should depict people in historical dress. For example, Benjamin West
(1738-1820) caused a scandal with The Death of General Wolfe (1770, National Gallery of
Art, Ottowa), which was the first major history painting to feature contemporary costume.
• Complex rules governed the use of linear perspective and foreshortening, in keeping with
Renaissance theory. Likewise in the way light was handled, and in matters of chiaroscuro.

• Bright colours should be used sparingly. The debate about the significance of colour
rumbled on in the Academy for more than two centuries: see the role of Rubens and
Delacroix, as outlined below.

• Colour should be naturalistic: grass should be green, and so on. This alone disqualified
Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists from academic approval.