NEOCLASSICAL ART

(ca. 1770 -
1870s)
BY- ANOUSHKA AGARWAL
JAPNEET KAUR
SRISHTI AGGARWAL
SECTION 'A'
CONTENTS

• What is neoclassical art?

• History
• Printing & print making
• Sculpture
• Neoclassical & fashion
• Difference between
neoclassical & rococo
art
• Reaction against
perceived frivolity of
Rococo Art
• Reasons for return
of Neoclassicism
• Return to styles and
subjects that recall the art
of Greece and Rome
• Referencing
 WHAT IS
•
NEOCLASSICAL?
Neoclassicism was a Western cultural movement in the decorative
and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that
drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity.
• The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th-century
Age of Enlightenment,and continued into the early 19th century,
lat- erally competing with Romanticism.
 Neoclassical architecture is
based on the principles of
simplicity and symmetry,
which were seen as virtues of
the arts of Rome and Ancient
Greece, and were more
immediately drawn from 16th-
century Renaissance
Classicism.
 HISTOR
•
Y
Neoclassicism is a revival of the many styles and spirit of classic
antiquity inspired directly from the classical period, which
coincided and reflected the developments in philosophy and
other areas of the Age of Enlightenment, and was initially a
reaction against the excesses of the preceding Rococo style
• While the movement is often described as the opposed
counterpart of Romanticism, this is a great over-simplification
that tends not to be sustainable when specific artists or works
are considered.
• Neoclassicism” is used primarily
of the visual arts; the similar
movement in English literature,
which began considerably earlier,
is called Augustan literature This,
which had been dominant for
several decades, was beginning to
decline by the time
Neoclassicism in the visual arts
became fashionable.
• In music, the period saw the
rise of classical music, and
“Neoclassicism” is used of 20th-
century developments.
• However, the operas of Christoph
Willibald Gluck represented a
specifically Neoclassical approach,
spelt out in his preface to the
published score of Alceste (1769),
which aimed to reform opera by
removing ornamentation,
increasing the role of the chorus
in line with Greek tragedy, and
using simpler unadorned
melodic lines.
 PAINTING & PRINT
• MAKING
The work of other artists, who could not easily be described as
insipid, combined aspects of Romanticism with a generally
Neoclassical style, and form part of the history of both
movements.
• The German-Danish painter Asmus Jacob Carstens finished
very few of the large mythological works that he planned,
leaving mostly
• His main subject matter was the buildings and ruins of Rome,
and he was more stimulated by the ancient than the modern
• Neoclassicism in painting
gained a new sense of
direction with the sensational
success of Jacques- Louis
David’s Oath of the Horatii at
• Despite
the Paris Salon of 1785
evocation
republican
its virtues,
thiscommission
a the of
by
government, whichroyal wa
David insisted on painting in s
• Rome.
David rapidly became
leader
the of French art, and after
the French Revolution became
a politician with control of
much government patronage
in art.
• During the eighteenth century, when Neoclassicism was
emerging, there were no known paintings from the ancient
world, but artists still took inspiration from Greek and Roman
culture.
• Jacques-Louis David’s bold emphasis on vivid, heroic action in
the foreground is typical of the Neoclassicist style.
 SCULPTUR
• E
If Neoclassical painting
suffered from a lack of
ancient models, Neoclassical
sculpture tended to suffer
from an excess of them.
• The leading Neoclassical
sculptors enjoyed huge
reputations in their own day,
but are now less regarded,
with the exception of Jean-
Antoine Houdon, whose work
was mainly portraits, very
often as busts, which do not
sacrifice a strong impression
of the sitter’s personality to
idealism.
• An early Neoclassicist in sculpture
was the Swede Johan Tobias Sergel.
• John Flaxman was also, or
mainly, a sculptor, mostly producing
severely classical reliefs that are
comparable in style to his prints; he
also designed and modelled
Neoclassical ceramics for Josiah
Wedgwood for several years.
• Johann Gottfried Schadow and his
son Rudolph, one of the few
Neoclassical sculptors to die young,
were the leading German artists,
with Franz Anton von Zauner in
Austria.
NEOCLASSICAL
&
FASHION
• Fashion,
Neoclassicism influenced the
much greater simplicity of
women’s dresses, and the
long-lasting fashion for white,
from well before the French
Revolution, but it was not
until after it that thorough-
going attempts to imitate
ancient styles became
fashionable in France, at least
for women.
• Classical costumes had long
been worn by fashionable
ladies posing as some figure
from Greek or Roman myth in
a portrait.
• Very light and loose dresses, usually white and often with shockingly bare
arms, rose sheer from the ankle to just below the bodice, where there was a
strongly emphasized thin hem or tie round the body, often in a different
colour.
• A long rectangular shawl or wrap, very often plain red but with a decorated
border in portraits, helped in colder weather, and was apparently laid around
the midriff when seated—for which sprawling semi-recumbent postures were
favoured.
• Neoclassical fashion for men was far more problematic, and never really took
off other than for hair, where it played an important role in the shorter styles
that finally despatched the use of wigs, and then white hair-powder, for
younger men.
• The trouser had been the symbol of the barbarian to the Greeks and Romans.
NEOCLASSICAL v/s ROCOCO
ART
NEOCLASSICAL ROCOCO
ART

