Neoclassic/Romantic Art

Neoclassical Art
Severe and objective form of art
harkening back to the grandeur of ancient Greece and
Rome.

Reaction to the feminine, over refined and

decorative Rococo style and emotional charged
Baroque style.
Form : balanced, restrained
Color: rich
Figures: realistic

Part of a general revival of interest in classical

thought, important in the American and French
revolutions.

Jacques
Louis David
Repetition of line:
balanced
composition
Realistic figures
Expresses, however,
Romantic nationalism
Napoleon Crossing
the Alps

 Death of
Marat
Violent subject
portrayed in
restrained
manner
Restrained
use of
chiaroscuro

Ingres
Student of
David
Balance
Classical poses
Restraint
Romantic
nationalism

Romanticism

Counterbalance to Neoclassic style

Emotion
Freedom: no rules
Romantic nationalism
Subject matter: weird, supernatural,
exotic as well as patriotic, genre paintings
(pastoral, sublime of the ordinary)

Goya
Lower class, but talent got him
apprenticeships with known painters
Aristocratic connections (and lovers) so
court painter to Charles IV and family
Role of painter during Napoleonic peninsular
wars (2-3 May 1808; Disasters of War)
Afterwards: deafness, debility and French
exile

Blake
Romantic idealism
I do not behold the
outward creation...
it is a hindrance
and not action.

Showed Social
injustice
Imagination,
individualism
Engraver: drawn
figures

Nebuchadnezzer

Whirlwind of Lovers

Friedrich (this one is Gothic)

 Fascination
with odd,
weird
Exotic
settings in
time and
space

Constable: genre painting

 Peaceful
genre scene
Idealized
nature

Delacroix: Liberty Leading the People

Gericault The Raft of the Medusa

Francisco Goya (Spain)

Straddles Romantic
Realistic/naturalistic
Disillusioned Romantic
Realistic portrayal of
what he saw
Technique: Romantic
Romantic nationalism
Family of Charles III
Charles looks
foolish
His wife looks hard
and domineering
Others look self
satisfied

(Goya)
Disasters of
War: This is
Terrible
Romantic
composition
and freedom
Realistic
subject matter

2nd of May 1808

Napoleonic wars massacre he actually witnessed in Madrid

Romantic composition and nationalism

3rd of May 1808

Note use of chiaroscuro, composition and symbolism

Faceless enemy, Christ-symbol of insurrectionist

Beethoven
Bridged Classical and
Romantic periods
Form used contextually
Motifs
Works as attempts for
perfection

Manifested Romantic ideal

Pastoral, Symphony No. 6

Symphony 9, Ode to Joy
Eroica
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor,
Pathetique

Franz Schubert
Vienna Austria
Child prodigy
Wrote liedersongs with
emotional theme based on folk
tradition
Song cycle
Wrote for fewer instruments
Unfinished Symphony
Symphony in C major

Many works were lost

Felix Mendelssohn
Tried to preserve Classical
style
Brought Bach out of obscurity

Symphonies were classical

form and romantic tone
Midsummer Nights Dream

Frederic Chopin

Child prodigy
Sickly his whole life: died young
Ultimate romantic love story
Made money by giving piano
concerts
Composed mazurkas, preludes and
polonaises: nationalistic, emotional
Etude Opus 10
Polonaise in A flat major
Minute Waltz

Franz Liszt

Hungarian child prodigy

Great showman
Kind to other musicians
Several love affairs:
Romanticism
Individualism
Les Preludes
Hungarian Rhapsody
Nationalistic
Used folk themes

Richard Wagner
German nationalism
Nazis loved him

Not a prodigy
Immoral life
Opera
Leitmotif

Depicted Germanic myths and heroes

Die Walkre (Ride of the Valkyries)
Tannhuser (end of the overture)
Tristan and Isolde (Unresolved Liebestod)

Giuseppe Verdi
Greatest Italian style opera
Aida
La Traviata
Rigoletto
La Donna e Mobile

Innovation
Focus on human emotion
De-emphasis on bel-canto style
Rossini: Barber of Seville

Excellent librettos (stories)

Orchestra an important component

Johann Strauss
Father was excellent
composer
Played in fathers orchestra
More popular than his father
Waltzes
Embodiment of Viennese life
Blue Danube Waltz
Tales of the Vienna Woods

Johann Brahms
German
At first imitated Beethoven
until developed own style
Mentored by Robert and Clara
Schumann
Emotional compositions
Hungarian Dance #5
Lullaby

Russian Composers
Moussorgsky,Balakirev, Borodin, Cui,
Rimsky-Korsakov
Russian Easter Overture

Used Russian themes

Helped each other
Flight of the Bumble Bee
Night on Bald Mountain
Almaty, Kazakhstan

Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky

Russian
Used French style
Ballets are most famous
Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty
Romeo and Juliet

Deep emotion for his sad life

Symphony No. 6 Pathtique