Stone carver carving stone, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, 1909.

The Kilmartin Stones in Scotland - a collection of ancient stone carved graveslabs

A famous khachkar at Goshavank Armenia.

Stone carving is an ancient activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, evidence can be found that even the earliest societies indulged in some form of stone work.

Work carried out by paleolithic societies to create flint tools is more often referred to as knapping. Stone carving that is done to produce lettering is more often referred to as lettering.

Stone carving differs from stone as in marble quarrying in that it is the act of shaping or incising the stone, whereas quarrying is the activity of acquiring useful stone, usually in blocks, from geological sources.

The term stone carving is of particular significance to sculptors being a reference to a particular way of producing sculpture, as opposed to modelling in clay or casting. The term also refers to the activity of masons in dressing stone blocks for use in architecture, building or civil engineering. It is also a phrase used by archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists to describe the activity involved in making some types of petroglyphs.

History[link]

The oldest known works of representational art are stone carvings. Often marks carved into rock or petroglyphs will survive where painted work will not. Prehistoric Venus figurines such as the Venus of Berekhat Ram may be as old as 800,000 years, and are carved in stones such as tuff and limestone.

These earliest examples of stone carving are the result of hitting or scratching a softer stone with a harder one, although sometimes more resilient materials such as antlers are known to have been used for relatively soft stone. Another early technique was to use an abrasive that was rubbed on the stone to remove the unwanted area. Prior to the discovery of steel by any culture, all stone carving was carried out by using an abrasion technique, following rough hewing of the stone block using hammers. The reason for this is that bronze, the hardest available metal until steel, is not hard enough to work any but the softest stone. The Ancient Greeks used the ductility of bronze to trap small granules of carborundum, that are naturally occurring on the island of Milos, thus making a very efficient file for abrading the stone.

The development of iron made possible stone carving tools, such as chisels, drills and saws made from steel, that were capable of being hardened and tempered to a state hard enough to cut stone without deforming, while not being so brittle as to shatter. Carving tools have changed little since then.

Modern, industrial, large quantity techniques still rely heavily on abrasion to cut and remove stone, although at a significantly faster rate with processes such as water erosion and diamond saw cutting.

One modern stone carving technique uses a new process: The technique of applying sudden high temperature to the surface. The expansion of the top surface due to the sudden increase in temperature causes it to break away. On a small scale, Oxy-acetylene torches are used. On an industrial scale, lasers are used. On a massive scale, carvings such as the Crazy Horse Memorial carved from the Harney Peak granite of Mount Rushmore and the Confederate Memorial Park in Albany, Georgia are produced using jet heat torches.

Stone sculpture[link]

The Tang Dynasty Leshan Giant Buddha, near Leshan in Sichuan province, China. Construction began in 713, and was completed in 803, making it the largest stone-carved Buddha in the world.

Carving stone into sculpture is an activity older than civilization itself. Prehistoric sculptures were usually human forms, such as the Venus of Willendorf and the faceless statues of the Cycladic cultures of ancient Greece. Later cultures devised animal, human-animal and abstract forms in stone. The earliest cultures used abrasive techniques, and modern technology employs pneumatic hammers and other devices. But for most of human history, sculptors used hammer and chisel as the basic tools for carving stone.

The process begins with the selection of a stone for carving. Some artists use the stone itself as inspiration; the Renaissance artist Michelangelo claimed that his job was to free the human form trapped inside the block. Other artists begin with a form already in mind and find a stone to complement their vision. The sculptor may begin by forming a model in clay or wax, sketching the form of the statue on paper or drawing a general outline of the statue on the stone itself.

When s/he is ready to carve, the artist usually begins by knocking off large portions of unwanted stone. This is the "roughing out" stage of the sculpting process. For this task s/he may select a point chisel, which is a long, hefty piece of steel with a point at one end and a broad striking surface at the other. A pitching tool may also be used at this early stage; which is a wedge-shaped chisel with a broad, flat edge. The pitching tool is useful for splitting the stone and removing large, unwanted chunks. Those two chisels are used in combination with a masons driving hammer.

Once the general shape of the statue has been determined, the sculptor uses other tools to refine the figure. A toothed chisel or claw chisel has multiple gouging surfaces which create parallel lines in the stone. These tools are generally used to add texture to the figure. An artist might mark out specific lines by using calipers to measure an area of stone to be addressed, and marking the removal area with pencil, charcoal or chalk. The stone carver generally uses a shallower stroke at this point in the process, usually in combination with a wooden mallet.

