1. Art of the Enlightenment
and Neoclassical Art
1730: Rococo
1800: Neoclassical
1830: Romanticism
1837: First photograph
“Enlightenment and Revolution: Head vs. Heart”

2. From rocaille meaning “pebble” or “shell”
“Trust the body” + More is MORE!
• Shift of power from monarchy (Louis
XIV and Baroque) to the aristocracy
(Rococo)
Rococ • Royal Academy set the taste for art in
Paris
• Strong Satirical paintings
oSometimes referred to
• Epitomized by paintings that show
aristocratic people enjoying leisures
as Late Baroque
Architecture: Simple exteriors, ornate interiors Painting:
- Naturalistic: small stones, shells, plant forms - Small in size
- Feminine – delicate, undulating - Fete galante – themes of love
- Silver & gold, light - Frivolity, playful, sensual
- Small relief sculptures – cupids, clouds - Pastels, delicate curves
- Dainty figures

4. François de Cuvilliès
the Amalienburg
Nymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, Germany
early 18th C.

5. François de Cuvilliès
Hall of Mirrors, the Amalienburg
Nymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, Germany
early 18th C.

6. Sculpture + Painting + Architecture in harmony
François de Cuvilliès
Hall of Mirrors, the Amalienburg
Nymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, Germany
early 18th C.

7. Antoine Watteau
Return from Cythera Fête galante
1717-1719 The French Academy –
oil on canvas Rubenistes vs Poussinistes
4 ft. 3 in. x 6 ft. 4 in.

8. Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Swing
1766
oil on canvas
2 ft. 11 in. x 2 ft. 8 in.

10. Yinka Shonibare

11. PHILOSOPHY – two types of thinkers
“To exist is to feel; our feeling is A taste for the ‘natural’
undoubtedly earlier than our
intelligence, and we have had
feelings before we had ideas.
All our natural inclinations are right.
Man by nature is good…he is
depraved and perverted by society.
Our minds have been corrupted in
proportion as the arts and science
have improved”
- Rousseau
Voltaire (1694-1778)
“What is faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly
evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and
intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason” - Voltaire

12. Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun
Self-Portrait
1790
oil on canvas
8 ft. 4 in. x 6 ft. 9 in.

14. William Hogarth Satire!
Breakfast Scene from Marriage à la Mode What would the contemporary
equivalent of this painting be?
ca. 1745
oil on canvas
2 ft. 4 in. x 3 ft.

16. Thomas Gainsborough, Mrs. Richard
Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lord Heathfield, Brinsley Sheridan, 1787, oil on canvas, 7 ft. 2 5/8
1787, oil on canvas, 4 ft. 8 in. x 3 ft. 9 in. in. x 5 ft. 5/8 in.

17. Benjamin West
The Death of General Wolfe
1771
oil on canvas
approximately 5 x 7 ft.

18. John Singleton Copley
Portrait of Paul Revere
ca. 1768-1770
oil on canvas
2 ft. 11 1/8 in. x 2 ft. 4 in.

19. The ENLIGHTENMENT
Science and Technology
- Empirical reasoning and the scientific method
- Sir Isaac Newton & John Locke  tangible data & concrete
experiences, individuality and empowerment
- Diderot – the
Encyclopédie

20. Joseph Wright of Derby
A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery
ca. 1763-1765
oil on canvas
4 ft. 10 in. x 6 ft. 8 in.

22. - 379 tons of iron
- Pieces cast
separately
- “made to fit” so
each part is a little
different
- Opened New Years
day 1781
The Industrial Revolution
- The Steam Engine
Abraham Darby III and Thomas E. Pritchard - Power of steam, coal, iron,
oil, steel and electricity
Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale - Building construction and
Coalbrookdale, England photography!
1776-1779

23. NEOCLASSICISM (1750-1815)
• Enlightenment brought about the rejection of royal and aristocratic authority
• Supported by Napoleon in order to associated himself with the successes
of the Ancient Roman's Empire.
• Jacques-Louis David becomes First Painter
• Neoclassical art was more democratic
• Current events depicted have classical influences
INSPIRED by the excavation of
Pompeii & Heculaneum
- Grand Tour of Italy – A MUST!

25. Angelica Kauffmann
Cornelia Presenting Her Children as Her Treasures or
Mother of the Gracchi
ca. 1785
oil on canvas Exemplum virtutis
3 ft. 4 in. x 4 ft. 2 in.

26. Jacques-Louis David The French Revolution – 1789
Oath of the Horatii David became Neoclassical painter-ideologist
Patriotism & sacrifice!
1784
oil on canvas
approximately 11 x 14 ft.

28. Jacques-Louis David
The Death of Marat
1793
oil on canvas
approximately 5 ft. 3 in. x 4 ft. 1 in.

29. Marat = extremely powerful during the
Revolution, journalist, David’s portrait is more
propaganda than portrait
Corday’s letter of introduction.
“My great unhappiness is sufficient reason to entitle
me to your kindness.”
(She actually claimed to have information about
royalist rebels)
Bloody murder weapon –
Made to look like Corday fled the
scene though she was arrested

30. NEOCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE
- Innovations: Cast iron
Characteristics: revision of classical principals on a modern framework
- Inspired by: Palladio & Inigo Jones
- Symmetry, balance, composition and order
- Some buildings has special rooms such as the Green Room or Etruscan
Room

32. Jacques-Germain Soufflot
The Panthéon
(Sainte-Geneviève)
Paris, France
1755-1792

33. Pierre Vignon
La Madeleine
Paris, France
1807-1842

34. Pierre Vignon
La Madeleine
Paris, France
1807-1842

36. Richard Boyle and William Kent
Chiswick House
near London, England
begun 1725

37. Richard Boyle and William Kent
Chiswick House
near London, England
begun 1725

38. Thomas Jefferson neoclassicism
Thomas Jefferson Palladio + local materials
Monticello
Charlottesville, Virginia
1770-1806

39. Jean-Antoine Houdon
George Washington
1788-92
marble
6 ft. 2 in. high

40. Horatio Greenough
George Washington
1832-1841
marble
approximately 11 ft. 4 in. high

41. Jean-Antoine Houdon
Voltaire
1778
marble
18 7/8 in. high