VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents a MFAH Friday-Saturday Lecture:Theme and Variation on the Classical Ideal in the 18th Century, at the Caroline Wiess Law Building The Gothic, Romantic, and Other Counter-Movements (part 3 of 3). In this three-part series related to Antiquity Revived: Neoclassical Art in the Eighteenth Century, David E. Brauer, senior lecturer at the Glassell School of Art, looks at three distinct aspects of Neoclassicism.

The revival of interest in the arts, literature, and philosophy of classical antiquity that propelled Renaissance Europe to new heights of creative achievement emerged once again in the second half of the 18th century in a movement that encompassed the arts, architecture, literature, theater, and music.

Later termed Neoclassicism, the movement was driven in large part by the first systematic archaeological excavations. Written accounts and detailed illustrations of newly discovered temples, sculptures, decorations, and interiors—most notably from Pompeii, Herculaneum, Athens, and Egypt—were widely disseminated through treatises, offering artists more-restrained alternatives to the decorative playfulness of the Rococo style or the emotional drama of the Baroque.

Influential writers and artists debated which was superior, Greek or Roman art? German archaeologist and philosopher Johann Joachim Winckelmann extolled the superiority of Greek art because it portrays “a more beauteous and more perfect nature.” On the other side of the debate, Italian printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a specialist in Roman ruins, championed Roman practicality over Greek experiment.

Neoclassicism was never a monolithic style, but it was characterized by a purity that tended to eliminate excess. Painters and sculptors celebrated famous men and favored moralizing themes such as faithfulness and maternal love, or patriotism and self-sacrifice. The human body became the reflection of the quest for moral and formal perfection.

Lectures are open to the public and are free with general museum admission.  MFAH Members always receive free admission. A reception to meet the speaker follows each program.

Pictured:  Jacques-Louis David, detail Oath of the Horatii, 1786, oil on canvas, lent by the Toledo Museum of Art; purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, gift of Edward Drummond Libbey.