Okay so today I figured, why not make that ultimate list of French artists from the 1800s everyone talks about? You know, the must-know guys. Seems straightforward, right? Man, was I wrong.
Started easy enough. Cracked open the laptop, stared at Google. Typed in 'best French artists 1800s'. Boom, a million names popped up. Seemed promising. First ten minutes was just clicking around, skimming articles, feeling kinda smart.
Then the headache began. Which ones really count? I mean, some lived into the 1800s but started earlier. Others kicked off later but rocked the century. My head started spinning. I got a notebook out – old school, I know – and just started scribbling every name I saw more than twice: Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cézanne... my pen was flying.
Got to about twenty names and thought, 'Alright, top 10? Top 20?' Decided on a solid fifteen. Less than twenty feels substantial, more than ten feels comprehensive. Makes sense? Probably not, but I went with it. Then came the tough part: picking who makes the cut.
My early list was messy:
- Put Ingres on there. He felt important.
- Courbet? Oh yeah, the realist guy.
- Degas with his dancers, obviously.
- That Cézanne guy, apples and mountains.
But wait, Gauguin is French, right? Went to Tahiti... does living elsewhere disqualify him? Had to double-check his birthplace. Paris? Cool, he stays. Van Gogh? Oh shoot, Dutch! Crossed him out quick. Felt dumb, almost included him.
Kept flipping between tabs. One site said Delacroix is the boss, Romantic movement leader. Another mentioned Géricault and 'The Raft of the Medusa' – super dramatic painting, gotta have that energy on the list. Added both. My list was getting bigger than fifteen.
Toulouse-Lautrec? Posters, Moulin Rouge... super recognizable, super French. Added him, pushing it to sixteen. Felt bad about possibly leaving someone out. Spent way too long debating Millet vs. someone else. Decided Millet's peasants were iconic enough.
Searched for sculptor Rodin. Was he mainly 19th century? His big stuff like 'The Thinker' was late 1800s. Added him – figured sculpture needed representation. My notebook was a battlefield of scribbles and crossed-out names.
Finally, grumbling about how impossible it was to choose, I forced myself to stop and call this the "Essential Masters" list. Here's what I landed on, knowing full well people will argue:
- Ingres (Started early but set the stage)
- Delacroix (Romantic drama all the way)
- Courbet (The realist who shook things up)
- Manet (That bridge guy before Impressionism)
Monet (Come on, water lilies, cathedrals…)
Renoir (Happy vibes, sunny days)
Degas (Dancers, pastels, angles)
Cézanne (The solid shapes guy)
Pissarro (Often forgotten, super key)
Morisot (Gotta have a major female artist!)
Gauguin (Took the French style far away)
Seurat (Dots! Science art!)
Toulouse-Lautrec (Nightlife poster king)
Rodin (Sculpture powerhouse)
And I added Géricault as my sixteenth because 'The Raft' haunted me. Couldn't drop him. Sue me.
Is this perfect? Hell no. Someone’s favorite is definitely missing. Daumier? Sisley? Rousseau? Bazille? Yeah, probably. It felt arbitrary by the end. You look at twenty lists, you get twenty slightly different answers. I just tried to hit the absolute heavy hitters who defined the big movements and whose names you need to know to sound like you know stuff. Took way longer than I thought, involved more arguing with myself than expected, and I still feel a little guilty about the ones left off. But there it is – my messy journey to a ‘definitive’ list. Done is better than perfect!
