Neoclassicism Art History (PDF)
Document Details
Uploaded by PlentifulDemantoid
Tags
Summary
This document provides an overview of Neoclassicism, a significant period in Western art history. It covers the characteristics and famous works of this style, including paintings, sculptures, and architecture. The text also mentions influential artists of the Neoclassical period.
Full Transcript
What’s New & What is It NEOCLASSICISM, 1780-1840 The word “neoclassic” comes from the Greek word neos meaning “new” and the Latin word “classicus” which is similar in meaning to the English phrase “first class.” Neoclassicism is the name given to the Western movements in the decorative and visual a...
What’s New & What is It NEOCLASSICISM, 1780-1840 The word “neoclassic” comes from the Greek word neos meaning “new” and the Latin word “classicus” which is similar in meaning to the English phrase “first class.” Neoclassicism is the name given to the Western movements in the decorative and visual arts. Also, it applies to literature, theater, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the classical art and culture of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome The Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th century Age of Reason also known as Age of Enlightenment. The art style was brought about by the renewed interest for Greek and Roman classics. Neoclassical art pieces such as paintings, sculpture and architecture generally portrayed Roman history which elevated the Roman heroes. Characteristics: - rebirth of Roman history - formal composition - the use of diagonals to show the apex of emotion/moment - local color - overall lighting - classic geo-structure NEOCLASSICAL PAINTING Neoclassical artists embraced the ideals of order and moderation in which artistic interpretations of classic Greek and Roman history were restored to realistic portrayals. Neoclassical painters give great importance about the costumes, settings, and details of classical subject-matter without adding distracting details but with as much historical accuracy as possible. JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID (1748-1825) France Jacques-Louis David is an influential French painter in the Neoclassical style and considered to be the pre-eminent painter of the era. His subjects of paintings are more on history. https://tinyurl.com/DavidSelfPortrait 4 Famous Artworks: THE DEATH OF MARAT David’s masterpiece that shows portrayal of a revolutionary martyr. This is a painting of the murdered French revolutionary leader Jean- Paul Marat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Marat NAPOLEON CROSSING THE ALPS This is the painting that shows a strongly idealized view of the real crossing that Napoleon and his army made across the Alps through the Great St. Bernard Pass in May 1800. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Crossing_the_Alps OATH OF THE HORATII It is a large painting that depicts a scene from a Roman legend about a dispute between Rome and Alba Longa. The three brothers, all of whom appear willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of Rome, are shown saluting their father who holds their swords out for them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_the_Horatii 5 JEAN-AUGUSTE-DOMINIQUE INGRES (1780-1867) France Ingres is a pupil of Jacques-Louis David and is influenced by Italian Renaissance painters like Raphael. His paintings are usually nudes, portraits, and mythological works. He is regarded as one of the great exemplars of "academic art" and one of the finest “Old Masters” of his era. https://tinyurl.com/JeanAugusteDominiqueIngres Famous Artworks: PORTRAIT OF NAPOLÉON ON THE IMPERIAL THRONE This painting depicts Napoleon in his decadent coronation costume, seated upon his goldenencrusted throne, hand resting upon smooth ivory balls. During his reign, this painting was owned by the Corps Legislatif which was a part of the French Legislature. The painting is believed to be commissioned by Napoleon as King of Italy. https://tinyurl.com/NapoleonImerialThrone THE APOTHEOSIS OF HOMER This painting was a state commission by Charles X to have himself remembered in the building works of the Louvre. The painting depicts an image of Homer, receiving all the brilliant men of Rome, Greece, and contemporary times. https://tinyurl.com/TheApotheosisOfHomer 6 NEOCLASSICAL SCULPTURES The Neoclassical period was one of the great ages of public sculpture. Artists looked to Roman styles during the time of Alexander the Great for inspiration as well as to mimic their style. ANTONIO CANOVA (1757-1822) Italy Canova was a prolific Italian sculptor who became famous for his marble sculptures that delicately rendered nude flesh. He opened the idea for portraying discrete sexual pleasures by using pure contours with his mythological compositions. https://tinyurl.com/CanovaSelfPortrait Famous Artworks: PSYCHE AWAKENED BY CUPID’S WASHINGTON KISS https://tinyurl.com/CanovaWashington https://tinyurl.com/PsycheAwakenedbyCupidskiss This is a marble sculpture of A marble sculpture portraying the Washington currently displayed at relationship of Psyche and Cupid. North Carolina Museum of History. 