Neo-classicism(1750-1850)

Neo Classicism:

Map of Europe and America in the Age of Enlightenment

Neo Classicism:

• Neoclassicism is a revival of the styles and spirit of classic antiquity inspired directly

from the classical period.

• Neo-classical Art is a severe, unemotional form of art harkening back to the style of

ancient Greece and Rome.

• Its rigidity was a reaction to the overbred of Rococo style and the emotional

Baroque style. This art movement is often described as the opposed counterpart of

Romanticism.

• The rise of Neo-classical Art was part of a general revival of classical thought, which

was of some importance in the American and French revolutions.

• Painters applied sombre colours with occasional brilliant highlights, strengthened by

the strong light and dark tones. Here, quality of line and contour was a more

important consideration for the artists than colour, light and atmosphere.

Neo Classicism:

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Le

Grande Odalisque, 1814. Oil on

canvas, 36” x 64”. Louvre, Paris.

Jacques-Louis David, The Oath of

the Horatii , 1784. Oil on canvas 10’10” x 14’. Musée du Louvre, Paris

Nicolas Poussin, Holy Family on the

Steps, 1648. Oil on canvas,

28”x44.” Cleveland Museum o Art.

Neo Classicism:

Jean-Antoine Houdon, Voltaire Seated,

1781. Terracotta model for marble

original, 47.” Musée Voltaire.

After Leochares, Apollo Belvedere, c.

120-140. Copy of bronze original of ca.

350-325 BC. White marble, 88” high.

Vatican Museum, Vatican City.

Antonio Canova's Psyche

Revived by Love's Kiss

Neo Classicism:

Lord Burlington and William Kent,

Chiswick House, 1725. Chiswick,

London

Andrea Palladio, Villa Capra (La

Rotonda), 1566-1571, Vicenza,

Italy

Horace Walpole and William

Robinson, Strawberry Hill, 1749-1777.

Twickenham, England

Neo Classicism:

Giovanni Paolo Panini, Ancient Rome, 1757. Oil on canvas,

67 ¾" x 90 ½." Metropolitan Museum, NY.

• The Neoclassical style arose from first-hand observation and reproduction of antique works.

• Artists are inspired by Greek and Roman mythology, aesthetics, and style.

• Neo-Classicism is recognizable in all media-the decorative arts, literature, painting, sculpture, theatre, architecture and music.

• It dominates Europe and America in the second half of the 18th

century.