“The Oath of the Horatii” – Jacques Louis David
Neoclassicism literally means “the new classicism.” It was a movement in the art world that began in 1760 and led up all the way till the 1850’s. This movement spanned across all kinds of art: painting, music, literature and sculpture. Focusing on history and going back to the classics, it began in opposition to the Rococo movement, where everything was portrayed simply based on aesthetics and no attempt at historical accuracy was made. Thus, Neoclassicism was the movement in which every detail in a painting or sculpture was meticulously constructed to be historically accurate. The artists in the Neoclassicism movement used archeological discoveries made in Pompeii and Herculaneum to guide themselves regarding what costumes, furniture etc were correct for each time period.
As Neoclassicism became more intense under the leadership of Jacques Louis David, the emphasis on austerity and simplicity became even more pronounced in paintings. Draperies and soft lines were all abandoned, as hard lines and simple backgrounds became the norm. As can be inferred, staying away from emotions was a very important part of the Neoclassicism movement, as opposed to both Rococo and the Baroque style. This art movement actually played a great role in the French Revolution, and was used to make simple and effective political statements. Jacques Louis David used Neoclassical paintings to show that the state was more important than the family. The more stoic nature of this style allowed him to do this with more ease.
It is also interesting to note that while Neoclassicism can be seen as the direct opposite of Romanticism as well, these two styles often mixed. In the paintings of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, the Romantic influence can be seen in the sensual nude paintings, which still retained a certain stiffness linked to Neoclassicism.
Works Used
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/his/CoreArt/art/neocl_dav.html
http://lilt.ilstu.edu/jhreid/neoclassicism.htm
