The movement of neoclassicism was elevated by rejecting the popular movements of its day. Throughout the art world (centered primarily in Europe), the popular movement of the early 18th century in artistry was the Rococo style – which itself had been born as an extension to the baroque movement. To subscribers of neoclassical paintings, the rococo style embodied everything that had become degenerate about the function and aesthetics of art itself. Much like the rococo style sought to remove itself from the baroque paintings that dealt with saints, religious iconography, and the divine by focusing on the affirmation and pleasures of this life, the neoclassical painters sought to remove itself from the aloof nature of rococo. In turn, the two main ingredients that created neoclassicism became nostalgia and the romantic sentiment of rejecting contemporary society’s evils. Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
“The only way for us to become great”, observed Johann Joachim Winckelmann “lies in the imitation of the Greeks”. With this idea, the German-born art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann encapsulated the movement of neoclassicism. Seeking to recapture the essence of classical Greek and Roman art, neoclassicism became the widespread movement in visual art in the mid-18th century. It gained popularity partly as a backlash against the baroque and rococo styles that concerned themselves with aristocracy, excess, institutionalism, and vanity. This sentimentalism towards civilizations past was not limited to art. It was rooted in the societal and political happenings of the time, especially in Europe. Neoclassicism became more than an art style to many countries: it became intertwined with the moral revolutions of the century. To Winckelmann, art needed to move its audience and teach virtue. Much like in the civilizations of Greece and Rome, art represents and serves humanity. Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
Home, Sweet, Home: A Look at Houses in Neoclassical Style
Neoclassical architecture, at its core, was an attempt to revive what architects interpreted to be a glory period for their field of specialization. It was a reaction to increased disenchantment with the popular architectural movements of their era that focused on excessive design and status, far removed from the simple and more imposing structures of bygone eras. Ironically, when one reviews the classical Greek and Roman architecture, such as the Parthenon or the Colosseum, that neoclassicism built itself on to imitate, one realizes that neoclassical designs still carried an aura of elitism that it sought to reject by the baroque and rococo architectural movement.
Specifically, the neoclassical style evident in cathedrals, arenas, or museums, for example, still served a function as a centerpiece for the purpose that it served and in the area in where it was built. That is structures of lesser significance in classical Greece and Rome have long decayed, whereas Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
Timeless Forever: Ancient Greek and Roman Architecture that inspires today
As Karl Friedrich Schinkel was designing the Altes Museum in Berlin in 1825, he had an ambition to redefine the typology of museum architecture from thereafter. In doing so, he sought to construct a building that married elements of the past with components of the present and future – in essence, to build something timeless. Schinkel turned to the Greek Stoa in Athens as a model for the Altes Museum. Subscribers to neoclassicism recognized that the Greek revival movement was established to create an importance to their individual structures, just as classical Greeks did with their prized designs, and thus the function of buildings were an important qualification for whether neoclassical design was appropriate. Classical Roman architecture was similar to that of the ancient Greeks, particularly when one Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
In architecture, there is no such thing as an original design. Elements of the new are sourced to the old. Sometimes this credit to the past is given explicitly, such as was the case during the neoclassical movement which patterned itself after the past by recapturing the classic Greek and Roman architecture. However, even as the popularity of neoclassical architecture began in the mid-18th century and peaked by the late 19th century as the popular style, elements of this classical style still exists, even though categorized as a different genre. Indeed, neoclassical architecture has become so conventional that architects popularly label neoclassicism as “traditional architecture.” As a result, the influence of neoclassicism can be seen in modern architecture, and remains anything but extinct.
Though understanding the difficulties in assigning chronological orders of popular architectural movements, the first variants of the modern architecture developed in the early 20th century with the rise of profound technological and engineering developments. Modern architecture sought to reflect the engineering feats of humankind, as exemplified by Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
The story and meanings behind Rococo and Baroque architecture
Nothing in existence simply “happens.” The creation of an entity requires stimulation, conception, and nurturing – whether it be an offspring, an event, or a simple idea. The increased popularity of neoclassical architecture in the mid 18th century did not occur because of a sudden societal nostalgia to revive the architecture of classical Greece and Rome. Certainly that is part of the equation, but more importantly, architectural movements are largely provoked by disenchantment with the mundane present. Neoclassical style was a reaction against the paradigms of the Renaissance architecture – chiefly, Rococo and Baroque architecture. It was these styles that laid the fertile foundations for neoclassicism to thrive.
Likewise, the Baroque architecture that largely defined European architecture in the 17th century was a reflection and affirmation of the times. Begun in Italy, Baroque style sought to extend upon the designs of the renaissance. However, the development of the Baroque architecture was largely dictated by Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
It is woven and conditioned into our imaginations that “different” is synonymous with the “new.” To be unique requires no precedent. The field of architecture is no different in that respect – architectural movements and schools have continuously evolved, changed, and been invented because architects prefer to leave their mark and remove themselves from the mundane. That is precisely why neoclassical architecture stands in stark counterpoint. As the name of it suggests, it embraces the tried; the true; the old. The neoclassical style of architecture was conceived as a direct response to its disenchantment with the “new”, particularly Rococo and Baroque architecture that enjoyed popularity in the early 18th century when the neoclassical period began to gather its momentum.
The Rococo movement focused particular attention to the interior design of buildings and developed in France in the early 18th century. The Rococo style sought to display individual rooms as art itself, and consequently paintings were prevalent and furniture was intentionally highlighted as its own lavish form of art. As one would expect, Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
The architects that helped construct neoclassicism
On the Pincio in the Villa Medici in Italy lies a building that has both suffered the effects of time and enjoyed its fruits. The French Academy of Rome, founded in 1666, has required numerous renovations in the past 343 years. However, its legacy lives on in the Pantheon in Paris, the Pavlovsk Palace in Russia, the United States Capitol Building, among many others. Though neoclassical architecture had its exponents previously in France, such as Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, it was the French Academy in Rome that was the setting for the conception of neoclassicism as a movement, and its subsequent expansion globally.
Charles-Louis ClÈrisseau, in particular, became a pioneer in directly assisting in the export of the neoclassical movement abroad. Himself a neoclassical architect and painter, he mentored students in the ways of ancient Rome architecture with focus on its ruins and designs, both real and imagined. Among his proteges was Robert Adams, Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
An investigation at the diverse functions of neoclassical buildings
It does not take the exhaustive lines of tourists, the stoic Royal Guards, or the exclusive gating to recognize that there is something capturing about Buckingham Palace. The elaborate and imposing exterior arrests the attention of visitors; there is universality, nostalgia, an imposing presence to the Palace that makes it stand out. Buckingham Palace was designed principally by John Nash and Edward Blore, and it serves as a commentary not only in the popular tastes of today, but the timeless and popular grip neoclassical architecture had in the 18th and 19th century.
While many may not be capable of defining neoclassical architecture or be able to elaborate on its features, a large majority are capable of discerning such buildings from a mass of structures. Neoclassical style intends for its designs to stand out as a Continue reading to THE ARTICLE »
