5 paragraphy report on Neoclassic & Romantic Periods Essay

5 paragraphy report on Neoclassic & Romantic Periods - Essay Example Neoclassicism looked for purity and control in art: boldly defined colors and re-workings of classical models from ancient Greece marked the best of Neoclassical art. Models and sculptures from Attica and Athens belonging to the fourth and fifth centuries were thought to be the ideal works that all artists should emulate and aspire for. Romantics, however, believed that true art was to be found in nature and the ‘common folk’ of the countryside. They held up novelty and individuality as supreme and rebelled against the oppressive, controlling forces of cultured society. The Neoclassicism movement began in France with the end of the ancient regime, or the old order of monarchy. Its preoccupation with Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism was associated with the ideals of heroism, clarity and stability that the Neoclassicists sought in their art. Napoleon Bonaparte used this style to embody his rule and enhance his image as a political leader. Jacques-Louis David, one of the most prominent Neoclassical painters, portrays in his Oath of the Horatii, an event that represented honor and self-sacrifice. Bonaparte emerged as a great patron for artists and sanctioned numerous triumphal arches to commemorate his victories. Arch of Titus is one of the prime examples of this trait of his. Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres’s painting of Napoleon in 1806 is another rich example of the art of this period: the red velvet, the gold and the ermine all engulf the emperor, a characteristic opulence of the neoclassicists. America’s revolt against her co lonizers and the consequent effort at breaking away from the ‘Georgian’ style led to an adoption of Neoclassical sentiments. This is exemplified in Thomas Jefferson who was immortalized by Jean-Antoine Houdon in a marble bust. Romanticism spread through West Europe and the USA in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It draws from the Gothic tradition, a longing for the