Neo-Classicism and Romanticism
Neo Classicism and Romanticism were the styles that developed out of the concious rejection of the art of the late Baroque style of Rococo.
Neo-Classicism was formed from Academic Classicism of the French Baroque. The themes were old, coming from the study of Greek, Roman, and Renaissance art. The compositions were balanced and idealistic, with linear and precise poses and moods. Neo-Classicism was also used for propaganda, which supported a point of view or idea.
Romanticism art is a reaction to the rejection of Neo-Classicism. The painting themes were revolutions, art, music, literature, history, philosophy, and politics. The paintings appreciated nature, were simple in respect, cultivated emotion and passion, portrayed the rebel, exceptional man, and the tragic hero. The paintings had dramatic colors and lighting, used quick brushstrokes, dramatic subjects, individuality of the artist. There are many famous art pieces from this time; The Third of May, Raft of Medusa, Liberty Leading the People, the Hay Wain, and Rain, Steam, and Speed.
“Everything you can imagine is real.” - Pablo Picasso
Neo-Classicism was formed from Academic Classicism of the French Baroque. The themes were old, coming from the study of Greek, Roman, and Renaissance art. The compositions were balanced and idealistic, with linear and precise poses and moods. Neo-Classicism was also used for propaganda, which supported a point of view or idea.
Romanticism art is a reaction to the rejection of Neo-Classicism. The painting themes were revolutions, art, music, literature, history, philosophy, and politics. The paintings appreciated nature, were simple in respect, cultivated emotion and passion, portrayed the rebel, exceptional man, and the tragic hero. The paintings had dramatic colors and lighting, used quick brushstrokes, dramatic subjects, individuality of the artist. There are many famous art pieces from this time; The Third of May, Raft of Medusa, Liberty Leading the People, the Hay Wain, and Rain, Steam, and Speed.
“Everything you can imagine is real.” - Pablo Picasso
This painting was a form of propaganda. The king thought it symbolized fighting for one's country and patriotism, but it symbolizes fighting for freedom of the one's country. This painting depicts three brothers going off to fight in war. They are saluting their father who is holding up three swords. The figures are stiff. The composition is strategically planned. There are three groups hidden in the painting. The sons, the father, and the women. These groups are mirrored by the three arches in the background. The three women send the message that war is horrible, because people die. The three main colors in the painting are red, blue, and white. The women are each wearing at least one or two of those colors, and the father is wearing blue and red. The only person wearing both red, white, and blue is the son on the outside. In this painting, the colors are harsh and bright, and David uses localized color. There is a single light source, and David depicts the strongest light in the center, where the mens' hands join.
Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre, Paris
Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
Louvre, Paris
Socrates was parapatectic, which means he taught orally. After he was sent to jail for "corrupting the youth", he was given two choices, to drink poison hemlock and die, or be exiled from Athens. In this painting, Socrates has chosen to drink the hemlock, and is reaching for the cup. His students and disciples are crying with despair. There are twelve disciples, a reference to Christianity and Jesus's twelve disciples. Socrates's finger is raised, which is something that Leonardo da Vinci did in his paintings. At the end of the bed, a man is wearing the same color of Socrates. This symbolizes resolved acceptance that there is nothing he can do. The dominating darkness draws the viewers eye to the light brighter colors and action in the center of the painting. The few light colors jump out at the viewer, like the red and blues. Louis XVI thought it was symbolizing dying for your country, but it was actually propaganda. "It is a far better life I go to than the one I had before", Tale of Two Cities.
Jacques-Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Jacques-Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Light and Colour (Goethe's Theory) – The Morning after the Deluge – Moses Writing the Book of Genesis, by the Romantic painter J. M. W. Turner, clearly shows the importance of the color yellow. The yellow sun symbolizes rebirth, renew, and mature. It ends the long period of darkness. Moses is in the center of the painting, surrounded in the golden light of a new time.
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Light and Colour (Goethe's Theory) – The Morning after the Deluge – Moses Writing the Book of Genesis, 1843
Tate Britain, London
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Light and Colour (Goethe's Theory) – The Morning after the Deluge – Moses Writing the Book of Genesis, 1843
Tate Britain, London