''L'art pompier'' (literally 'fireman art') or ''style pompier'' is a derisive late-19th century French term for large 'official'
academic art paintings of the time, especially historical or allegorical ones. The term derives from the helmets with horse-hair tails, worn at the time by French firemen, which are similar to the
Attic helmets often worn in such works by allegorical personifications, classical warriors, or Napoleonic cavalry. It also suggests half-puns in French with ''pompéien'' ('from
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
') and ''pompeux'' ('pompous'). This type of art was seen by those who used the term as the epitome of the values of the
bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
, and as insincere and overblown.
''L'art pompier'' (a term supporters mostly avoid) has enjoyed something of a critical revival in the last twenty years, partly caused by the new
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...
in Paris, where it is displayed on more equal terms with the
Impressionists and
Realist painters of the period.
[Harding, 14–22]
The ''Manifeste Pompier'' ('Fireman Manifesto') by Louis-Marie Lecharny was published in Paris in 1990. He also wrote ''L'art Pompier'' (1998).
William-Adolphe Bouguereau,
Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry
Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry (7 November 1828 17 January 1886) was a French painter.
Life
Baudry was born in 1828 in La Roche-sur-Yon in the Vendée. He studied art under Michel Martin Drolling and enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts in 1845. ...
,
Alfred Agache,
Alexandre Cabanel,
Joseph-Noël Sylvestre and
Thomas Couture are among the classic artists of this genre.
Notes
References
*Harding, James. ''Artistes pompiers: French academic art in the 19th century'', New York: Rizzoli, 1979.
External links
*Article on ''Peut-on parler d’une peinture pompier?'', by Jacques Thuillier
www.dezenovevinte.net (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Art pompier
French art
French art movements
fr:Art pompier