The Neoclassical Art Period reached its height in the late 18th and early 19th century. Born in Rome and spreading throughout Europe and the United States, this movement was a return to ancient Greek and Roman art characteristics and ideals. Neoclassical art was to portray the ideas of simplicity, reason, order, virtue, and civilized society.
By the end of this video, you'll learn about four important things that led to the Neoclassical Art Period. as well as the main characteristics of art during this time. For more videos that help you learn, experience, and enjoy art history, make sure you click the subscribe button and hit the bell icon off to the side, where you'll be notified when I release new videos each week.
As I've taught my students and learned about neoclassicism through my studies, I've come to realize there are four main things that led to the neoclassical art movement. I tried to narrow my list down to just three, but I couldn't leave any of these out. One.
a pushback on the Baroque and Rococo art movements. Two, the writings of Johann Joachim Winkelmann. Three, the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy.
And four, the 18th century Age of Enlightenment. The two preceding art movements to neoclassicism are Baroque and Rococo. The Baroque art movement lasted approximately 150 years, from 1600 to 1750. and was full of drama, emotion, and tension.
The Rococo, or late Baroque art movement, started in the early 1700s and lasted until the mid to late 1700s. Rococo built off of Baroque, but had a more fun, sensual, and frivolous nature to it. Rococo also turned its attention away from the church and Christian themes, becoming more hedonistic in a way.
For more on Rococo, you can watch my video that covers this movement in more depth. The neoclassical art movement follows Rococo in the late 1700s. In many ways, it was a pushback to the gaudy, frivolous, and over-the-top nature of Baroque and Rococo.
Some of the leading figures to neoclassicism actually fought against the leaders of Rococo, the French aristocracy. And so, as I mentioned at the beginning, neoclassicism is full of simplicity, reason, and a return to order and virtue. You can't talk about the neoclassical art movement without mentioning the writings of Johann Joachim Winkelmann, who was a German art historian and archaeologist.
In fact, many people believe he was the father of art history, so thanks, Winkelmann. His writings from the mid-1700s were a deep dive into the ideals of Roman and Greek art. He believed that art should aim for noble simplicity, calm grandeur and that the only way for us to become great is to imitate the ancients.
These writings had a huge impact on our return to Greek and Roman ideals, especially in art, and to the simplicity of the neoclassical art movement. In the mid 1730s and 40s the real excavations of the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum began. These excavations included the discovery of Roman art and architecture. and revived the study of Greek and Roman art. In fact, Rome was a major stop for the Grand Tour, which was a traditional trip taken by European upper-class men once they reached the age of 21. This stop on the Grand Tour helped spread neoclassicism from Rome to other parts of Europe.
Finally, the neoclassical art period coincided with the 18th century Age of Enlightenment. This philosophical movement valued science and reason. and helped drive the Industrial Revolution.
The ideals of individual liberty, religious tolerance, and constitutional governments were pushed. And so neoclassical artists inspired by these ideas portrayed art that was civilized, reasonable, and contributed to a more orderly society. With the background of these four things that led up to the neoclassical movement, It's a little bit easier to understand the art and architecture styles of this time period. As well as everything else already mentioned, the characteristics of art during this time were serious, symmetrical, orderly, virtuous, and heroic. The art often depicted characteristics from classical history, as well as political, philosophical, and religious leaders that were important to the time.
And the architecture became more simple. less ornate than Baroque and Rococo architecture. Although some may find neoclassical art boring, I think you can find a lot of beauty in the classic nature of the Roman and Greek art characteristics that were used in the neoclassical time period. But if you missed some of that drama, there were some artists that were able to bring the intensity and drama back into painting, just in a more simple fashion.
I love Jacques-Louis David's paintings during the apex of neoclassicism. Leader of the movement in France, his art was simple yet dramatic and captivating. His artwork eventually turned into propaganda, but his craft was incredible and impacted many students who would go on to produce great art.
If you have any questions about the neoclassical art period, make sure you comment below. And if you found this video helpful, click that like button. If you want to see how neoclassicism fits into the larger timeline of art history, you can download my condensed western art history timeline linked in the description below.
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