The Return to Order ( French: ''retour à l'ordre'') was a European

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific art philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined ...

following the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

that rejected the extreme

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

art of the years up to 1918 and emphasized the classical ideals of order and rationality. The movement is often thought to be a reaction to the war, though strands of the ''Return to Order'' began before its outbreak, such as the Noucentista movement in Spain.

Futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

, which had praised machinery, dynamism, violence and war, was rejected by most of its adherents. The return to order was associated with a revival of classicism and representational painting. Among the many artists who participated in the movement were notable figures in modernism such as

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and Braque,

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

, Cezanne, Renoir, and much of the Italian Futurists. Artists of the ''Return to Order'' placed high emphasis on the classical ideals of rationality, quality of line, illusionism and order, in opposition to the preceding decades of irrationality and emotional turbulence which characterised the artworks of the avant-garde. Although taking classicism as its foundational inspiration, artists were keen to re-interpret the essence of classical art through the lens of modernism, and a link was often made between the idealism of the classical period and the “Plastic-like” art of the modern era. Many of the works made during the period display modernist tendencies alongside classical subjects and techniques. This change of direction was reflected and encouraged by the magazine '' Valori plastici'' published in Italian and French from 1918 to 1922. The term ''return to order'' to describe this renewed interest in tradition is said to derive from ''Le rappel à l'ordre'', a book of essays by the poet and artist

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

published in 1926.

Notable artists

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

* Andre Derain *

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( ; ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His ...

* Mariano Andreu * Felice Casorati *

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; ; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French people, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionism, Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially femininity, fe ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

Gallery

File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French - The Large Bathers - Google Art Project.jpg, Painting by Renoir that displays an emphasis on line and clarity File:Woman and Child on the Seashore, 1921, Picasso.jpg, Pablo Picasso, Example of the classical principles of art during the return to order. File:Mariano-andreu-i-estany-family-at-countryside.jpg, Painting of a landscape with family, Marino Andreu File:The Seamstresses.png, "The Seamstresses", Massimo Campigli, 1925. Displays elements of modernism alongside classical aspects. File:Portrait of Hena Rigotti, Felice Casorati.webp, A portrait by Felice Casorati, displaying very strong elements of classical influence. File:Still-life-1920.jpg!Large.jpg, Still Life by Le Corbusier, 1920, which blends the geometric cubist style with classical techniques of shading and representation, as well as order and clarity. File:André Derain, 1912, Nature morte (Still Life), oil on canvas, 100.5 x 118 cm, State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Black and white).jpg, Still Life by Andre Derain, a forerunner of the fauvist movement.

References

Tate Gallery

''International Herald Tribune''

On Classic Ground
{{Novecento Italiano 20th century in art Neoclassical movements

Notable artists

Gallery

See also

References