Relationship between Neoclassicism and Romanticism; Realism and Impressionism - Essay Example

From the research it can be comprehended that Neoclassicism was a revival of the classic art that was prevalent during the time of the Ancient Greek and Rome. It developed as a response to the heavily decorative style of Rococo and thus favored simple lines and order. The curvy style of Rococo was replaced by simple clean lines. Neoclassicism, since it was also inspired by the Renaissance art, laid emphasis on rationality and logic. Romanticism, on the other hand, was an intellectual movement that sprang up during the late 18th century.

It developed as a response to the Industrial Revolution and thus was against the scientific rationalization and in general contradicted with the Age of Enlightenment. Emotion, rather than logic, was stressed in this particular style with emphasis on emotions such as terror, awe and horror. Artists from the era of Romanticism were against the forms developed by the neoclassic artists. They were not inspired by the beauty of the perfect subjects that the neoclassic artists painted. Rather they criticized the neoclassicism art for being unreal and without any real emotions.

Since Neoclassicism was inspired by the Ancient Greeks and Roman whose main subjects were Gods, it was obvious that the subjects of neoclassic artists were God like human beings with little or no emotion in their eyes or body language. In their use of colors, the Romantic art was quite contrary with that of the neoclassic art. Romantic artists used vibrant colors, inspired from the Middle East artists while their earlier peers depended on muted colors. Romanticism can be defined as a dynamic art form with its vibrant use of colors and emotions.

Neoclassicism, on the other hand, is a passive art form that uses muted colors and shows no emotion. Emotion and rationality are two ends of a spectrum and the relationship between Romanticism and Neoclassicism can be understood by the fact that Romanticism represented emotion while Neoclassicism relied on logic. If Neoclassicism was God centric, Romanticism was human centric. Relationship between Realism and Impressionism Realism is a French art movement that began in the 1850s in the aftermath of the 1848 revolution.

Realism was an art form that was developed as a reaction towards the Romantic art form. Realism arts denied the use of excessive emotion in their art and aimed to develop objective reality in their art forms. Depicting the painting in its real and true form was the aim of realist artists. This was a time when photography was gaining popularity and photography provided support to realism with its natural and true depiction of the subject. Impressionism, on the other hand, was a 19th century movement that was developed by Paris artists who defied the norms by using free brush strokes to create realism.

They explored different perspectives of the scene and inculcated movement in art. These artists were first not taken seriously but with time, they art style spread to other parts of the art world. It is believed that it was the great artist, Manet who created the transition between Realism and Impressionism. Manet went away with the use of painting layers in his painting so that he could create his painting in one sitting with the model present. This meant that he could not make any mistake with the use of the colors, thus the art form was a fast art form that did not receive a favorable reception in the beginning.

Realism art was an art that tried to tune in to the norms of the art society. Impressionist art form, however, created a revolution in the art society as it redefined the term art. Impressionist artists demanded solo shows while French artists vehemently opposed them. However, with time people realized that Impressionism had brought a fresh perspective in art and they accepted the art form. One