Excerpt from The Men of 1830<br><br>EW sayings of the witty Mr. Whistler have been more quoted or questioned than his Art happens of The Ten o'clock, yet no delight in epigram can blind us to the fact that art has usually been representative of social and intellectual conditions existing at the time of its appearance. It may seem to come and go like the wind, but is still subject to laws, less known, but as sure in their operation as those which govern the return of the seasons through the rounding years of the physical world. To understand the character of any great movement or manifestation of art, we must therefore study the conditions that have preceded it. The excellence of French painting and engraving during le grand siécle under Louis XIV was achieved by the perfecting of what already existed under Henri IV and Louis XIII, and such high skill is rarely long sustained. The more licentious period of Louis XV demanded the satisfaction of its frivolous whims, as well as the consecration of its love for pompous dis play. Art, for the most part, followed society, till not even the good intentions of Louis XVI could save either from the tragic catastrophe of the French Revolution.<br><br>During and after that great upheaval, art fol* lowed the action and reaction of the rapidly changing forms of government. Louis David, who, as a member of the Convention, voted for the execution of Louis XVI, and was an admirer of Robespierre and Marat, inculcated a return to antique severity; yet when Na poleon took up the reins of government, David sig nified his acceptance of the self-made emperor by painting him on horseback as a cisalpine conqueror, and as the chief figure in his stately coronation at Notre Dame.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.