The story of modern art begins with Jaques-Louis David. He became a dictator of the arts and designed huge propagandas. He painted such pieces as, The Oath of the Horatii that was aclaimed in Rome and aseries of sensational paintings. David painted figures are parallel to the picture-plane. Each stroke of his brush or pencil occuples an unambiguously defined spatial position, which has won him the Prize of Prix de Rome [Canaday 7]. He marked the begining of French modern art and influenced men and women from their dress to their own morality. Early disapointments, an attempted suicide, a Roman experience, and therafter his participation in political events determined the character of his own art and redirected the cource of European painting. David established himself as art dictator of France, where his paintings influenced everythging from philosophical morality to interior decoration. Davids paintings influenced womans European wardrobe to look like the females in David's paintings. It was the most drastic "new look" in the history of fashion [Canaday 7]. This would be a begining of David's career. David was exceptionally sensitive to the climate of the times he lived through. David's first important picture, St. Roch Begging the virgin to intercede for the Plague-stricken, shows affinities [Smith 117]. The striking thing about it is the intensity with which the dead and dying are represented. This painting which won David's first success at the Salon, the Belisanus where h...
