Neoclassical and Romantic Painting: Styles and Characteristics

Posted on Dec 17, 2024 in Music

Neoclassical Painting

The Neoclassical reaction presumed the mid-eighteenth-century classical breakup of the former regime. The art forms revived the noble forms of the Greco-Roman past. The theorist and painter Anton Raphael Mengs’ Neoclassical theories would lead to a painting on the roof of one of the rooms in the Villa Albani in Rome that might be considered a manifesto of this new-born classicism. In his Parnassus, he renounced the colorful effects or own Baroque composition for a painting in which symmetry and reason protruded, and pooled the perfection of the forms of ancient sculpture with the values of the painting by Raphael. Mengs’ Parnassus became one of the most admired works of the town, a place to visit for all travelers on the Grand Tour. The work of Mengs summarizes many of the ideas of Neoclassical culture of antiquity. Mengs’ Parnassus seeks to leap in time. Mengs often introduced foreign elements, such as a small, stubby Doric column without a base, which supports one of the muses. The composition is given a key role in the Greek Doric style. The controversial Mengs echoed a debate that would have important theoretical and figurative implications, with the Greek Doric order, without a base, becoming almost an emblem of simplistic and abstract tendencies of later Neoclassicism. Archaeology led to paintings that followed the examples of antiquity. Joseph M. Vien was the director of the French Academy in Rome from 1775 to 1781. Shortly after his arrival in Rome, he took over 22 students. He tried to give greater rigidity and discipline to the institution. There was also a return to traditional painting masters: Raphael, Correggio, Carracci, and Poussin. This genre of painting, somewhat eclectic, tried to dispense with all superfluous detail to highlight the importance of the topic. The issue is central to Neoclassical painting because it is intended to regenerate society by showing the virtues of citizenship that were interpreted through subjects drawn from classical literature. Neoclassicism was a style reminiscent of classical antiquity. There are plenty of naked, Greek-style figures, grandiose posturing, and cold, very scholarly and academic tones. It is an art full of rules, where what matters is the drawing, while color is considered secondary. The principal advocate of Neoclassicism was the French painter Jacques-Louis David, who was imbued with classical influences received during his stay in Rome. David based the shape of his figures on ancient sculpture. His great successor was Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, who became identified with the academic tradition in France by the cold serenity of its lines and colors and for its careful attention to detail.

Features of Neoclassicism

Composition with the use of verticals and horizontals.
Clarity and harmony.
Rejection of artifice and decoration.
Predominant form of drawing and coloring.
Uniform light, clear and cold.
The picture surface appears smooth, flawless, with a bill that did not nearly appreciate the author’s touches.
It is cultivated in the history box, playing acts of the French Revolution and celebrating Greek and Roman myths.
The themes were stories and allegories.
The scenes did not represent the climax of the story.
Oil on canvas was used.
The style also was looking for simplicity in composition.
Each table was referring to a single topic.
The frame is usually architectural.
It almost looked for a recreation of ancient archaeology, playing on the canvas those objects discovered by archaeologists in excavations.

Romantic Painting

Romantic painting happened in the late eighteenth-century, after Neoclassical painting, with some new features developed. It is twinned with social and political movements. It originated in 18th-century philosophy and is now the cult of sentimentality, love of nature, and rejection of civilization. It emerged in England in the 17th century to refer to the novel, as opposed to the prevailing Neo-classicism. It extends from 1770 to 1870.

Features of Romanticism

1. Individualism, Emotionalism, Mysticism

Charles Baudelaire and Stendhal considered that Neoclassicism was outdated and that the modern era was about romance, feelings, color, and individualism. This movement is a way of glorifying individual sensitivity. Romanticism defends the superiority of feeling over reason. Individualism meant that painters did not contract work, but painted according to the dictates of their imagination, speaking through the paint for ideas and feelings. It focused on the landscape and nature, the human figure, and the supremacy of the natural order above mankind’s will. Pantheistic philosophy (the world and God are the same, more philosophical than religious beliefs) is a concept opposed to Enlightenment ideals and sees the fate of humanity in a more tragic or pessimistic light. This thought led the artists to represent the romantic sublime.

2. The Cult of the Middle Ages, the Nordic Cultural World, and the Exotic (Orientalism)

The imagination of artists was drawn to Northern legends during the Middle Ages. Norse mythology replaced the tables of Greco-Roman gods. A passion for historical themes developed. Painters were attracted by the exoticism of the Middle Ages, by the change of background and accessories. The ruins became a romantic theme par excellence. Due to historical and social convulsions, they turned their eyes to the past of the country itself. It also refers to folkloric and popular themes. Literature also was a source of inspiration.

3. Violence, Drama, Fights, Madness, Death

In many paintings, there is a romantic desire to see these concepts. The mysterious and fantastic occupied a prominent place in many pictures. Extreme sadness and nightmares were also represented, leading to death combined with eroticism. Monsters, witches, and ghosts populated the canvas. Romanticism attaches great importance to the irrational. Madness is occupied by Géricault.

4. Ideology

It is a cultural movement associated with the Restoration. But Romanticism is literal and revolutionary.

Style and Technique

Strong contrasts of light and shadow (chiaroscuro) were used.
Color is characteristic of Romanticism.
The brushwork is visible.
The painting becomes tactile; the nature appears lumpy and thick fillings.
Sometimes it looks outlined.
The figure tries to be realistic.
They try to match the clothes of the characters to the time represented.
Some relation to the Baroque.
The techniques used varied.
The prevailing oil painting on canvas.
Watercolor is also used.
The drawing experienced a boom.
The fresco tried to be recovered by the Nazarenes.
Many drawings and paintings achieved wide dissemination through means of reproduction such as lithography.
With these methods, numerous images were popularized.

Themes

They are attracted to history painting.
The themes of classical antiquity lapsed, and the Middle Ages were preferred due to concern for the historical past.
They like exotic oriental themes for the escape from reality that surrounds them, but also for dramatic themes and interest in contemporary history.
The characters become a major genre.
It was not landscape descriptions, but human emotions to be expressed through it.
The painting of manners, reflecting the types and celebrities.
People injured, deformed, or dead.
The romantic exploits looks away, melancholy, love, .. (expressing emotional conflict).

Periods

Pre-Romanticism: 1770-1820

The first period of Romanticism developed in parallel with Neoclassicism, or rather in opposition to this trend. The bill remains Neoclassical but seeks to express personal feelings; feeling prevails over reason and exalts the esoteric and mysterious.

England: A literary stream whose works influenced the painters, who helped to extend this power to other arts. Painters and cartoonists were characterized by a search of the unconscious and the irrational.

Germany: Defended individual sensitivity to the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment.

France: The first outbreaks of Romanticism painting students are due to Neoclassical Jacques-Louis David.

Spain: Spain is working in one of the biggest names in romance: Francisco Goya (1746-1828), during the War of Independence was devoted to dramatic themes, blended fantasy and reality.

1820-1850 or the Height of Romanticism

Painting began to take hold in the representation of issues in modern history. A new conception of the landscape. The fullness of the romantic painters dates from around 1824-1840.

France: Country of vibrant painting, social and political unrest that he met the country.

England: It is known for his discovery of nature, its landscapes, light, and colors. The romantic landscape flourished.

Spain: Goya died in 1828, and in his later work, he shows a romantic interest in the irrational.

1850-1870 or Post-Romantic Betrayal

Romanticism was weakened and moved to some manierismo; Romanticism was perpetuated in an era dominated by realism in many fields.