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A member of The Arts Society
In the National Interest: Art, The Sun King and the Academic Revolution
Presented by Richard Whincop
Synopsis
The Academie Royale de peinture et de Sculpture was founded in 1648 under Louis XIV of France, the 'Sun King', and placed the visual arts under direct royal control.
This lecture looks at the Academy's origins, its philosophy under court painter Charles le Brun, and its development into the most influential art institution in Europe. It follows how the Academy reinvented itself after the Revolution, and how artists rebelled against its official proscriptions for 'great art' – culminating in the Impressionists' attempts to break the monopoly of the official, state-sanctioned Salon exhibitions.
Profile
Richard is a professional artist who graduated in English and Art History from York University in 1986. From 1988-1994 he lectured at the adult education departments of Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, and then went on to become a full-time figurative artist, executing large-scale public commissions, and exhibiting widely throughout the UK. He now lives and works in Chichester, West Sussex.
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