CLASSICAL VS ROMANTIC APPROACHES TO ART

The Classical Approach

• Focus on
  • order
  • harmony
  • rationality
  • FORM
• Attempts to be objective rather than subjective
• Usually strives for
  • perfection
  • the ideal
  • essential
  • enduring & eternal

Examples

• Some artists emphasize the Classical

  • Art
  • Classical Greek sculpture - Ancient Greek art and architecture
  • Here, you can see that the ancient greeks were striving for perfection
  • They depicted the human form at it's best - youthful and athletic
  • Their architecture focuses on symmetry (balance) and order
  • Nicholas Poussin (French, 1594-1665)
    • In this painting, you can see that Poussin painted the people of ancient Rome.
    • They are dressed in period costume - people did not dress this way in the 1600's
    • Thus, he is looking back to ancient "classical" times
    • Notice the architecture in the paintings - also classical
    • Also the people are drawn very realistically - perfection of form is "classical"
  • Louis David (French, 1748-1825)
  • Notice the symmetry in this painting.
  • The man with the red cape - holding the swords - is almost directly in the center
  • The three men holding up their arms in oath of loyalty and the three mourning women balance each other out
  • The archways in the background add balance also
  • Again, the dress is of a "classical" period and the anatomy of form is perfected
  • 
    Music
  • music that is more in the classical mode:
    • has short simple phrases and melodies
    • is pleasant to listen to
    • themes that repeat - so you know what to expect
    • Listen for these attributes in these pieces (these are all midi) -
  • The composers Wolfgang Amadaeus Mozart
    and Joseph Haydn
  • Listen to this excerpt of a piece by Mozart. Mozart's Minuet in F played by H. Heldstab
  • Listen to this excerpt by Haydn.

  The Romantic Approach

  • Focus on intense
    • FEELINGS
    • emotions
    • sensations
    • often the more disturbing and darker passions
  • Subjective or personal rather than objective
  • Often expresses dissatisfaction with the existing social order
  • Don't think that Romantic only means "lovey dovey." This is a more common usage of the word.

  Examples

  Some emphasize the Romantic

  Visual Art
  • Eugene Delacroix - The Abduction of Rebecca
    • Be sure to click several times on the image and get to the detail of the woman - Rebecca
    • Notice how her form is smudgy at the edges
    • It's less defined than those in the Classical paintings
    • She is drooped over the horse, maybe unconscious
    • Also, notice the dark and gloomy sky
    • All of this adds a
    • feeling
    • of dread
  • Joseph Mallord William Turner - The Evening of the Deluge
  • The deluge refers to the biblical flood - and Noah's ark
  • Be sure to click on "detail images" for a closer look
  • You'll see animals in the mist
  • In the center - where there is this red form - I think that's Noah and his family already up to their knees in water
  • all about them the sky is stormy and the world is in turmoil
  • But the artist doesn't give a lot of detail
  • In this way - form is sacrificed - for feeling
  • He cares more about depicting the feeling than the form
  • Vincent Van Gogh - The Cypresses
  • Be sure to click on the image to enlarge it.
  • Notice the swirly clouds
  • There's a yellow crescent - Is it the moon or the sun?
  • If you keep on clicking - you'll see that the paint is all swirls and dabs of color
  • The trees and sky are equally alive
  • Van Gogh painted this while he was in the insane asylum
  • What mood do you think this painting conveys?
  Music
• focused on
  • long meandering phrases
  • brooding melodies
  • surprises - changing melodies and tempo (how fast something is played)
  • changes in dynamics (how loud or soft something is played)
  • Listen to the following pieces with these attributes in mind
  • You may want to re-listen to one of the classical pieces for contrast
  • The composers
    • Frederic Chopin
    • Music by Chopin
    • Johannes Brahms
    • Music by Brahms

  Some artists combine both approaches

  • The artist Paul Cezanne
    • In this still life Cezanne realistically depicts the fruit and the plant - the forms are rendered
    • However the table top does not lie flat - one side is higher than the other - to give the feeling of life
  • The composer Ludvig Van Beethoven
    Here's Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

Approaches vs Periods

• We can look at any work of art an attempt to determine whether the artist emphasized one approach or another; however, there are certain periods in art than are labeled Classical or Romantic
   
  
• These periods reflect the general characteristics of the "approaches" and also have characteristics of their own, for example:

Classical

• The NeoClassical period of Art
  (Mid 18th Century to Early 19th Century)
  severe, unemotional form of art that looks back to the style of ancient Greece and Rome
   
  
• The Classical period of western music (18th Century) focused on
  • short, clearly defined melodies

  Romantic

• The Romantic period (early 19th Century) in western art also focused on
  • nature
  • the exotic
  • the revolutionary
  
   
  
• The Romantic period (also early 19th Century) in western music focused on
  • long meandering phrases
  • brooding melodies
  • increased use of color and harmony
  • surprises - changing melodies and tempo
  • changes in dynamics
  
   
  

Compare these two paintings:

• The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci and The Last Supper by Tinteretto (click on "The Last Supper")
• They are both about the last supper. (This link is meant for children. It tells the story.)
• Which on do you think is more Classical?
• Which is more Romantic?
• Why?