Neoclassicism and Romanticism Intro

Neoclassicism and Romanticism Intro Neoclassicism: French Revolution “propagandistic” – how to be a new, good citizen Romanticism: inspired by literature: “the sublime”; story-telling about tragedy Neoclassicism - Baroque composition – melodramatic moment - Rejection of Rococo - Art having a message - Didacticism: moral stories - Being a good citizen of the new French Republic - Melodramatic stories about heroism (hero is the good citizen) Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784 - Story of Horatii family; how to be rational when going to war; choose a selection of sons; Horace – father; Horatii – the family; - Propaganda: the new citizens must sacrifice something for the good of the country - Parallelism: all the sons agree with their father - Melodramatic heroism - Composition o Dark background: tenebroso – we don’t know the outcome (shadowy) o Life-size scale: works great for propaganda + realism o Repeat the triangular forms; the family members are alike and sharing the heroic elements o Red/blue/red/blue/red/blue color pattern – French flag was blue white red; - Cult of the heroes French Revolution - Societal reform – extreme; reformulate how people think - Storming of bastille; signing of the “rights of man”; reign of terror (guillotine executions) - Republican calendar but switched back to Gregorian calendar; renamed the months based on the seasons; renamed the days and made the weeks 10 units; abolished the catholic holidays; clocks were reworked; David, death of Marat 1793 - Cult of the hero - Jean-Paul Marat: Swiss born French physician known as radical journalist from F Rev - Assassinated by charlotte corday (because of his powerful beliefs) while he soaked in a bath for skin treatment - Didactic: you must be a hero and willing to sacrifice for the good of the many - Death of the hero is peaceful (blood is very discrete) - Baroque composition o Stage like setting o Dark background - Propaganda: pen is mightier than the sword; his writings will continue even after his death David, Napolean Crossing the Alps - Life-size painting Napoleon – rose up through the ranks; seized power in France and expanding it. Control of an animal: hero who controls the nature Engaged eye – he is not afraid and in control of the horse Antoine Jean Gros, Pest House at Jaffa - Napoleon’s army fell victim to a plague epidemic - Life-size scale; napoleon is not afraid of the sick or that his touch is miraculous (heroic reference) Romanticism (inspired by romantic literature - tragic stories) o irrational nature o irrational consciousness: nightmares o tragic events – shipwrecks, murder o tragic heroes, martyrs, anti-heroes - Comparing the Napoleon Crossing the Alps (Neoclassicism) vs. Theodore Gericault, The mounted officer of the imperial guard (Romanticism) o Gericault: the officer is fleeing the scene; anti-hero; tragic story; deserter - “The Sublime”: educational reform (every class); Edmund burke – idea of the sublime and the beautiful (how do we learn and absorb) o Proposed that we have a sublime experience when we intensely learn something (awe inspiring, intense, emotional) – stories that we have emotional response to o Tragic story, victim, fear, ugliness, “irrationality” - Stubbs, Lion Attacking a Horse o Content: intense, sublime, we can’t prevent it o Irrationality of power - Fuseli, The Nightmare o Somebody having a bad dream but we can see the dream o An incubus – little demon taking away your soul, engaged eye o Germanic folktales – In bad dreams, people were visited by horses; mare-riding for nightmares - Roman a clef = tragic twist - Ingres, Oedipus and the Sphinx 1801 o Very tragic life represented – abandoned people o Sphinx: monster; o Melodramatic moment: we don’t want him to solve the riddle o He has a stick right now; walking with a stick for the blind people o Planimetric separation – foreground (Oedipus + sphinx), middle ground (someone warning him) and background – Thebes o Implied lines – eye-to-eye with the sphinx; we get the sublime message - Goya, Saturn Devouring his Children, 1823 o Cronos (Saturn) – son would kill the father; o Tenebroso, wild eyed (engaged eye), irrationality, anti-hero - Goya, Third of May 1808, 1814 o Spanish peasants killed by Napoleon’s army for standing up against them o Anti-hero message; very tragic; we don’t see the firing squad; we see the people waiting to die (anxiety of waiting)