Eventually the sculptor has changed the stone from a rough block into the general shape of the finished statue. Tools called rasps and rifflers are then used to enhance the shape into its final form. A rasp is a flat, steel tool with a coarse surface. The sculptor uses broad, sweeping strokes to remove excess stone as small chips or dust. A riffler is a smaller variation of the rasp, which can be used to create details such as folds of clothing or locks of hair.

The final stage of the carving process is polishing. Sandpaper can be used as a first step in the polishing process, or sand cloth. Emery, a stone that is harder and rougher than the sculpture media, is also used in the finishing process. This abrading, or wearing away, brings out the color of the stone, reveals patterns in the surface and adds a sheen. Tin and iron oxides are often used to give the stone a highly reflective exterior.

Sculptures can be carved via either the direct or the indirect carving method: indirect carving is a way of carving by using an accurate clay, wax or plaster model, which is then copied with the use of compasses, also called "proportional dividers"^[1] or a pointing machine. The direct carving method is a way of carving in a more intuitive way, without first making an elaborate model. Sometimes a sketch on paper or a rough clay draft is made.

Stone carving considerations[link]

'Arabic' style carving on ashlar building blocks, Beith, Scotland.

Stone has been used for carving since ancient times for many reasons. Most types of stone are easier to find than metal ores, which have to be mined and smelted. Stone can be dug from the surface and carved with hand tools. Stone is more durable than wood, and carvings in stone last much longer than wooden artifacts. Stone comes in many varieties and artists have abundant choices in color, quality and relative hardness.

Soft stone such as chalk, soapstone, pumice and Tufa can be easily carved with found items such as harder stone or in the case of chalk even the fingernail. Limestones and marbles can be worked using abrasives and simple iron tools. Granite, basalt and some metamorphic stone is difficult to carve even with iron or steel tools; usually tungsten carbide tipped tools are used, although abrasives still work well. Modern techniques often use abrasives attached to machine tools to cut the stone.

Precious and semi-precious gemstones are also carved into delicate shapes for jewellery or larger items, and polished; this is sometimes referred to as lapidary, although strictly speaking lapidary refers to cutting and polishing alone.

When worked, some stones release dust that can damage lungs (silica crystals are usually to blame), so a respirator is sometimes needed.

Tools[link]

Basic stone carving tools fall into four categories:

• Percussion tools for hitting - such as mallets, axes, adzes, bouchards and toothed hammers.
• Tools for rough shaping of stone, to form a block the size needed for the carving. These include feathers and wedges and pitching tools.
• Chisels for cutting - such as lettering chisels, points, pitching tools, and claw chisels. Chisels in turn may by hand held and hammered or pneumatic powered.
• Abrasives for erosion - such as carborundum blocks, drills, saws, grinding and cutting wheels, water erosion machinery and dressing tools such as French and English drags.

More advanced processes, such as laser cutting and jet torches, use sudden, high temperature to shatter the stone.

The use of chisels for stone carving is possible in several ways. Two are:

• The masons stroke, in which a flat chisel is used at approximately 90 degrees to the surface in an organized sweep. It shatters the stone beneath it and each successive pass lowers the surface.
• The lettering stroke, in which the chisel is used along the surface at approximately 30 degrees to cut beneath the existing surface.

There are many types and styles of stone carving tools, each carver will decide for themselves which tools to use. Traditionalists might use hand tools only.

• Lettering chisels for incising small strokes create the details of letters in larger applications.
• Fishtail carving chisels are used to create pockets, valleys and for intricate carving, whilst providing good visibility around the stone.
• Masonry chisels are used for the general shaping of stones.
• Stone point tools are used to rough out the surface of the stone.
• Stone claw tools are used to remove the peaks and troughs left from the previously used tools.
• Stone pitching tools are used to remove large quantities of stone.
• Stone nickers are used to split stones by tracing a line along the stone with progressive strikes until the stone breaks along the line.

Powered pneumatic hammers make the hard work easier. Progress on shaping stone is faster with pneumatic carving tools. Air hammers (such as Cuturi) place many thousands of impacts per minute upon the end of the tool, which would usually be manufactured or modified to suit the tool. This type of tool creates the ability to 'shave' the stone, providing a smooth and consistent stroke, allowing for larger surfaces to be worked.

Among modern tool types, there are two main stone carving chisels:

• Heat treated high carbon steel tools - Generally forged
• Tungsten carbide tipped tools - Generally forged, slotted, and carbide inserts brazed in to provide a harder and longer-wearing cutting edge.

