Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism) is the name given to distinct movements in the visual arts, literature and music.
Neo-classicism in architecture and the visual arts
In the visual arts, neoclassicism began as a reaction against the Baroque and Rococo, and a desire to return to perceived "purity" of the arts Rome and a less specific idea of the arts of Ancient Greece, and to a lesser extent the examples of Renaissance Classicism.
There is an anti-Rococo strain that can be detected in some European architecture of the earlier 18th century, most vividly represented in the Palladian architecture of Georgian Britain and Ireland, but recognizable in a classicizing vein of architecture in Berlin.
Neoclassicism first gained influence in England and France after the mid 18th century, through a generation of French art students trained in Rome, and the influential writings of Winckelmann]]and quickly adopted in progressive circles in Sweden. At first, classicizing decor was grafted onto familiar European forms, but a second wave, more severe, more studied (through engravings0, more archaeological, is associated with the height of the Napoleonic Empire. David, Canova, John Flaxman, Empire furniture, Wedgwood bas-reliefs: the style was international.
Neo-Classicism continued to be a major force in art through the 19th century, a constant antithesis to Romanticism or Gothic revivals, and beyond, although from the late 19th century on has often been considered anti-modern or even reactionary in some art circles.
Noted neoclassical artists have included painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres and sculptor Antonio Canova. Neoclassical architecture includes the Smith Tower.
Neo-classicism in music
In music, neo-classicism was a 20th century development, particularly popular in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers drew inspiration from music of the 18th century. The term is somewhat misleading, because inspiration was as much drawn from the Baroque period as the Classical - for this reason, music which draws influence specifically from the Baroque is sometimes termed neo-baroque.
Neo-classicism can be seen as a reaction to the prevailing trend of 19th century Romanticism to sacrifice internal balance and order in favour of more overtly emotional writing. Neo-classicism makes a return to balanced forms and often emotional restraint, as well as 18th century compositional processes and techniques. However, in the use of modern instrumental resources such as the full orchestra, which had greatly expanded since the 18th century, and advanced harmony, neo-classical works are distinctly 20th century.
Igor Stravinsky composed some of the best known neo-classical works - in his ballet Pulcinella, for example, he used themes which he believed to be by Giovanni Pergolesi (it later transpired that many of them were not, though they were by contemporaries). Paul Hindemith was another neo-classicist, as was Bohuslav Martinu, who revived the Baroque concerto grosso form.
Literary neoclassicism
The arts do not always march in step, and "Neo-Classicism" in English literature is associated with the "Augustan" writers of the early 18th century, all the heirs of John Dryden and Milton. Major writers of the period have included Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope. The ensuing period of "Romantic" writers had its origins at the height of neo-classicism in the visual arts, about 1800.
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Referenced By
Academic art | Art pompier | Bertel Thorvaldsen | Classicism | Classissism | European Art History | Friedrich Hoelderlin | Friedrich Hölderlin | Hans Makart | Herculaneum | History of Painting | Jacques Germain Soufflot | Jacques Louis David | Marquetry | Pantheon, Paris | Romantic literature | Romantic movement | Romanticism | Secret Garden | Sheraton | The Panthéon | Triskelion | Visual art | Visual arts and design | William Chambers
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