Why Even Bother Making a Top 10 French Painters List?
Honestly? Because people kept asking me for “the best” names. As if art’s some sports league. But fine, I dug in, knowing it’d be messy.
First thing? Finding names. Easy, right? Wrong. Hit Google, typed “famous French painters 20th century,” and boom – pages and pages of Picasso this, Matisse that. Felt overwhelming straight off the bat. Like walking into a giant gallery with no map.
Grabbed a notebook – old school, I know. Jotted down every name popping up repeatedly:
- Matisse (obviously)
- Picasso (duh, though Spanish-born)
- Duchamp (weird stuff, but famous)
- Chagall (floating cows, hard to forget)
- Bonnard (colors for days)
- Léger (all those tubes and machines)
- Rouault (dark, religious vibes)
- Braque (Picasso’s partner in crime with Cubism)
- Modigliani (those long faces!)
- Soutine (messy, emotional paintings)
Had like 15 names, needed to cut it down to 10. Started looking them up properly. Who actually mattered? Who changed things? This is where it got sticky. Spent way too long arguing with myself. Like, is Duchamp more “important” than Bonnard? Depends if you care about beauty or about breaking art’s rules. Felt like comparing apples to… concrete blocks.
Looked at museum collections online. MoMA, Pompidou, Tate… whose names kept coming up? Picasso and Matisse were everywhere, no contest. Braque right there with Picasso for Cubism. Duchamp? Annoyingly influential, even if his “art” was sometimes just a urinal. Had to include him.
Tried ranking them? Yeah, that lasted about five minutes. Absolute disaster. Decided alphabetical was safer. Made a messy list:
- Braque
- Chagall
- Duchamp
- Léger
- Matisse
- Modigliani
- Picasso
- Rouault
- Soutine
- Bonnard (stuck him last alphabetically, but man, his colors!)
Felt unsatisfied. Who actually gets remembered? Ask random folks? Picasso and Matisse win hands down. Maybe Chagall because he’s unique. The others? Art history buffs know them, but not your average Joe. Ended up feeling this “Top 10” thing is kind of fake. Bonnard and Matisse both painted amazing interiors, but Bonnard feels like Matisse’s quieter cousin.
Why am I telling you this headache? Because someone will ask “why not Derain?” or “Where’s Delaunay?” It’s impossible. The 20th century was wild – movements exploded everywhere. Picking “the best” is like picking the “best” type of coffee at Starbucks. Depends entirely on who you are and what you like.
Final verdict? Matisse and Picasso shaped the whole dang game. Duchamp broke it completely. Braque was Picasso’s essential wingman. The rest added incredible flavors, but those names? They resonate loudest. Forget ranking. Look at their work instead. Seeing a Matisse cut-out in person beats any list I could ever make. Though I still think Bonnard deserves more love… but that’s just me.