Gallery[link]

• 

  Sculptor at work

• 

  Direct carving method:'The Unknown Righteous Among the Nations', red granite sculpture by Shlomo Selinger (b. 1928), 1987, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel

• 

  Using plug and feathers to split a block of marble from the quarry.

• 

  Pitching tool used in preliminary rough shaping blocks of stone.

• 

  Carrara marble quarry.

See also[link]

• Chalk carving
• Khachkar
• Stone sculpture
• Stonemasonry
• Marriage stone

References[link]

1. ^ Hoffman, Malvina, Sculpture Inside and Out, Bonanza Books, New York, 1939 p. 235

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stonemasonry

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stone chisels

The following is a chronological list of French artists working in visual or plastic media (plus, for some artists of the 20th century, performance art). For alphabetical lists, see the various subcategories of Category:French artists. See other articles for information on French literature, French music, French cinema and French culture.

Middle Ages[link]

See also Middle Ages, Gothic architecture, Illuminated manuscript

• Villard de Honnecourt (13th century) other media
• Jean Pucelle (active 1325–28) other media
• Claus Sluter (Dutch, worked in Burgundy from 1395–1406) sculptor
• the Limbourg brothers (Pol and Hermann) (Flemish artists working in Burgundy around 1403–1416) other media

Renaissance[link]

See also Renaissance, Francis I of France, Henry II of France, Catherine de' Medici, Henry III of France, Henry IV of France, Louvre, Fontainebleau, Châteaux of the Loire Valley

• Jacques Morel (artist) (c.1395–1459) sculptor
• Simon Marmion (c.1420–1489) Illuminations
• Jean Fouquet (1420–1481) painter, Illuminations
• Nicolas Froment (c.1450–c.1490) painter
• Pierre Antoine Le Moiturier (active in the 1460s) sculptor
• Jean Clouet (c.1485–1541) (Flemish born) painter, Miniatures
• Jean Duvet (c.1485–c.1570) engraver
• Jehan Cousin the elder (1500–1593) painter, engraver, sculptor
• Ligier Richier (1500–1567) sculptor
• Philibert Delorme (or de L'Orme) (1505/1510–1570) sculptor, Architectural plans
• Pierre Bontemps (1505/1510–after 1562) sculptor
• Jean Goujon (c.1510–1565?) sculptor
• Bernard Palissy (1510–1590) Master potter
• Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (c1510–1585) Architectural plans
• Jean Juste (active 1515–1530) sculptor
• François Clouet (c.1515–1572) (son of Jean Clouet) painter
• Pierre Lescot (c.1515–1578) sculptor, Architect
• Antoine Caron (c.1521–1599) painter
• Jehan Cousin the younger (c. 1522–1593) painter
• Germain Pilon (c.1535–1590) sculptor
• Ambroise Dubois (c.1542–1614) (Flemish born) painter
• Barthélemy Prieur (c.1536–1616) sculptor
• Toussaint Dubreuil (c.1561–1602) painter
• Martin Fréminet (1567–1619) painter
• Frans Pourbus the younger (1569–1622) (Flemish born) painter
• Jacques Bellange (1575–1616) (in Lorraine) engraver
• Jean Decourt (active 1570s) painter
• François Quesnel (active 1580s) painter
• Pierre Quesnel (c.1502–1580) painter
• Jacques Patin (active 1580s) engraver
• Jean de Beaugrand (1584–1640) lineographer
• Claude Deruet (1588–1660) (in Lorraine) painter

Seventeenth century[link]

See also French Baroque and Classicism, Louis XIII of France, Cardinal Richelieu, Baroque, Louis XIV of France, Palace of Versailles, Classicism

