Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism refers to a movement and a style in the visual arts, which drew upon Western Classical art and the cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome. It was dominant during the mid 18th through end of the 19th century.
The movement first gained influence in England, France and Italy, and arose partly as a reaction against the Baroque and Rococo styles which had dominated European art through the 17th and 18th centuries. Neoclassicism
... (view more)
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism refers to a movement and a style in the visual arts, which drew upon Western Classical art and the cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome. It was dominant during the mid 18th through end of the 19th century.
The movement first gained influence in England, France and Italy, and arose partly as a reaction against the Baroque and Rococo styles which had dominated European art through the 17th and 18th centuries. Neoclassicism was also inspired by the archaeological discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum in the 1740s, and the subsequent renewal of scientific interest in classical antiquity. Intellectually and politically Neoclassicism was also closely linked to the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution.
Neoclassical painting was marked by sharp colors with chiaroscuro. Perspective was central and linear, with an emphasis on qualities of outline, atmosphere and lighting. Figures and pose were often modeled after antique sculptural groups, Greek vase painting and architectural friezes. Costumes and settings were depicted with as much historical accuracy as possible.
In sculpture, artists looked to Roman copies of Hellenistic sculptures. Pieces were marked by gravity, decorum, rhetorical quality of gesture and the heavy patterns of drapery common in the classical prototypes. Works were however often infused, as in the pieces of Antonio Canova, with a sweet romanticism.
Classical history, mythology and prose provided a large part of subject matter both in painting and sculpture. Artists drew upon the poetry of Homer, Virgil and Ovid; the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides; and the histories of Pliny, Tacitus, Plutarch and Livy. In the paintings of French artists such as Jacques Louis David and Jean Francois Pierre Peyron, subject matter from these histories was used in narrative painting to extol the values of simplicity, austerity, heroism and stoic virtue associated with ancient times and to draw parallels between antiquity and the contemporary struggle for liberty in France.
Notable Neoclassical artists include: Pompeo Batoni, Antonio Canova, Jacques Louis David, John Flaxman, Gavin Hamilton, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Angelica Kauffman, Anton Raphael Mengs, Jean-François Pierre Peyron, Bertel Thorvaldsen and Joseph Marie Vien. (hide)
Examples of Neoclassicism at Auction
Artists Associated with Neoclassicism — 11 artists:
We're Hiring!
