Post on 21-Jan-2016
Neo-Classicism & Romanticism
NEOCLASSICAL ARTS
Influences on Neoclassicism• Reaction against Rococo• Philosophies of
Enlightenment• Archaeological discoveries
– Herculaneum/Pompeii
– Greek vases at Naples by Sir Wm Hamilton
– Artistic theory of Johann Winckelmann: On the Imitation of Greek Works
Three phases of Neoclassical arts
• Until 1770: Influenced by Renaissance classicism more than Greek & Roman firsthand; i.e., borrowed from Palladio
• 1770-1825: More directly classical
• 1825-1850: Late phase. Simultaneous with Romanticism
General Characteristics
• Allusions to classical• Reason, rules• Symmetry, order, har
mony, unity, clarity• Restraint, good sense• Decorum, good taste,
correctness
• Society rather than individual
• Human nature rather than natural world
• Urban rather than rural• Intellectual rather than
emotional or spiritual• Urbane, witty: satire
David• Style
* Severe* Drawing(line) more
important than color* Clear light and shadow* Sculptural figures
* geometry important
• Content* Didactic* Roman Republic, Greek* Devotion to Duty* Self Sacrifice
David, Death of Socrates, 1787
David’s Death of Marat, 1793
Ingrés
Portrait of Napoléon on the Imperial Throne. 1806
Ingrés
Portrait of Napoléon Bonaparte, The First Council. 1804
Compare
Romanticism General Features
Nature (idyllic or awesome, sublime)
“organic unity” (music)
Supernatural, demonic
exoticism
“ancient” (Medieval (not Greek))- rejection of Classicism &
Renaissance
folklore and Das Volk (Nationalism)
Factors leading to Rise of Romanticism
Proliferation of Protestant denominations independence in religion and politics egalitarianism rise of representative government expansion in the “new world” evil of industrialism and urbanization significant rise in literacy and…
The Romantic Spirit
Artist as bohemian“Eternal longing, regret for the lost happiness
of childhood, and indefinable discontent that gnaws at the soul. These were the ingredients of the Romantic mood.”
The Misunderstood Genius“To be a genius is to be misunderstood” – Emerson
The artist out in front, ahead of the audience, the advanced guard (a military metaphor) –
the avant garde
The artist out in front, ahead of the audience, the advanced guard (a military metaphor) –
the avant garde
Neo-Classicism vs Romanticism• Society• Reason• Intellect• Extroversion, balanced,
didactic• The normative, the social, the
citizen.• Reason and social issues. • Poet’s skill and adherence to
formal rules and traditional procedures.
• Study of Classical Poetic and Dramatic forms.
• Interest in the verifiable, the commonsensical, the familiar.
• Nature• Emotion• Senses and sensuality• Introversion, moody, self
interrogative• Genius, Hero, the Exceptional• Passions and inner struggles• Artistic Creativity and
feeling.• Folklore, national and ethnic
origins.• Interest in the Medieval, the
Exotic, the Mysterious, the Occult, the monstrous, the remote.
There was a move to city for industry and a
corresponding romanticizing of the
country. Cities were often filled with congestion,
poverty, and misery. Educated men and women expressed a
nostalgia for rural landscapes.
Constable
The Hay Wain 1821
Friedrich
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, c. 1818
The Romantic period saw a Gothic revival that included the imitation of Gothic architecture and the use of Gothic settings in literary works. One striking example of the Gothic revival in England Fonthill Abbey, begun in 1796, which grew into an elaborate Gothic fantasy. The mock Gothic tower collapsed in 1825, leaving a ‘‘Gothic ruin’’ that symbolized to Romantics both organic growth and decay. Many such buildings were erected, that intentionally left towers or walls unfinished, to give the ghastly appearance of decay and ruin.
Power of the “unconscious”Where Enlightenment rationalists expected evil
to be defeated by moral diligence, the Romantics found it to be as mysterious and irrepressible as the human imagination itself. The Spanish artist Francisco Goya provided the most succinct image of the Romantic fascination with evil and the macabre. As the man slumbers at his work-table, the demons of his imagination are liberated and rise above him with triumphant energy. Notice that many are owls, symbols of wisdom and reason in the West since the time of
the ancient Greeks, at least.
The enigmatic caption suggests that behind wakeful reason the destructive fiends of the human imagination are lurking. With such insights, the Romantics prefigured the discoveries of modern psychology and ideas about dreams and the power of the unconscious.
1796-1798
Fussli, Johann Heinrich (Henry Fuseli)The Nightmare, 1781
Gericault
The Raft of the Medusa, 1819
Delacroix
Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi, 1826
Delacroix
The Massacre at Chios, 1824
Goya
The Shootings of May Third 1808,1814
Primitivism (“noble savage”)• Enlightenment:
“society is good, curbing violent impulses”
• Romanticism: “civilization corrupts; institutions have rippling effects
The child raised with the greatest possible freedom will develop in more admirable ways.
Youth and infancy are valued above wisdom of old age; holy wisdom is lost as we age.
Innocence is more valued than experience. Humans are born into innocence, not innately
depraved.
Romanticism in Music
• Improved musical instruments– Industrial advances created a means by which
cheaper and more responsive musical instruments.
– Addition of valves to brass instruments– New Instruments
• Saxophone• Tuba
• New Conservatories of Music
Use of folklore
• Increased use of folk songs and dances.
• National idiomatic music– Contributed to new melodic and rhythmic
language for music.
• Music of the East– Puccini’s Madame Butterfly
The Musician in Society
• Musical life centered around the concert halls– Musicians were supported by middle class– Musicians became stars idolized by the public
• Felix Mendelssohn
• Franz List
• Nicolo Paganini
• Permanent Orchestras were developed
• Musician educators in the academy.
Beethoven
Model Romantic genius-type
Not a servant – an independent creator!
Concerts very long – a new audience; amateurs left behind
Music’s Trinity: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven
Chopin
Famous pianist, but gave only 14 public performances in his 39-year life!
Frédéric ChopinNocturne in F minor, Opus 55, No. 1
-- introspective mood; psychologically probing?
-- as if "spontaneous" or improvised (in fact neatly structured)
-- a distant view of folk music (note the veiled suggestion of dance music), which relates to the Romantic interest in ethnicity and Nationalism
-- expanding use of chromatic harmony
-- use of dissonance for color
Richard Wagner
OPERA INNOVATOR
The Ring – over 18 hours of music
Aspects of Romanticism in music & art
• THE ARTIST APART FROM SOCIETY
• THE ARTIST AS SOCIAL CRITIC/REVOLUTIONARY
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
• THE ARTIST AS GENIUS/CULTURAL HERO
BEETHOVEN: “Why bow to social status?”
Aspects of Romanticism in music & art
• Nature (idyllic or awesome, sublime) “organic unity” (music) BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY No. 5
• Supernatural – Berlioz, WAGNER TRISTAN
• dream world, interior world CHOPIN NOCTURNE
• exoticism – Beethoven Symphony No. 9
• “ancient” (Medieval) WAGNER TRISTANold – Bach
• folklore and Das Volk (Nationalism)WAGNER The Ring
Review:Qualities of Romanticism
Love of Nature Idealization of Rural Living Faith in Common People Emphasis on Freedom and Individualism Spontaneity, intuition, feeling, imagination,
wonder Passionate individual religiosity Live after death; Organic view of the World