• Symmetry • Asymmetry
• Harmony • Manipulation of light
• Pure lines & colour
• Less decorative • Curved lines
• Geometric Proportions • Abundant decorative
• More emphasis on • Dynamism
civic buildings • Vain topics
REACTION AGAINST
PERCEIVED FRIVOLITY OF
• TheROCOCO
classical revival, ART
also known as Neoclassicism, refers to
movements in the arts that draw inspiration from the “classical”
art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.
• The dominant styles during the 18th century were Baroque and
Rococo.
• The latter, with its emphasis on asymmetry, bright colors, and
ornamentation is typically considered to be the direct opposite
of the Neoclassical style, which is based on order, symmetry, and
simplicity.
• The style can generally be identified by its use of straight lines,
minimal use of color, simplicity of form and, of course, its
adherence to classical values and techniques.
REASON FOR THE RETURN OF
NEOCLASSICISM

• Neoclassicism returned to the principles of

Classical art, which were based around the
concept of ‘unity’.
• This meant all parts should be harmoniously
balanced, in the correct proportions, moderately
and rationally arranged.
• Clean, crisp lines replaced the twists and turns of
Rococo art, and color was generally toned
down.
• The Rococo style was characterized by elaborate
ornamentation, theatrical swirls and complex
designs.
• Neoclassicists reacted against this trend for
the exuberant by prioritizing simplicity,
symmetry and the Classical ideal of ‘unity’.
RETURN TO STYLES
AND SUBJECTS THAT
RECALL
ART OF GREECE
THE AND
ROME
• The 18th century witnessed one of the biggest
changes in fashionhistory , the transition from
Rococo to Neoclassical style , a change that
didn’t mean just a different color pallet or lighter
fabrics but a change in the way women saw
themselves and the role they were playing in
society , this style change also meant a
transition of thoughts , beliefs and the rising of
an intense sense of freedom.
• The women fashion changed drastically and for
the first time incenturies returned to nature, to
the natural body shape without wigs .The
waistline changed.
• The fabrics became lighter and women could –at
least for couple of decades wear really
comfortable costumes.
• Although the adoption of neoclassical style in
fashion happened a littlebit late comparing to
the other art segments, the style ruled
thewomen costumes until the second half of
19th century.
 REFERANCING

• •h ttps://en.wik i p e d i a . o r g/ w i k i/P sy c h e _ R
e { 2 0 2 1 } whatisneoclassical{online}{accessed21feb2021
• •https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan
n _ J o a c h i m _ W i nc k el ma nn {2 0 21 }h is t or y o fn
eo c la ss ic al {0 nl i ne }
{accessed21feb2021}
• •https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_the_Horatii{2021}
paintingandprintmaking{online}{accessed21feb2021}
• •https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gallery_of_Art{2021}
sculpture{online}{accessed21feb2021}
• •https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marie-Guillemine_Benoist_-_

Portrait_of_a_Lady_(San_Diego_Museum_of_Art.jpg{2021}
neoclassicalandfashion{online}{accessed21feb2021}
• lumenneoclassical(online)https://courses.lumenlearning.com/
boundless-arthistory/chapter/neoclassicism/ accessed21feb2021}
• invaluable Neoclassical Art: A Revival of Greco-Roman
Taste(online)https://www.invaluable.com/blog/neoclassical-ar
t/
{accessed21feb2021}
THANK
YOU