Exhibition of French Painting from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Day, June 8-July 8, 1934

This exhibition was intended to reintroduce American audiences to the French, who had been leading the development of painting for centuries. One of the greatest achievements of French painting, as identified by Walter Heil, was “the immense variety of its manifestations.” He points to the wealth of talent, only bested by Italy from 1300 to 1600, as the basis for France’s splendor. Further, the French have their own “spirit” that shines in their painting, a spirit that all French artists apply to their art. The characteristics of this spirit include love for life, reason, and common sense. These manifest in a “conscious discrimination,” a self-imposing tendency toward classical order and regulation, away from experimentation. French artists do not want to be too out of the box for fear of being ousted from their closed circles, therefore they stay true to the traditional art they are taught. In staying so conservative and elegant, the French therefore have created generations of great painters, one after another. What works works and they see no need in changing it. Even the modern painters of the early twentieth century who created a “new classicism” still maintained the basic tenets of French art while experimenting with expression.

Source: Heil, Walter. Exhibition of French Painting from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Day. San Francisco: California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1934. Exhibition catalogue.