NEOCLASSICISM (c. 1770 - 1870)

by Jo Colley 12:49 0 comments

After the rejection of the Rococo period, Neoclassicism aspired to restore the order of Apollonian art and style, marking a return to the ideas and forms found from the Renaissance period, but more importantly, looking back to the classic ideas and themes of painting depicted particularly in Roman Art. This aimed also return to the artistic standards of the ancient world. It's most highly regarded painter is often named as Jacques Louis David, who used ancient scenes as an allegory for contemporary issues.

However, in the 20th and 21st Century, this period of art history is often noted as dull and repetitive, regurgitating the same themes, ideas and compositions without any accompanying fresh ones. This meant that for the most part, this was a familiar form of art that we have seen revived multiple times during history. The Neoclassicists desired to return to the 'pure' art of Rome.

 The Return to the Classic

The majority of neoclassical works are conducted in the media of painting. These paintings would feature the biblical or mythological scenes found from the Ancient civilization. The painting below, The Oath of the Horatii by Jacques Louis David in 1784 is an extraordinarily large painting standing at 3.30 by 4.25 metres. The painting itself aims to depict heroism, revolution and empire as used by the rebels during the French Revolution, despite the painting being commissioned by Louis XVI, Jacques Louis David's work was used for an ulterior purpose.

"The Oath of Horatii" by Jacques Louis David, painted Oil on Canvas, (c. 1784).

In the above painting, links to Classic civilization can be deduced, such as the Roman armour and clothing, involving togas, helmets and swords, the striking shadows casting a difference between the soldiers and the women and children behind, the return of the rich red colour alludes to power, passion and the air of revolution.

Jacques Louis David

(1748 - 1825) David was heavily inspired by politics and was often commissioned to create paintings as an early form of what we would now call propaganda, often providing a commentary on the French Revolution and the rule of Napoleon and the French Empire. His paintings are often deemed to be heroic and dramatic in their emotion, scenes are not subtle or understated but bold. Other works by Jacques Louis David include, The Death of Socrates (1787) and Madame Recamier (1800), mostly working with the media of chalks, drawing and oil painting.

Neoclassical Sculpture

Antonio Canova (1757 - 1822) was a pioneer and the leading participant in the sculpture of the Neoclassical era. He was highly praised as having introduced the revival of sculpture in art since the Renaissance which had largely been abandoned in the Baroque and Rococo period due to the prevalence of the growing art of oil painting, which meant that sculpture had essentially become a "lost art". Neoclassicism was the first period of art to reintroduce this form of media.

Antonio Canova's "Paolina Borghese as Venus Victrix" c. 1805 - 1807

In a similar way to oil and easel paintings during the Renaissance, sculpture had now also become independent from it's environment and was no longer a simple fixture to an architectural design. This meant that sculpture, particularly that of the feminine form, became constructed for art's sake. Another famous work of Antonio Canova was Cupid and Psyche (1796 - 1797) at a height of 150 centimetres, built from marble. This work displays how the sculptor had an obsession for certain areas of the body that others avoided, e.g. hands and fingers.

Key Artists

At this point in time, landscape artistry had become of vital importance. Claude-Joseph Vernet is an example of a painter of beautifully composed Italian landscapes. He often looked at the water, whether it was shipwrecks, ports or coastlines. A typical work of Vernet is The Shipwreck painted by the French painter in around 1772. This is another instance that a relatively contemporary notion or event has been represented allegorically by the painter in order to link back to a biblical or mythological scene, much relevant in the Neoclassic era. The painting is dark in it's colour scheme, with heroic figures saving others from the wreckage, while the sky's background is lit up in places. Critics and contemporaries alike praised Vernet as an inclusive painter, allowing the audience to feel as though they themselves are in the stormy painting.

"The Shipwreck" by Claude-Joseph Vernet, Oil on Canvas, 1772.

Another noteworthy artist of the period was female oil painter, Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun, A member of the French Academy, it was still rare for a female artist to become prominent, however, her painting was reminiscent in aspect of Rococo art, showing surprising similarities due to her being an artist previously under the ancien regime. The similarities lying in the depiction of women's fashion, emotive facial expression, with rich and luxurious colours.

"Portrait of Madame Mole-Reymond" by Elisabeth
Vigee-Lebrun, painted with oil on panel in 1786.

In conclusion, artists of Neoclassicism looked for a return to the "purity" of classic art and it's Apollonian qualities of order, beauty, strength etc. This is a more imperial view on art, adopting the values of both the Ancient Classics and the resurgence during the Renaissance. Qualities admired in Neoclassicism are the heroism, the idealism and power held within the artworks and the narratives they offer. The Neoclassicism era was later superseded by the period named Romanticism.