• Simon Vouet (1590–1649) painter
• Jacques Callot (1592–1635) (in Lorraine) engraver
• Georges de La Tour (1593–1652) painter
• Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) painter
• Antoine Le Nain (before 1600–?) painter
• Louis Le Nain (after 1600–?) painter
• Nicolas Lagneau (fl c. 1600–c. 1650), draftsman
• Abraham Bosse (1602–1676) engraver
• Claude Gelée, called Claude Lorrain (1600–1682) painter
• Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674)
• Pierre-Antoine Lemoine (1605–1665) still-life painter
• Laurent de La Hyre (1606–1565) painter
• Mathieu Le Nain (1607–c.1677) painter
• Pierre Mignard (1612–1695) painter
• Gaspard Dughet (1613–1675) painter
• André Le Nôtre (1613–1700) Landscape architect
• Eustache Le Sueur (1616–1655) painter
• Sébastien Bourdon (1616–1671) painter
• Charles Le Brun (1619–1690) painter, other media
• Pierre Paul Puget (1620–1694) sculptor
• Guillaume Courtois (1628–1679) painter and etcher
• François Girardon (1628–1715) sculptor
• Claude Lefèbvre (1633–1675) painter and engraver
• Charles de la Fosse (1636–1716) painter
• Antoine Coysevox (1640–1720) sculptor
• Charles de La Fosse (1640–1716) painter
• Étienne Allegrain (1644–1736) topographical painter
• Jean Jouvenet (1644–1717) painter
• François de Troy (1645–1730) painter
• Nicolas de Largillière (1656–1746) painter
• Nicolas Coustou (1658–1733), sculptor
• Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743) painter
• Antoine Coypel (1661–1722) sculptor
• François Desportes (1661–1743) painter

Eighteenth century[link]

See also Palace of Versailles, Louis XV of France, Madame de Pompadour, Rococo, Louis XVI of France, Neoclassicism, Enlightenment, Gobelins. For art criticism, see Denis Diderot

• Alexis Simon Belle (1674–1734)
• Jean-François de Troy (1679–1752) (son of François) painter
• Antoine Watteau (1684–1721) painter
• Jean-Baptiste van Loo (1684–1745) painter
• Jean-Marc Nattier (1685–1766) painter
• Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755) painter
• Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels (1686–1767) engraver
• François Lemoyne (1688–1737) painter
• Nicolas Lancret (1690–1743) painter
• Charles-Antoine Coypel (1694–1752) painter, art commentator, and playwright
• Jean-Baptiste Pater (1695–1736) painter
• Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin (1699–1779) painter
• Charles Joseph Natoire (1700–1777) painter
• Louis-François Roubiliac (1702–1762) sculptor
• Jean Etienne Liotard (1702–1789) painter
• François Boucher (1703–1770) painter, engraver
• Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704–1788) painter
• Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (1704–1778) painter, sculptor
• Charles-André van Loo (Carle Van Loo) (1705–1765) (brother of Jean-Baptiste van Loo) painter
• Louis-Michel van Loo (1707–1771) (son of Jean-Baptiste van Loo) painter
• Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714–1785) sculptor
• Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789) painter
• Jean-Baptiste Perronneau (1715–1783) painter
• Etienne-Maurice Falconet (1716–1791) sculptor
• Joseph-Marie Vien (1716–1809) painter
• Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (1719–1795) (son of Jean-Baptiste van Loo) painter
• Charles Germain de Saint Aubin (1721–1786) engraver, embroidery designer
• Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805) painter
• François-Hubert Drouais (Drouais le fils) (1727–1775) painter
• Jean-Baptiste Defernex (1729–1783) sculptor
• Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) painter
• Jean-Jacques Durameau (1733–1796) painter
• Hubert Robert (1733–1808) painter, engraver
• Marie-Suzanne Giroust (1734–1772), painter
• Joseph Ducreux (1735–1802) painter
• Étienne de La Vallée Poussin (1735–1802) French history painter and creator of interior decorative schemes
• Louis Albert Guislain Bacler d'Albe (1761–1824), painter
• Nicolas Bernard Lépicié (1735–1784) painter
• Nicolas Benjamin Delapierre (1739–c1800) painter
• Jean Antoine Houdon (1741–1828) sculptor
• Jean Michel Moreau (Moreau the younger) (1741–1814) engraver
• Anne Vallayer-Coster (1744–1818) painter
• Jacques Louis David (1748–1825) painter
• Claude-Jean-Baptiste Hoin (1750–1817) portrait artist
• Jacques-Antoine-Marie Lemoine (1751–1824) portrait and landscape artist
• Antoine Berjon (1754–1843) painter and designer
• Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1754–1829)
• Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun (1755–1842) painter
• Alexandre-Hyacinthe Dunouy (1757–1841) painter known for his landscapes
• Pierre Prudhon (1758–1823) painter

Nineteenth century (Romanticism to Impressionism)[link]

See also French Revolution, Napoleon I, Romanticism, Barbizon school, Naturalism, Symbolism (arts), Impressionism, Academic art, Napoleon III of France, Photography, Modernism

• Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765–1833) photographer
• Adélaïde Dufrénoy (1765–1825), poet and painter from Brittany
• Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (1767–1824) painter
• Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767–1855) painter
• Antoine Jean Gros (1771–1835) painter
• Pierre Narcisse Guérin (1771–1833) painter
• Adélaïde Victoire Hall (1772–1844) painter
• Eustache-Hyacinthe Langlois (1777–1837) painter, draftsman
• Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780–1867) painter
• Étienne Bouhot (1780–1862) painter and art teacher
• Alexandre-François Caminade (1783–1862) portraitist and religious painter
• François Rude (1784–1855) sculptor
• Eugénie Charen (1786–1824) painter
• Louis-Jacques Daguerre (1787–1851) photographer
• Charles de Steuben (1788–1856) painter active during the Napoleonic Era
• Horace Vernet (1789–1863) painter
• Jules Robert Auguste (c.1789–1850) painter
• Théodore Géricault (1791–1824) painter
• Nicolas Toussaint Charlet (1792–1845) painter
• Antoine-Louis Barye (1795–1875) sculptor
• Ary Scheffer (1795–1858) painter
• Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (1796–1875) painter
• Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) painter
• Alfred Johannot (1800–1837) painter & engraver
• Hippolyte Bellangé (1800–1866) painter
• Achille Devéria (1800–1857) painter, engraver
• Paul Huet (1803–1869) painter
• François-Émile de Lansac (1803–1890) painter
• Grandville (Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard, called) (1803–1847) engraver
• Eugène Isabey (1803–1886) painter
• Denis Auguste Marie Raffet (1804–1860) painter
• Edouard Vienot (born 1804) painter
• Hippolyte Bayard (1807–1887) photographer
• Honoré Daumier (1808–1879) painter, lithographer, sculptor
• Louis Boulanger (1808–1867) painter
• Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña (1808–1878) (Born in Spain) painter
• Auguste Préault (1809–1879) sculptor
• Ignace François Bonhomme (1809–1881) painter
• Constant Troyon (1810–1865) painter
• Eugène André Oudiné (1810–1875) sculptor, engraver
• Jules Dupré (1811–1889) painter
• Théodore Rousseau (1812–1867) painter
• Boissard de Boisdenier (1813–1866) painter
• Charles Jacque (1813–1894) painter
• Jean-François Millet (1814–1875) painter
• Thomas Couture (1815–1879) painter
• Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815–1891) painter
• Jacques-Eugene Feyen (1815–1908) painter
• Charles Marville (1816–1879) painter, engraver, photographer
• Antoine Chintreuil (1816–1873) painter
• Jean Pierre Alexandre Antigna (1817–1878) painter
• François Bonvin (1817–1887) painter
• Charles-François Daubigny (1817–1878) painter
• Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819–1891) (Dutch, worked in France) painter
• Théodore Chassériau (1819–1856) painter
• Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) painter
• Eugène Fromentin (1820–1876) painter
• Nadar (Gaspard Félix Tournachon, called "Nadar") (1820–1910) photographer
• Charles Méryon (1821–1868) engraver
• Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899) painter
• Marie Adrien Persac (1823) painter, cartographer, architect, civil engineer, photographer
• Alexandre Cabanel (1823–1889) painter
• Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (1824–1887), sculptor and painter
• Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904) painter
• Théodule Ribot (1824–1891) painter
• Eugène Boudin (1824–1898) painter
• Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824–1898) painter
• William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905) painter
• Gustave Moreau (1826–1898) painter
• Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875) sculptor
• Elie Delaunay (1828–1891) painter
• Achille Emperaire (1829–1898) painter and a friend of Paul Cézanne

Nineteenth century (Impressionism to Fauvism)[link]

See also Modern art, Modernism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Les Nabis, Fauvism, Symbolism (arts), Symbolist painters, Art Nouveau, Primitivism (art)

• Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) painter
• Étienne-Jules Marey (1830–1904) photographer
• Édouard Manet (1832–1883) painter
• Gustave Doré (1832–1883) engraver
• Edgar Degas (1834–1917) painter, sculptor
• Henri Fantin-Latour (1836–1904) painter
• Jules Chéret (1836–1932) painter, other media
• Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) painter
• François Salle (1839–1899)
• Odilon Redon (1840–1916) painter, draftsman, lithographer
• Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) sculptor
• Claude Monet (1840–1926) painter (was a founder of French impressionist painting)
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) painter
• Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870) painter
• Berthe Morisot (1841–1895) painter
• Marie Bracquemond (1841–1916) painter
• Fernand Pelez (1843–1913) painter
• Alexander Louis Leloir (1843–1884) painter
• Henri Rousseau ("Le Douanier Rousseau") (1844–1910) painter
• Jean Antonin Mercié (1845–1916) sculptor
• Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (1845–1902) painter
• Gustave Caillebotte (1848–1894) painter
• Henri Biva (1848–1929) painter
• Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848–1884) painter
• Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) painter, sculptor
• Henry Lerolle (1848–1929) painter
• Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) (Dutch, worked in France) painter
• Henry Moret (1856–1913) painter
• Eugène Atget (Jean-Eugène Auguste Atget) (1857–1927) photographer
• Mathurin Janssaud (1857–1940) painter
• Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859–1891) painter
• Antoine Bourdelle (1861–1929) sculptor
• Aristide Maillol (1861–1944) sculptor
• Louis Vivin (1861–1936) painter
• Antonio de la Gandara (1861–1917) painter
• Gaston Bussière (painter) (1862–1929) Symbolism movement painter and illustrator
• Ernest de Chamaillard (1862–1931), painter
• Henri Delavallée (1862–1943), painter
• Paul Signac (1863–1935) painter
• René Georges Hermann-Paul (1864–1940) graphic artist, illustrator, painter
• William Didier-Pouget (1864–1959) painter
• Henri Marie de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) painter
• Paul Sérusier (1864–1927) painter
• Paul Ranson (1864–1909) painter
• Seraphine Louis (1864–1942) painter
• Henri Jourdain (1864–1931) painter, prints or lithographs of landscapes usually by the water
• Albert Aurier (1865–1892), poet, art critic and painter devoted to Symbolism
• Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938) painter
• Félix Vallotton (1865–1925) (Swiss, worked in France) painter, engraver
• Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) painter
• Ker-Xavier Roussel (1867–1944) painter
• Hector Guimard (1867–1942) Architect and Decorator
• Edouard Jean Vuillard (1868–1940) painter
• Georges Lacombe (1868–1916) sculptor
• Emile Bernard (1868–1941) painter
• Henri Matisse (1869–1954) painter, other media
• Adolf de Meyer (1869–1949) photographer

Twentieth century (Pre World War II)[link]

See also Post-Impressionism, Modern art, Modernism, Cubism, Puteaux Group, Dada, Surrealism

• Georges Rouault (1871–1958) painter
• Frantisek Kupka (1871–1957) (Czech, worked in France) painter
• Henri-Charles Manguin (1874–1943) painter
• Albert Marquet (1875–1947) painter
• Jacques Villon (1875–1963) painter
• Constantin Brâncuşi (1876–1957) (French, born in Romania) sculptor
• Maurice de Vlaminck (1876–1958) (Flemish, worked in France) painter
• Raymond Duchamp-Villon (1876–1918) sculptor
• Raoul Dufy (1877–1953) painter
• Jean Crotti (1878–1958) (Swiss) painter
• Louis Marcoussis (Louis Markus)(1878–1941) or (1883–1941) (Polish, worked in France) painter
• Francis Picabia (1879–1953) painter
• André Derain (1880–1954) painter
• Joseph Hémard (1880–1961) illustrator
• Albert Gleizes (1881–1952) painter, writer, theorist
• Henri Le Fauconnier (1881–1946) painter
• Fernand Léger (1881–1955) painter
• Georges Braque (1882–1963) painter
• Auguste Herbin (1882–1960) painter
• Jean Metzinger (1883–1956) painter, engraver, poet, writer, theorist
• Marie Laurencin (1883–1956) painter
• Maurice Utrillo (1883–1955) painter
• Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes (1884–1974) painter
• Jacques Maroger (1884–1962) painter
• Robert Delaunay (1885–1941) painter
• André Dunoyer de Segonzac (1884–1974) painter
• Raymond Wintz (1884–1956) painter
• Pierre Brissaud (1885–1964) painter
• Roger de la Fresnaye (1885–1925) painter
• Robert Antoine Pinchon (1886–1943) French Post-Impressionist painter of the Rouen School, (l'École de Rouen)
• Amédée Ozenfant (1886–1956) painter
• Jean (Hans) Arp (1886–1966) painter, sculptor
• Marc Chagall (1887–1985) (Born in Belarus) painter
• Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) painter, sculptor, other media
• Suzanne Duchamp-Crotti (1889–1963) painter
• Ossip Zadkine (1890–1967) (Russian born) sculptor
• Jacques Lipchitz (1891–1973) (Born in Poland) sculptor
• Max Ernst (1891–1976) (German born) painter, sculptor
• Bram van Velde (1892–1981) (Dutch, worked in France) painter
• Chaïm Soutine (1894–1943) (Born in Lithuania) painter
• Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894–1986) photographer
• Prosper Rotgé (1895–1969) painter, engraver
• Jean Maurice Rothschild (1902–1998) furniture artist, interior designer, muralist
• Gen Paul (1895–1975) painter, engraver
• Albert Gilles (1895–1979) metal embosser, working with copper
• André Masson (1896–1987) painter
• René Iché (1897–1954) sculptor, painter
• Jean Fautrier (1898–1964) painter
• Georges Gimel (1898–1962) painter,engraver,sculptor
• Henri Michaux (1899–1984) (Belgian) painter
• Brassaï (Gyula Halasz) (1899–1984) (born in Hungary) photographer

