Neoclassicism - Overview from Phil Hansen

neoclassical art emerged in the 1760s and was popular throughout Europe and North America until the 1850s breaking away from the emotionally charged baroque style of previous year's neoclassical artists would look back to the classical style of art neoclassical art can sometimes appear cold and unemotional but in fact some of the most popular neoclassical themes were emotional subjects like patriotism sacrifice and courage it was the style neoclassical artists employed in depicting these themes that differ dramatically from the Baroque artists of the past neoclassical artists shunda sensuality and the shallow character of Rococo style and aimed instead for the symmetry proportion and simplicity achieved during the Renaissance neoclassical style is known for its formal composition accurate detail and solid lines which sometimes came at the expense of lighting and atmosphere it's also known for its classical and mythological themes with contemporary settings and costumes common themes included patriotism honor and human rights archeology was a brand-new science at the time and it sparked public interest in all things ancient the discovery of ruins of ancient cities like Pompeii gave modern viewers the opportunity to see ancient art for themselves simplicity and subtle grandeur marked the art of these ancient cultures and with its rediscovery it quickly came back into vogue both artists and the public at large were captivated by the classical style of greco-roman art Yohann Winckelmann the father of archeology considered the idealized style of ancient art Greek in particular a beauty more perfect than nature Benkelman actually appeal to artists of his time to copy ancient style which he described as timeless and ideal neoclassical artists did not need to be persuaded and even competed amongst themselves to produce the best imitations of greco-roman style both Greek and Roman styles inspired imitations throughout the neoclassical period however since far more examples of Roman sculpture remained this style with the sculptors of the Dead many sculptors actually insisted that their subjects where Roman style clothing to capture the essence of Roman style despite their idealization of the Roman aesthetic neoclassical artists depicted the flaws of their subjects as ancient greco-roman artists would never do greco-roman artists valued ideal looks and form as opposed to realism but neoclassical artists tended to make some allowances in that respect one of the leading sculptors of this age jean-antoine doodle created a statue of George Washington fortunately he did not depict the president wearing a Roman toga or sporting a Greek godlike physique the statue can be seen today in Virginia state capitols rotunda and another sculpture called psyche revived by Cupid's kiss a well-known sculptor named Antonio Canova to face a scene from Apuleius metamorphosis the scene shown in the sculpture is the moment of psyches death after she disobeys Cupid's mother Venus by opening a flask Cupid finds psyche dead and revives her with his love this works classical inspiration fine detail and mixture of realism and I are characteristic of the neoclassical period in the large-scale painting the oath of the Horacio Jacques Louie David who is considered one of the most important artists of the neoclassical era modeled his soldiers on the lines of the ideal Greek warrior represented in so many classical works the focus was once again on the ideal human form David was immensely impressed with the ancient art uncovered at Pompeii in his work clearly reflected this in literature and social tradition the neoclassical movement can be described as an offshoot of the Age of Enlightenment which began in the late 17th century philosophers and political writers like Voltaire and Rousseau spread the new philosophies of the Enlightenment regarding science morality government and basic human rights Enlightenment Age thinkers wanted to stop blindly following traditions and age-old practices and valued reason in individualism above all else these ideas sparked revolutions around the world and both the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution took place during this tumultuous and radical time the neoclassical movement swept through the architectural world as well the Arc de Triomphe one of the most easily recognized structures in the world is a classic example of how the Roman Empire's architecture was imitated by neoclassical architects typically the neoclassical architect was likely to focus on simple geometric forms while ensuring that buildings proportions were of a grand scale modern-day examples of neoclassical architecture stretch across continents to include the White House in Washington DC the neoclassical movement spread all over the world to some degree towards the end of the 19th century the neoclassical school of thought coexisted with Romanticism a new artistic style which was just beginning to emerge you

Channel: Philinthecircle

Views: 212,127

Rating: 4.9214897 out of 5

Keywords: Neoclassicism (Art Period/Movement), Art (Collection Category), Art History (Film Genre), painting, Documentary (TV Genre)

Id: aR86ja-RcSA

Length: 5min 57sec (357 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 26 2014

Reddit Comments

[u/Alumashka]

Not sure it is trumpet... But in the end there are titles with "music by Kevin Macleod (incomptech.com)" - though site looks like being dead... Probably this is just composition created by this author for sale. Not necessarily something classical/popular.