In the early 20th century, academic painters like Leighton descended into oblivion, as French-style avant-gardism, from post-impressionism through to cubism, ascended to stage center in the capitals of Europe. However, with the return to figuration in the form of pop art in the 1960s, and the concurrent rise of that highly contagious sensibility that Susan Sontag so memorably identified as “camp,” academic art began its long return to popularity.