Naiades et Centaures dans les Vagues 

Georges Jules Victor Clairin made this painting of Naiads and Centaurs in the Waves using oil on canvas sometime in the late nineteenth century in France. Here, figures drawn from classical mythology are thrown about in a tumultuous sea. Clairin, like many academic painters of the period, looked to the past for his subject matter but approached it with a modern sensibility. During the late 1800’s in France, the art world was closely tied to the state through institutions like the École des Beaux-Arts and the Salon system, both of which promoted a hierarchy of genres that privileged history painting and classical subjects. However, artists were beginning to challenge these norms. While Clairin engages with classical themes, his loose brushwork and dramatic composition suggest a departure from the more rigid styles of the past. Art historians consult Salon catalogs, reviews, and other period documents to better understand the complex interplay between tradition and innovation that shaped art production in this period.