Twentieth century (Post World War II)[link]

See also Modern art

• René Pellos (1900–1998) cartoonist
• Yves Tanguy (1900–1955) (Naturalized American) painter
• Marcelle Bergerol (1900–1989) painter
• Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966) (Swiss, worked in Paris) sculptor, painter
• Alfred-Georges Regner (1901–1987) painter, engraver
• Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) painter
• Hans Bellmer (1902–1975) (French, Born in Germany) sculptor, photographer, engraver
• Victor Brauner (1903–1966) (Romanian) painter
• Hans Hartung (1904–1992) (Born in Germany) painter
• Jean Hélion (1904–1987) painter
• Pierre Tal-Coat (1905–1985) painter
• Henri Cadiou (1906–1989) painter
• Victor Vasarely (1908–1997) (Born in Hungary) painter
• Balthus (Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, called "Balthus") (1908–2001) (Polish born) painter
• Lucien Hervé (László Elkán) (1910–2007) photographer (Born in Hungary)
• Othello Radou (1910-2006) Painter
• Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) (Lived and died in America) sculptor, other media
• Ervin Marton (1912–1968) photographer and artist
• Wols (1913–1951) (Born in Germany) painter
• Pierre Wemaëre (1913–2010) artist^[1]
• Etienne Martin (1913–1995) sculptor
• Nicolas de Staël (1914–1955) (French, Russian origin) painter
• Jean Vignes (1915–1958) monk/ artist
• Jean-Yves Couliou (1916–1995) painter
• François Lanzi (1916–1988) painter
• Constantine Andreou (1917–2007) (Greek, Brazilian born) painter, sculptor
• Marcel Mouly (1918–2008) painter, print maker
• Maurice Boitel (1919–2007) painter
• Pierre Soulages (1919–) painter
• Gabrielle Bellocq (1920–1999) painter
• César Baldaccini (called "César") (1921–1998) sculptor
• Claude Bonin-Pissarro (1921–) painter
• Georges Mathieu (1921–) painter
• Simon Hantaï (1922–) (Born in Hungary) painter
• Michel de Sereville (1922–2006) painter, illustrator
• François Ozenda (1923–1976) painter
• Jacques Toutain-Dorbec (1923–) (French, lives and work in Spain) painter
• Jean Tinguely (1925–1991) (Swiss) sculptor
• Robert Filliou (1926–1987) other media
• Raymond Hains (1926–2005) other media
• Paul Rebeyrolle (1926–2005) painter
• François Morellet (1926–) painter
• Jacques de la Villeglé (1926–) other media (ripped posters)
• Georges Badin (1927–) painter
• Bernard Buffet (1928–1999) painter
• Yves Klein (1928–1962) painter
• Arman (Armand Fernandez) (1928–2005) sculptor
• Gérard Gasiorowski (1930–1986) painter, other media
• Niki de Saint-Phalle (1930–2002) sculptor
• Alvaro Guillot (1931–2010) (Uruguay/French, died in Santa Fe New Mexico) abstract Realism
• Jules Michel (1931–) painter, sculptor
• Jean-Pierre Yvaral (1934–2002) (son of Victor Vasarely ) painter
• Jean-Michel Sanejouand (1934–) sculptor, painter
• Ben Vautier (called "Ben") (1935-) painter, other media
• Martial Raysse (1936–) painter
• Daniel Buren (1938–) sculptor, painter
• Pierre Gilou (1938-) Painter (Trompe-l'oeil – Réalité) (Son of painter Henri Cadiou), works in Paris
• Pierre Laffillé (1938–) painter
• Gérard Fromanger (1939–) painter, other media
• Andrey Lekarski (1940–) painter,sculptor, media artist (Bulgarian born)
• Bernar Venet (1941–) (Lives in America) sculptor
• Claude Rutault (1941–) conceptualist, painter
• Daniel Dezeuze (1942–) other media
• Anne Poirier (1942–) painter, other media
• Ksenia Milicevic (1942-) painter
• Patrick Poirier (1942–) painter, other media
• Jean Jacques Surian (1942–) (painter and ceramist, lives in Marseille)
• René-Louis Baron (1944–) conceptualist, algorithmic music composer
• Christian Boltanski (1944–) painter, photographer, other media, sculptor
• Jacques Pellegrin (painter) (1944–) painter
• Gérard Garouste (1946–) sculptor, painter, other media
• Denis Schneider (1946–)-painter
• Orlan (1947–) performance artist, body artist
• Bracha L. Ettinger (1948–) (Born in Tel Aviv) painter, photographer, new media, artist's books
• Dominique Sanson (1949–) (French, lives and works in Ibiza, Spain) painter
• Thibaut de Reimpré (1949-) abstract painter
• Claude-Max Lochu (1951–) painter
• Pierre Toutain-Dorbec (1951–) painter, sculptor, photographer, writer
• Jean-Marc Bustamante (1952–) painter, sculptor, photographer
• Vanilla Beer (1953) painter, daughter of Anthony Stafford Beer
• Thierry Bisch (1953–) painter
• Bernard Frize (1954–) painter
• Joel Ducorroy (1955– ) licence plate artist
• Patrick Moya (1955–) painter, sculptor, media artist (see fr:Patrick Moya )
• Patrick Mimran (1956–) multimedia artist
• Michel De Caso (1956–) painter, sculptor
• Corinne Tounsi (1956– ) (Lives and works in Vence) painter, visual artist
• Robert Combas (1957–) painter
• Maurice Benayoun (aka MoBen) (1957–) media artist
• Serge Arto (1959–) painter,sculptor, photographer,media artist
• Hervé Di Rosa (1959–) painter
• Zaven Paré (1961–) New media artist
• Victor Orly (1962– ) (Lives and works in Marseille) painter, ceramist
• Pierre Huyghe (1962–) media, film, video
• Damien Valero (1965-) mixed media artist
• Manu Farrarons (1967–) tattoo artist, graphic designer, illustrator, other media
• Ivan Fayard (1969–) painter
• Olivier Kosta-Théfaine (1972–) (Lives in Paris) other media
• Jean-François Batellier (1974-) caracaturist and cartoonist
• Amelie Chabannes (1974–) painter, sculptor
• Y Liver (1977-) (Lives and works in Paris) video-maker and performance artists
• Gilles Balmet (1979–) Video artist, painter, photographer and other media
• Natalie d'Arbeloff (dates?) cartoonist and painter

