French art has played a crucial role in many art movements, both past and present. It is perhaps best known for its influence in impressionism and the importance of the French capital, Paris, to the art world. Paris’ Louvre Museum has retained its status as one of the premier spots for art appreciation in the world and even houses The Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous paintings.

Merovingian’s catalyst for art development was continued on with Carolingian art over a 120-year period from 750 to 900.  After Carolingian rule closed around 900, there was little more development or production of significant French art movements for some 60 years. France became a divided country at this point and there were not the right conditions for artistic creativity. The 10th and 11th centuries were dominated by local monastries who took a significant role in France’s art production at that stage.

Prior to the respected Gothic period that was the Romanesque art of Western Europe for around two hundred and fifty years, from 1000 A.D. to the middle of the 12th century in France. The name refers to the influence of, and return to, Roman styles and principles in architecture and art which this movement used.

Gothic art and architecture then took over French are for around 300 years. Whilst originating here, it actually spread quickly to other parts of Europe. The later International Gothic style had less of a reliance and prominence of religion than its former, and it then went onto the further develop from there into Renaissance art. Gothic art included sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco, and illuminated manuscript most prominently.

The French invasion of Italy in the late 15th century allowed the influence of the Renaissance to fully take hold of France’s art direction and leave a mark which remains strong even today. The French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars brought in new influences which helped to push Renaissance art into new directions and bridge the gap between Renaissance art and the later styles of Romanticism and later Impressionism.

Romanticism brought French landscape painting to the forefront and later led to Gustave Courbet and the Barbizon school as key markers in the further changes to the status quo. The late 19th century brought French Symbolism from Gustave Moreau, the professor of Matisse and Rouault, as well as Odilon Redon.

Impressionism brought an array of French art to the forefront, led by Claude Monet and his use of landscapes and carefully prepared gardens to develop artistic coverage of light changes and vivid paintings. It started the progress towards the many new styles that we have today.

One of the more popular artists in South Korea is a girl named Lee Hyori . She is well known by South Koreans to be one of the members of a popular Korean girl group called FINKL which stands for Fine Killing Liberty. In Korea “Fin” means “the end” therefore it reads like “the end of liberty killing”. The girl group decided to choose that name since it has a deeper meaning to them. For them it is like they are standing up against anything or put and end to anything that is killing their liberty or freedom. Some may not like their title but it certainly worked for the girls and they made a lot of popular musical hits with it.

Lee was the girl bands leader being the oldest member of the teenage group. It is interesting to know that she was the last member to join the group and was discovered while she was taking pictures with her friends. The girl band was launched around the month of January of the year 1998 and made their official debut in the month of May of the same year. Their first single was called the “Blue Rain” and they gained a lot of supporters right away considering that they are still new in the industry. After their second album was released, there was no stopping them in hitting the media spotlight.

After the FINKL’s split, Lee continued to pursue her career and has become one of the most popular artists in South Korea. She was able to develop most of her talents and became the face of Korea in both the South Pacific and quite recently in the whole world. Unlike other entertainment stars, she has won a lot of advertising contracts among Korea’s top companies. She has remained a popular choice among the companies who wanted to cash in on her popular public image.