-
Neo-Classicism adopts values of The Enlightenment (1715-1789) such as humanism, individual thought, and reason as a means of progress. Visually we see images and architecture inspired by classic greco-roman structures and myths illustrated as a means of communicating a moral lesson.
-
The era of Romanticism is visually identified by emotionally intense scenes and a zoomed out macro-lens. In Germany we see an opening of the view to large natural landscapes. Romantic art is dramatic in theme and emotionally unsettling. We see themes of the immense destructive force of nature. Images are also inspired by current revolutionary sentiments and events across France, the USA and Haiti.
-
-Jacques-Louis David,
-Oath of the Horatii
-1784-85, O/C
-130” x 167” (10.8’ x 13.9’)
-Louvre, Paris French Neo-Classicism
Depiction of Horati brothers committing to war with enemy family as their wives and sisters weep, reference to classic antiquity. Veil of myth alludes to the upcoming French Revolution in 1789.
Themes of patriotism, sacrifice, and Honor.
Realistic, ideal, and rational composition. -
-Angelica Kauffman
-Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures
-c. 1785, oil on canvas 40” x 50”
-Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,
Richmond
French Neo. Cornelia gestures to her children as treasures, in contrast to the jewels of the woman to her left.
Emphasis on enlightenment values of women's modesty, predisposition for domesticity and the honor of motherhood. Moralizing lesson on a woman's role in society
realistic, no brush strokes, Greco-Roman pillars. -
Jacques-Louis David
Napoleon Crossing the Alps
1801, O/C
102” x 87”
Château de Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison French Neo-classicist
David employed as court painter for post-revolution emperor Napoleon.
Triangular composition, use of adlocutio pose to communicate power, wild horse reigned by Napoleon to illustrate domino over nature. -
Orientalism is defined by Edward Siad in his 1978 book as the inaccurate colonialist portrayal of non-European cultures in North Africa and Asia. Images are typically of the French Romantic period. These small scale genre paintings utilize overt sexuality and purposeful theatricality as propagandist imagery to justify French colonialism in the regions.
-
-Théodore Géricault
-The Raft of the Medusa
-1818-1819
-O/C, 16’1” x 23’6”
-Louvre, Paris French Romanticism
Dramatic, emotionally evocative and unsettling. "The Sublime"
Darker colors, death and gore
Moral lesson of citizen's obligation to the rest of humanity -
-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
-L'Odalisque à l'esclave
-1839
-O/C, 24” x 39.5”
-Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University French Orientalist
Woman nude reclined (odalisque)
Peacock fan, signifying exotic animal
Smoking pipe at her feet
Over sexualized image meant to depict non-europeans women as sexually promiscuous. Exploitative visual to validate colonialism and racist ideals of European civility over non-western people. -
J.M.W. Turner, The Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming), 1840, O/C,
35.7” x 48.3” MoA, Boston German Romanticism
Vast landscapes, increased abstraction, the power of nature over man. A critique of the transatlantic slave trade in America
Reference to the modern world, a departure from mythic/biblical stories of classicism. -
-JMW Turner
-Rain, Steam and Speed
-1844
-O/C 36” x 40”
-National Gallery London Train! A truly industrial departure of the Academic art tenants avoiding the modern world.
-Expansive landscapes, visible brush stokes, the artist's hand is now visible.
Visual indicators of industrialization, themes of current event depiction -
Jean-Léon Gérôme
-The Snake Charmer
-1879, O/C
-33” x 48”
-Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA Image used at the cover for the first edition of Edward Said's Orientalism
Exoticised and sexualized characters watching a young figure with a snake.
Falsely portraying non-europeans as Carnal and barbaric through nudity, sitting on floor.