7 BERTEL THORVALDSEN (1789-1838) Denmark Thorvaldsen was the first internationally acclaimed Danish artist. He executed sculptures of mythological characters. https://tinyurl.com/BertelThorvaldsen CHRIST LION OF LUCERNE https://tinyurl.com/ThorvaldsenChrist https://tinyurl.com/LionofLucerne A marble sculpture image of This is a sculpture of a dying lion in resurrected Christ currently Lucerne, Switzerland that located at the Thorvaldsen commemorates the Swiss Guards who Museum. were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE Neoclassical architecture is a style that started in the mid-18th century. It turns away from the grandeur of Rococo style and the Late Baroque. In its purest form, Neoclassical architecture is a style principally derived from the architecture of Classical Greece and Rome and the architecture of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio. 8 Types of Neoclassical Architecture: 1. TEMPLE STYLE Temple style building features a design based on an ancient temple. These buildings were uncommon during the Renaissance; architects of that period focused mainly on applying classical elements to churches and modern buildings like palazzos and villas. Many temple style buildings feature a peristyle (a continuous line of columns around a building), a rare feature of Renaissance architecture. Most famous Temple Style buildings of the Neoclassical age: Pantheon, Paris British Museum, London, By Jacques-Germain Robert Smirke Soufflot https://tinyurl.com/BritishMuseumLondo https://tinyurl.com/PantheonParis n La Madeleine de Paris By Pierre-Alexandre Vignon https://tinyurl.com/MadeleineParis 9 2. PALLADIAN Palladian building is based on Andrea Palladio’s style of villa construction. Some of the buildings feature a balustrade which is a railing with vertical supports along the edge of the roof. There are vertical supports within a balustrade known as “balusters” or spindles”. It is also a classical method of crowning a building that has a flat or low-lying roof. ROBERT ADAM (1728-1792) Britain He is the most famous Palladian architect of the Neoclassical who designed two well-known American civic buildings – The White House and United States Capitol. White House United States Capitol https://tinyurl.com/AdamWhiteHouse https://tinyurl.com/AdamUnitedStatesCapitol 3. CLASSICAL BLOCK The building features a rectangular or square plan, with a flat (or roof and an exterior rich in classical detail. The exterior features a repeated classical pattern or series of arches and/or columns. The overall impression of such a building is a huge, classically decorated rectangular block. Classical block aesthetic is also known as “Beaux-Arts style” since it was developed principally by the French École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts). Classical block architecture also flourished in the United States, particularly in New York. Famous Architects of this architecture style were: 1. HENRI LABROUSTE - his masterpiece is the Library of Sainte-Geneviève. 2. CHARLES GARNIER - designed the most famous classical block of all which is the Palais Garnier (a Neo-baroque opera house). 10 Library of Sainte-Genevieve PALAIS Garnier “PARIS OPERA (H. Labrouste) HOUSE” https://tinyurl.com/LibraryofSainteGenevieve (C. Garnier) https://tinyurl.com/GarnierParisOpera New York Public Library By Carrere & Hastings Architectural Firm, 1895 https://tinyurl.com/NewYorkPublicLibrary1908 Boston Public Library By: Charles Follen Mckim, 1895 https://tinyurl.com/MckimBostonPublicLibrary 11 What’s New & What is It ROMANTICISM, 1800s-1810s Romanticism is a movement in which the artists of Neoclassical period sought to break new ground in the expression of emotion, both subtle and stormy. It embraced several distinctive themes, such as a longing for history, supernatural elements, social injustices, and nature. Landscape painting became more popular due to the peoples‟ romantic adoration of nature. Romanticism is a reaction to the classical, contemplative nature of Neoclassical pieces. Characteristics: - shows the height of action - emotional extremes - celebrated nature as out of control - dramatic compositions - heightened sensation (life and death moments) ROMANTIC PAINTING (Portraits/Figures) The paintings of the Romantic period focus on emotion. Artists expressed as much feeling and passion as it could be on to a canvas. JEAN LOUIS THÉODORE GÉRICAULT (1791- 1824) France Géricault is the first French master and the leader of the French realistic school. His masterpieces are energetic, powerful, brilliantly colored, and tightly composed. https://www.theartstory.org/artist/gericault-theodore/ 14 Famous Artworks: THE RAFT OF THE MEDUSA (T. Géricault) The Raft of the Medusa portrays the victims of a contemporary shipwreck. The people on this raft were French emigrants’ route to West Africa. https://tinyurl.com/TheRaftoftheMedusa Charging Chasseur INSANE WOMAN (T. Géricault) (T. Géricault) https://tinyurl.com/ChargingChasseur https://tinyurl.com/InsaneWoman His first major work revealed This is one of several portraits the influence of