Neoclassicism

GabeJob

TheNeoclassicalmovementwasamovementthatstemmedinthemid18thcentury
continuingintotheearly19thcentury,originatingfromRome.Themovementitselfwas
awayofcoincidingwiththeupcomingageofenlightenmentwherealltheartistsand
evenciviliansweretryingnewthingsandexperimentingwithnewwaysofcreating
uniqueart.Thiswasalsomaintainedfrombuildingoffoftherenaissanceeratoattempt
torekindletheclassicalerathus,alotoftheartworkdoneinthisperiodtendedtobe
unemotional.ThestartoftheNeoclassicalmovementwasduetoalloftheEuropeanart
studentsreturningfromtheirtimeintheGrandtour,bringingbackideasofGrecoand
Romanideas.Theseideasthatwerebroughtbackalsocontainedtherootsofmodern
philosophyandtherevivalsoftheoriginalclassicalstyleofart.Theterm
Neoclassicismitselfwasnotinventeduntilalmostanentirecenturylater,bythetime
thetermwasdefined,peoplebroughtupitsnecessarymeaningofRevivalofthe
Renaissance.DuringtheNeoclassicalmovement,afewmajorformsofartsteppedup
totakethestandprintmaking,sculpting,architecture,anddecorativearts.
ThroughouttheNeoclassicalera,paintingandprintmakingwasnotexactly
definedasexcitinginfact,alotofartiststocomeafterNeoclassicismrefertoits
paintingasuninterestingandratherboring,orinthewordsofKennethClarkitnow
strikeseventhosewritersfavourablyinclinedtoitasinsipidandalmostentirely
uninterestingtous.Ipersonallydontthinkthatthepaintingwasalltooawful,infactI

foundaveryinterestingpaintingnamedDianaandCupidwhichwasincredibly
symbolictome.Thepicturedepictsastunningwomansittinginsideaforest.While
shessittingintheforest,shesstealingwhatIassumetobecupidsbow(representing
thestartoflove.)Thebowinthepaintinglooksasifitisabouttosnap,whileofftothe
sideasetoftwodogssit,onesleeping,onewatchingtheconflict.Theentirepaintingis
filledwithwarm,vibrantcolorsandisratherenjoyabletolookat.Thepaintingiscredited
toartistPompeoBatoni,paintedwithoiloncanvasin1761.Ontheopposite(more
accurate?)sideofthespectrum,IfoundaratherfamouspaintingoftheNeoclassical
eraBenjaminWestsoiloncanvaspaintingin1770TheDeathofGeneralWolfe.In
thispaintingamandyinginthemidstofbattleisportrayedwithagroupof13defined
characterssurroundinghim,oneofthecharactersbeinganativeamerican.Nodefined
emotionisbeingdisplayedatall,whichseemstomatchthelackofvibrantcolorswithin
thispiece.ThispaintingreallydoescapturethedefiningfeaturesoftheNeoclassical
era,closetonoemotionissold,asifnobodytrulycaresthatthegeneralisdead.This
couldbetomatchtheactualeventthatistakingplacebutIjustdontthinkthelackof
emotionfitsthenormalhuman.Thelackofcolorisprettyintriguingtome,aseverything
almosthasadirtyfeelingtoit,betterknownasgrunge.OnepartofthispiecethatI
reallylikeistherenditionofthenativeamerican.Ilikethisbecauseitreallydoes
accuratelydisplaytheFrench&IndianWarthatwasbeingheldatthetime.Lookingat
thetimeofpaintingonthesetwopiecesofart,oneshouldnotethatpicturesweredareI
sayhappierbeforethewarstarted,beingfinishedinthemiddleofthewarwhileafter
thewarended,thesadrecollectionsofthewarremainedinpainting.Thisisapersonal

theoryastowhyalotofthepaintingsintheNeoclassicaleraarejustsosadand
depressing.
LikemostoftheNeoclassicalpaintings,sculpturesinthiseratendedtolackalot
ofemotion.Althoughverymightysituationsweredisplayed,mostsculptorschoseto
leaveoutfacialexpressions.TheonlyexceptionstothiswouldbeworkssuchasThe
CharacterHeadsbyFranzXaverMesserschmidt.TowardstheendofhiscareerFranz
begantoseehallucinations,becomingparanoidanddifferent.Thisreallyimpactedhis
artcareer,causinghimtocreateTheCharacterheadsin1781.Eachofthese
sculpturesrepresentsoneformoffacialexpressiontomatchtheemotionthatwouldfit
withit.Eachofthesesculpturesareontheextreme,onebeingincrediblyhappy,one
beingangryascanbe.ThisstylewasnotcharacteristicoftheNeoclassicalerainthe
sensethatemotionwasbasicallyfrownedupon.Uponlookingateachoftheheadsits
worthytonotethattheres64differentfaceseachwithitsownuniqueexpressionand
look,sotheremustvebeenatleastacoupledifferentmodelsright?Wrong!Duringthis
timeFranzdevelopedamentalillnesscalledCrohnsdiseaseandtodistracthimself
begantheheads.Hedidthisbysystematicallypinchinghimselfwhilelookingintoa
mirror,recordingeveryfacethathemade.Backtoamoreaccuratesculpturaldepiction
oftheNeoclassicalera,themostnotableartistIcouldfindwasAntonioCanova.
AntoniosculptedsomeofthemosticonicsculpturestoenterintheNeoclassicalscene,
myfavoritebeinghisrenditionofTheseusandtheMinotaurafterthebattle.The
sculpturewasfinishedin1782andwasmadeforaVenetianambassadorbythename
ofGirolamoZulian.OneofAntonio'sfriendsadvisedhimtodepictTheseusafterthe

