“The most important aspects of classical art,” observed German historian and archaeologist Johann J. Winckelmann, “is its noble simplicity and calm grandeur.” As an archaeologist, Winckelmann became inspired by the ancient artifacts being recovered at the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In the late 1700s, the popular stylization in European art was baroque and rococo styles. To critics, these styles were vain and overly ostentatious to be truly considered art. Rococo art, for example, symbolized European aristocracy with its attention on great scale and themes of worldly pleasures. Likewise, baroque art became an institutionalized art because it often portrayed the grandeur and power of the Catholic Church, which supported the style. The new age of painters became disenchanted with this status quo. Occurring concurrent with societal and political shifts in Europe, neoclassical style was born.
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In our society, an obsession with the human body is commonly interpreted to signify a perversion. To neoclassical painters, such a cynical view is understandable. Not because the person himself (let us be honest about the popularly accused gender) is perverted per se, but because etiquette and morality has trumped understanding and reason. This signifies a different sort of societal perversion; a different sort of decadence. Neoclassical painters explicitly created their works to reverse this decadence, to return to the days when proper virtue and culture reigned supreme. The classical Greek and Roman civilizations, for example, affirmed their existence and embodied all that was good and possible for humanity. Society has often gone astray from this ideal, but painting was capable of helping restore and immortalize perfection. Neoclassical painters built neoclassicism on this possibility to restore perfection. Among the most prominent figures in this neoclassical movement was Jean-August Dominique Ingres. Neoclassicism is a movement appeared in mid-18th century as a reaction to Rococo and dominated till the end of 19th century. Neoclassic artists produced works of visual arts, architecture, literature and music. Neoclassicism tries to adopt ideals of Greek and Roman art using classical forms. Neoclassical art was mostly used in England and France but also spread through Europe and USA in a short time. Rococo style was based on elaborated decoration, ostentation, asymmetry and lightness and demonstrated aristocracy. Neoclassicism replaced Rococo with rationality, order, balance and perfect control, focusing on noble simplicity. Also Neoclassicism was calm and focused on more formal emotions such as nationalism, loyalty for the country and self-sacrifice as opposed to lighthearted Rococo. |
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