the style of he made of the mentally ill that Rubens and an interest in the have a peculiar hypnotic power. depiction of contemporary subject matter. EUGÈNE DELACROIX (1798-1863) France Delacroix was considered the greatest French Romantic painter of all. He achieved brilliant visual effects using small, adjacent strokes of contrasting color. He was the most influential to the most of Romantic painters and eventually, his technique was adopted and extended by the Impressionist artists. https://tinyurl.com/EugeneDelacroix 15 Famous Artwork: LIBERTY LEADING THE PEOPLE (E. Delacroix) https://tinyurl.com/EugeneLibertyLeadingthePeople This painting commemorates the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled King Charles X of France. A woman personifies Liberty and leads the people forward over the bodies of the fallen, holding the flag of the French Revolution. FRANCISCO GOYA (1746-1828) Spain Francisco Goya is a commissioned Romantic painter by the King of Spain. He is also a printmaker regarded both as the last of the “Old Masters” and the first of the “Moderns”. https://tinyurl.com/FranciscoGoya Famous Artworks: Third of May (F. Goya) The Third of May is Goya’s masterpiece that sought to commemorate Spanish resistance to Napoleon’s armies during the occupation of 1808 in the Peninsular War. (Wikipedia) https://tinyurl.com/GoyaThirdofMay 16 SATURN DEVOURING HIS SON THE BURIAL OF SARDINE (F. Goya) https://tinyurl.com/TheBurialofSardine (F. Goya) https://tinyurl.com/GoyaSaturnDevouringHisSon The "Burial of the Sardine" is a This artwork depicts the Greek myth Spanish ceremony which is of the Titan Cronus (Saturn), who celebrated on Ash Wednesday and is fears that he would be overthrown by a symbolical burial of the past to one of his children, ate each one allow society to be reborn, upon their birth. transformed and with new vigor. ROMANTIC PAINTING (Landscape Painting) Landscape painting depicts the physical world that surrounds us and includes features such as mountains, valleys, vegetation, and bodies of water. The sky is another important element shaping the mood of landscape paintings. Landscape art ranges from highly detailed and realistic to impressionistic, romantic, and idealized. Famous landscape artists during the Romantic Period: 1. Théodore Rousseau 2. Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot They are members of Barbizon School (a circle of artists who held meetings in the village of Barbizon) that led the Romantic landscape painting in France. https://tinyurl.com/TheChurchofMarissel https://tinyurl.com/CorotLeReposSous 17 https://tinyurl.com/TheodoreRousseau https://tinyurl.com/LandscapewithaPlowma n ROMANTIC SCULPTURE Romantic sculpture can be divided into works that concern about the human world and those that concern the natural world. The leading sculptors of each type were Rude and Barye, respectively. FRANÇOIS RUDE (1784-1855) France François Rude was best known for his social art which inspires and captures the interest of a broad public. He rejected the classical repose of late 18th- and early 19thcentury French sculpture in favour of a dynamic, emotional style and created many monuments that stirred the public for generations. https://tinyurl.com/FrancoisRudeFranc e Famous Artworks: DEPARTURE OF THE VOLUNTEERS (F. JEANNE D’ARC (F. Rude) https://tinyurl.com/RudeJeanneDArc Rude) https://tinyurl.com/DepartureoftheVoluntees Known as La Marseillaise, this work portrays the goddess liberty urging the forces of the French Revolution onward. 18 ANTOINE-LOUIS BARYE (1796-1875) France He was the most famous animal sculptor of all time, studied the anatomy of his subjects by sketching residents of the Paris zoo. Famous works: 1. Hercules Sitting on a Bull 2. Theseus Slaying a Minotaur https://tinyurl.com/AntoineLouisBarye Hercules Sitting on A Bull Theseus Slaying the Minotaur (A. Barye) (A. Barye) https://tinyurl.com/HerculesSittingonaBull https://tinyurl.com/TheseusSlayingtheMinotaur GOTHIC REVIVAL ARCHITECTURE (NEOGOTHIC) Gothic Revival also referred to as Victorian Gothic or Neo-Gothic, Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. Many of Neogothic buildings features castellation which is the crenellated walls and towers in imitation of medieval castles. Indeed, heavily castellated Neogothic buildings are often referred to as “castles”, even though they never served a defensive purpose. Among them was Strawberry Hill (demolished), the most famous work of the decorative phase of the Gothic Revival. Gothic Revival became widely used for churches and civic buildings throughout the West, especially in Britain and the United States. Bricks and stones were both commonly used. 19 Strawberry Hill, London https://tinyurl.com/StrawberryHillHouse Architects who used Neogothic Style: 1. CHARLES BARRY is the name behind Britain’s foremost Gothic Revival monument the Westminster Palace (aka the Houses of Parliament) 2. JAMES RENWICK Renwick has his crowning American work, the St. Patrick’s Cathedral (New York). Westminster Palace (London) St. Patrick’s Cathedral https://tinyurl.com/WestminsterPalace https://tinyurl.com/AtPatricsCathedral 20