battle,claimingthathewouldgainmoreattentionfromcritics(lowandbehold).The
actualsculptureisTheseussittingonthecorpseoftheminotaurfromthefamous
legend.ThefaceofTheseusisalmostentirelyblankwhenitcomestohisemotion.I
personallywouldhaveafaceofreliefifthathadhappenedtome!Yet,duringthe
Neoclassicalera,emotionwasjustnotintheagenda!Iactuallyreallylikethispiece
becauseitallowsthemindtocreateastorywithoutevenknowingtheoriginallegend.
Thewaytheclubandtheminotaurisskillfullycarvedoutisjustincredible,easilymy
favoritethingtoresearchwhileresearchingthissubject.
ArchitectureintheNeoclassicalerahasaratherbroadrangeofinfluenceand
takesalotofdifferentstylesfromverydifferentplaces.Forexample,alotofdecoration
withinabuildingmightconsistofanempirestylevaseortable,accentedwithaclassical
finishtoawall.NearthebeginningoftheNeoclassicalera,mostinteriordesigners
leanedtowardsaRomanstyleapproachtodecorating,oftentakingtheexteriorofold,
ancientcivilizationsandcities,andusingthedesigntomakeaninterior.Neartheendof
Neoclassicalera,moreandmoredesignersbegantoadoptGreekandGothicstyles,
fromhere,everyculturehadadoptedsomeformofthisnewarchitecturalstyleand
changeditfortheirownuses.OneofthemorenotableNeoclassicalbuildingshastobe
SaintIsaacsCathedrallocatedinSaintPetersburg,Russia.Thecathedralwasordered
tobebuiltbyTsarAlexanderI,dedicatedtoSaintIsaacofDalmatia.Insidethe
cathedral,nearlyeverywallhassomegildingtoit.Neartheentryway,twoangel
statueslieengravedintheoverhangingarchway,thisisacommonpracticeoftaking
anexteriordetailandimplodingittobeplacedwithinabuildinginterior.Anothervery

notablethingaboutthiscathedralisthebeautifulpillarsthatareevenlyspaced.
Althoughthisisacommonpracticeamongstmostreligiousbuildings,Ihadtothrowin
theconnotationtoitsNeoclassicalstyle,asthepillarswereoftenusedbytheGreeks,
mostlytodecoratetheoutsidesofParthenon's,here,theyarebroughtinside.
LateronafterNeoclassicismhaddevelopedquiteabit(aroundthetimeofthe
AmericanRenaissancemovementintheearly1900s,itsoonstartedtobecomean
irrelevantstyle,takeinmindthateverycenturyseesaresurgenceofNeoclassicalart.
SomeofthelastworksofartthatwereinspiredbythestyleofNeoclassicismwerethe
LincolnMemorialandtheNationalGalleryofArtinWashington.Thereasontheworks
ofneoclassicismbegantodeclineisduetoamassivemovementofinvading
conservativemodernistartists.ThemostrecentresurgenceofNeoclassicismbegan
aroundtheendofWorldWarII.AlthoughNeoclassicismreturnedundervarious
differentnamessuchas,NeoHistoricism,Traditionalism,andNewClassical
Architecture.OneofthemorenotablebuildingsfoundwithinthisNeoclassical
resurgenceistheSchermerhornSymphonyCenterinNashville,Tennessee.The
concerthallisextremelyresemblantofagreekstyleparthenon,completewithpillars
andaverydecorativeoverhang.Thesizeofthebuildingisthoughttobealittleodd,
sortofrepresentingashoebox.Ipersonallythinkthatthisbuildingisalittletoo
ordinary,itlooksjustlikeourcapitolbuildingdowntown.
FromtherootsofGreekandGothicroots,Neoclassicismhashadsomeeffecton
almosteverystyleofartandcontinuestodosotoday.