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{Romantic Painting}

‘ROMANTICISM (c. 1760-1870[ce])

‘Romanticism is a term loosely used in both a historical and an aesthetic sense to designate numerous changes in the arts during a period of more than 100 years (roughly, 1760-1870[ce]), in reaction against Neoclassicism (but not necessarily the classicism of Greece and Rome) or against what is variously called the Age of Reason, the Augustan Age, the Enlightenment, or 18th-century Materialism. Romantic art therefore reflects a climate of feeling in western culture so abundant and diverse in its forms of expression as to defy any concise elucidation. A question of personal approach, romantic attitudes have been present at all times, but the period that has earned the title Romantic and that stretches roughly from the last decades of the 18th century [ce] until the middle of the 19th century [ce]* saw an unprecedented flow of works, the prime impulse and effect of which derived from individual rather than collective reactions. Its chronological development begins in northern Europe with a rejection of prevailing standards of excellence based on the classical ideal that perfection could and should be sought and attained in art.’

**

*ie narrower than above:

cf Neoclassicism 1780-1850[ce]

64m~|G~1776[ce]

64s~|R~1848[ce]

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 361-362

[Source text continues in next ts journal entry]

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(Italy)

‘One of the earliest Neoclassicists and one of the foremost painters of his generation in Italy was Pompeo Batoni. His style blends Rococo with Neoclassical elements….’

*

'Domenico Pellegrini, born near Bassano, travelled widely & was mildly Neoclassical.'**

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 361

**(I like the idea of a painter being ‘mildly Neoclassical’)

[Or what about ‘wildly Neoclassical’?]

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‘Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy, known as Girodet-Trioson, won a Prix de Rome but stopped painting after 1812[ce] when he inherited a fortune & turned to writing.’

*

Can't imagine why.

*[– ibid (Encyclopaedia Britannica 25: 361)]

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(France)

‘The outstanding & most influential of all French Neo-classicists & one of the major artists in Europe was Vien's pupil Jacques-Louis David. David's early works are essentially Rococo, & his late works also revert to early 18th-century [ce] types; his fame as a Neoclassicist rests on paintings of the 1780s & 1790s [ce].’*

**

*2048s~|R~1792[ce]

cf Italian High Renaissance 1495-1520[ce] (2048G~1536) – does the contrary circle come through most strongly at cardinal, and then at diagonal, degrees? <910513>

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 361

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(Great Britain)

‘William Blake, poet & painter, was a Neoclassicist to some extent.’*

**

*[!]

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 361

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*‘Not only did some artists work in both Classical & Gothic styles but they also fused together stylistic elements they found common in both periods – a fusion unique to Neoclassical art. The linear qualities of the antique were blended with what they saw as equally linear elements in 13th- **& 14th-century [ce] art. Some of the most original styles in the decades just before & after 1800[ce]*** are to be found in paintings & drawings that fuse the Classical-Gothic linearity, including the work of Blake, Fuseli, the Dante illustrations of Flaxman, & drawings by the Austrian painter Joseph Anton Koch.’

****

*

**{2048u~|J~1280[ce]}

***2048s~|R~1792[ce]

****– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 361

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‘Although many of the concepts of Neoclassicism were a continuation of earlier academic theories* – especially the admiration for antiquity & the emphasis laid on idealization – on the important question of Gothic & Quattrocento** art, the Neoclassicists diverged markedly from their predecessors. They made an important contribution to the reevaluation of Gothic & early Renaissance art.’

***

*s~

**(=1400s[ce], ie Early Renaissance)

***– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 360-361

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*‘Sentiment. Sentiment, of an essentially 18th-century kind, is found in many facial expressions & gestures of Neoclassical works. This sentiment is itself un-Classical and forms an important ingredient of the style, removing many works from the possible criticism of being pastiche.’

**

*R~

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 360

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‘Horrific elements. Gestures and emotions in neoclassical works are usually restrained. In Bacchanalian scenes the gaeity is held in check, never bursting into exuberance. In a tragic scene, Andromache does not shed a tear as she mourns the death of Hector. The principal exception to this restraint is in the treatment of fantasy and terror. The Swiss-born English artist Henry Fuseli, who chose subjects from many aspects of Classical & post-classical history & literature, showed a continual predilection for elements of fantasy & horror characteristic of the English poet and illustrator William Blake and his circle.

‘The element of the supernatural was carried further by artists who did not draw a rigid line between classical and non-classical subject matter… The most widely known illustration of Dante's Divina Commedia were Flaxman's,* which included a particularly horrific image of the lower Hell called Dis. These illustrations were praised by the German Goethe for being both “spirited” & “calm”.**

***

*[See [Redbook10:6][19910512:1718f] {Neoclassical and Romantic Art [continued (6)]}[12th May 1991,] above]

**

(Is this what the

Gothic Arch symbolizes?)

[Hmm….]

***– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 360

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‘Although the Neoclassical artists and writers expressed contempt for what they regarded as the frivolous aspect of the Rococo, there is a strong influence of French Rococo on the early styles of some of the Neoclassical painters.’

*

*– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 360

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‘Classical antiquity was not the only source of Neoclassical art. The Neoclassicists also distilled their view of antiquity partly through the eyes of Raphael & Poussin. The paintings of these two artists often lie behind works of the 1760's & 1770's [ce],* in particular.’

**

*?64A~1760|u~J~}1768[ce]

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 360

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‘The principal large-scale decorative schemes of Neoclassicism are to be found in palaces together with secular buildings. The styles ranged from geometrically patterned walls* into which were inserted specially commissioned canvases, to large frescoes covering practically all the surfaces of ceilings and walls.’

**

*{c[ontra]?}

**– ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 360

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I suppose that as the time approaches C – during the Crisis Approach Phase – the degrees on inner and outer circles, respectively approaching each other, both attract and interact with each other. You could argue that in both these instances one may see romantic/revolutionary ideals already attracted on the way that leads once again around the outer circle.

It will be interesting to see whether this attraction and interaction continues.

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‘Classical history and mythology provided a large, but not entire, part of the subject matter of Neo-classical works.’

****

‘Neo-classical art was hardly connected with contemporary politics, except in France, just before and during the Revolution, when parallels were drawn between the contemporary struggle for liberty & events in ancient Greece & Rome.

The parallels undoubtedly affected the art of David, who himself took part in the Revolution. His “Oath of the Horatii” (Louvre) was subsequently interpreted as foretelling revolutionary struggles, and the gestures of allegiance were re-enacted in 1794[ce] at a Republican demonstration organised by the artist together with Robespierre (see Plate 19).*

In the case of David's “Lictors bringing to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons” (1789[ce]: Louvre and Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, Connecticut), the death sentence passed on his own sons by Brutus was seen at the time as a noble example of the state's welfare taking precedence over a father's natural feelings.’**

****

Contrast: ‘Napoleon's mastery over his own fate & denial of accepted norms of behaviour captivated the Romantic generation….’*** (re: Romanticism)

#

*[Not reproduced in the ms or the ts]

**(Remember [th]at France is the exception [per 2^nd paragraph above])

***(– [[Redbook10:12][19910512:1718#] {Neoclassical and Romantic Art [continued (#)]}[23rd March 1991],] 12↓)

**** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 360

# – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25:] 362

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