5 paragraphy report on Neoclassic & Romantic Periods - Essay Example

Introduction: Laurie Schneider Adams, in the fourth edition of her book ‘A History of Western Art’ (2004), studies the growth and spread of two opposite strains of artistic development in the Western world: Neoclassicism and Romanticism. While Neoclassical art forms looked to revive an ancient, classical tradition, Romanticism advocated a revolutionary new way of creating and looking at art. The former, which arose in the 1700s, was based principally on order and strict regulations. Romanticism, on the other hand, gained popularity in the 1800s and idealized the individual and his or her liberty.

Neoclassicism looked for purity and control in art: boldly defined colors and re-workings of classical models from ancient Greece marked the best of Neoclassical art. Models and sculptures from Attica and Athens belonging to the fourth and fifth centuries were thought to be the ideal works that all artists should emulate and aspire for. Romantics, however, believed that true art was to be found in nature and the ‘common folk’ of the countryside. They held up novelty and individuality as supreme and rebelled against the oppressive, controlling forces of cultured society.

Blast from the Past: Harking back to Classical GreeceThe Neoclassicism movement began in France with the end of the ancient regime, or the old order of monarchy. Its preoccupation with Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism was associated with the ideals of heroism, clarity and stability that the Neoclassicists sought in their art. Napoleon Bonaparte used this style to embody his rule and enhance his image as a political leader. Jacques-Louis David, one of the most prominent Neoclassical painters, portrays in his Oath of the Horatii, an event that represented honor and self-sacrifice.

Bonaparte emerged as a great patron for artists and sanctioned numerous triumphal arches to commemorate his victories. Arch of Titus is one of the prime examples of this trait of his. Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres’s painting of Napoleon in 1806 is another rich example of the art of this period: the red velvet, the gold and the ermine all engulf the emperor, a characteristic opulence of the neoclassicists. America’s revolt against her colonizers and the consequent effort at breaking away from the ‘Georgian’ style led to an adoption of Neoclassical sentiments.

This is exemplified in Thomas Jefferson who was immortalized by Jean-Antoine Houdon in a marble bust. How Romantic!Romanticism spread through West Europe and the USA in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It draws from the Gothic tradition, a longing for the past and in this aspect is similar to Neoclassicism which looked back to its ancient past for inspiration too. Architecture of the Romantic period was influenced by the Gothic as displayed in Horace Walpoles Strawberry Hill.

A fascination with the orient and the mysterious East was reflected architecturally too; for instance, The Royal Pavilion in Brighton designed John Nash, which included onion-like domes borrowed from the Indian Gothic style, and also reminiscent of Coleridges unearthly poem Kubla Khan. Francois Rude, a Romantic sculptor, created the La Marseillaise which was a marked departure from the staid Neoclassical style and depicted the vigor and zest of those about to fight for their land. In painting, William Blake, the poet and the artist, yearned for the older, mystical days of Christianity and wrote epic poems about the creation of earth and on God, illustrating them with his own set of bold symbols and imagery.

Delacroix, a more mainstream painter, rebelled against the controlled brushstrokes of Neoclassical paintings, with his own, sweeping and bold. Massacre at Chios shows his interest in distant locations and the ideal of liberty. Francisco de Goya was another painter interested deeply in the human psyche; his famous ‘Bogeyman’, whose indistinct shape brings such terror to the children’s faces, best illustrates this trait. Goya also champions freedom of the individual against an oppressive state.

Caspar Friedrich uses his paintings to show nature and the human form merge, as seen in his Two Men Contemplating the Moon. Folk artist Edward Hicks brings to the eye another view of nature: a refreshing, untutored depiction; as in, The Peaceable Kingdom. What do you make of it? – The ImpressionistsThe Impressionist style grew in the 1880s and unlike Realism, was almost completely untouched political events, such as the Franco-Prussian war in 1871. Instead, Impressionists relied heavily on landscape, scenery, and newer technology.

Impressionism although almost a child of Realism, concerned itself more with optical realism and natural properties of light. One of the most famous paintings of this era is Manet’s Bar at Folies-Bergere which features the Impressionist usages of the silhouette, the blurred reflection in the chandeliers indicating movement, and the smoke in the room affecting light and color. Another Impressionist great, Renoir, is noted for his painting Moulin de la Galette, showing the Montmartre dance hall, with people gathered around a table with glasses, half filled, reflecting light.

Mary Cassat is known to have used the Impressionist close-up in The Boating Party, 1893-1894, showing the intimacy of the mother and child distinctively. A very similar concept is handled in Berthe Morisot’s The Cradle of 1873, but in this case, instead of a slanted viewpoint as seen in the earlier, the painter opts for a more horizontal approach. Coming to Claude Monet, we find the roots of the word Impressionism itself in one of his paintings: Impression, Sunrise. Some other notable paintings of the Impressionist era include Renoir’s Pont Neul, where the influence of photography is clearly noticeable.

Coming to sculpture, an absolute genius was Auguste Rodin. Perhaps his most famous work is The Thinker, which was originally intended to be a representation of Dante. Rodin’s concept of the human figure was deeply influenced by Italian sculpture. Meanwhile, American painting was continuing in the Realist vein with the likes of Winslow Homer and John Sargent. Aesthetes too began to a movement demanding ‘art for art’s sake’ which resulted in the content of art yielding to style. First Impressions don’t count!

The Post Impressionists were artists of the late 19th century who were influenced by the Impressionists. Cezanne and Seurat were Post-Impressionists who concentrated on form and structure while Gauguin and Van Gogh probed deeper into the emotional aspect of art. Post-Impressionists used more clearly defined borders than their predecessors, although retaining most of the Impressionist style of painting like the use of bright colors. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, inspired by Degas, based his paintings on Parisian nightlife using dynamic motion and bold colors as in Quadrille at the Moulin Rouge.

Cezanne, the most influential of Post-Impressionists and deeply involved with the Impressionists; painted his Self-Portrait which shows the man’s striking vitality even with the use of dark colors. Georges Seurat’s most famous work Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, immortalizes a scene of leisure pervaded by stolid, iconic symbols frozen in time. He used contrasting colors beside each other and had a keen eye for details. Van Gogh, the greatest of Dutch painters, is best known for his depiction of the human psychology in his paintings: as seen in the tense colors, misshapen forms and juxtaposed images of his well-known, Bedroom.

Gauguin used brighter colors with bold black borders and applied his paint more smoothly. Paul Gauguin also uses Christian symbolism in his art as seen in Self-Portrait with Halo and The Yellow Christ. The Symbolists rejected the Impressionist interest in nature and the Realist social awareness and were influenced by mythology, although they depicted in a new, disturbing and perverse way. Gustave Moreau began this movement and is renowned for his painting of Galatea which shows Polyphemos gazing on the nude body of his human beloved.

Edward Munch displayed his mental agony in the distortion of his art, for instance in The Scream. Naïve or untrained painting was brought to notice thanks to Henri Rosseau, whose The Dream is influenced considerably by Freudian theories of dreams and their implications and prefigures Surrealism.