French photographers[link]

• Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765–1833) — Inventor of Photography
• Louis-Jacques Daguerre (1787–1851)
• Hippolyte Bayard (1807–1887)
• Adolphe Braun (1812–1877)
• Charles Marville (1816–1879)
• Nadar (Gaspard Félix Tournachon, called "Nadar") (1820–1910)
• Étienne-Jules Marey (1830–1904)
• Eugène Atget (Jean-Eugène Auguste Atget) (1857–1927)
• Constant Puyo (1857–1933)
• Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894–1986)
• Brassaï (Gyula Halasz) (1899–1984) (born in Hungary)
• Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004)
• Lucien Hervé (László Elkán) (1910–) photographer (Born in Hungary)
• Willy Ronis (1910–2009) photographer
• Robert Doisneau (1912–1994)
• Wols (Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze) (1913–1951) (German, worked in France) photographer
• Marc Riboud (1923–) photographer
• Pierre Boulat (1924–1998) photographer
• Georges Rousse (1947–) photographer
• Pierre et Gilles (Pierre: 1949, Gilles: 1953) photographers (active since 1976)
• Pierre Toutain-Dorbec (1951–)
• Pierre Dubreuil (1872–1944), photographer
• Bettina Rheims (1952–) photographer
• Ange Leccia (1952–) photographer, filmmaker
• Sophie Calle (1953–) other media, photographer
• Jean-François Lepage (1960-) photographer
• Alexandra Boulat (1962–2007) photographer
• Xavier Veilhan (1963–) photographer, other media
• Michel Poivert (1965–) photography historian, president Société française de photographie
• Jean-Christophe Destailleur (1966-) photographer

See also[link]

• Art history
• European art history
• History of painting
• List of Bulgarian artists
• List of French painters
• List of Spanish artists

References[link]