Classicism (arts)

The term classicism refers to aesthetic approaches, philosophy, and sciences based on the arts, ideas, and traditions of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. It may refer to something originally produced during Greek and Roman times (for example, Classic Latin) or to something created in later epochs but inspired by classical antiquity. In the latter case the term neoclassicism also commonly applies.

The cultural and political heritage of ancient Greece and Rome has been imitated, adapted, reinterpreted, and reworked by most subsequent Western cultures. This legacy has exerted a pervasive influence in the fields of art, architecture, education, history, mathematics, literature, philosophy, politics, law, religion, and science. In this way, the classical tradition has cast a wide net over the development of human knowledge and institutions.

Brief History

The tenets of classicism followed the practices and philosophy of ancient Greek and Roman authors, artists, and thinkers. It highlighted harmonious form, proportion, simplicity, order, and restraint and has become closely associated with the humanities and academia.

During the early medieval period, the Crusades brought the rediscovery, via Arab cultures, of ancient philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle and the historian Thucydides. The still evolving Roman Catholic Church adapted some of their ideas into its theology. The first significant major wave of classicism, however, occurred during the Renaissance. The fresh interest in ancient Greece and Rome, the renewal of classical aesthetics and works, and incorporation of classicism into the canon gave its name to the Renaissance period. The interest in classicism persisted into the seventeenth century. It influenced the development not only of the fine arts and crafts such as sculpture, painting, and metalwork, but also the development of architecture and gardens, which were inspired by the line and proportions of ancient villas and temples.

The next wave of classical revival occurred during the eighteenth century, when the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum were discovered. This is generally known as the neoclassical period, and many scholars identify it as part of the romantic period. This movement is characterized by an interest in nature, a romanticized conception of the ancient Greeks, and the freedom of the body. It transformed the fields of painting, dance, theater, literature, and other arts until the early twentieth century. In literature, classicism developed three major schools: the French (seventeenth century), British (late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries), and German or Weimar classicism (late eighteenth century). Although these literary movements were rooted in the classics—classical literature, poetry, history, and philosophy—they are characterized by elements specific to their cultures and periods. Classicism was also influential during the Enlightenment and in the development of democracy and politics.

Overview

Enlightenment thinkers and politicians including the Founding Fathers of United States were profoundly influenced by classical thinkers. Eighteenth-century culture in general venerated the classical, which was deeply influential during the Enlightenment. Pedagogical ideals steeped educated men and women of the times in the classics. Use by the Founding Fathers of classical government theories, political models, and pursuit of republican virtue and democracy reveals the formative influence exerted by classicism during the Enlightenment. In political and legal arenas, the classics not only provided the core philosophy for the US Constitution, but also influenced contemporary ideas about human nature, virtue, liberty, property, and human purpose in the world. Some scholars argue that the classics also had some detrimental effects, as they inspired a deep-seated fear of conspiracies against liberty, which in time created profound rifts and conflicts in the early republic. In the political sense, then, the crucial role played by classical tenets in shaping Western culture reaffirms the longstanding power of classical ideals.

Classical aesthetics influenced the development of the arts in Western culture, although each society mixed and adapted classical elements to what was locally produced. In France, for example, the school of Fontainebleau, which featured an exaggerated and complicated elegance, mixed French medieval forms with the Italianate decorative style. This led to the development of the Mannerist school and the creation of French classicism. Classicism also influenced artisanal decorative arts during this period—textiles, printmaking, metalwork, and others.

During the nineteenth century, classicism influenced the development of many fields, including the arts. This occurred largely through the outreach of the French École des beaux-arts, whose teachings were emulated globally and developed under the aegis of both neoclassicism and romanticism. The fine arts relied heavily on the depiction of classical allegorical and mythic themes, which in time became rejected by the realist and impressionist schools.

The modernist movement of the early twentieth century developed a new take on classicism in music, art, and literature. Among the most renowned artists of the time who created such works were composer Igor Stravinsky, painter Pablo Picasso, and poet T. S. Eliot. Some scholars explain that the new classicist movement was a reaction to the exaggerations of the neo-romantic and early modern movements and to the excesses of World War I. Many composers and artists of the era adapted elements from the past, in accordance with the values of order and simplicity that characterized earlier classicist movements.

Some art forms developed more specifically in some cultures. For example, neoclassicism was one of the most prevalent movements in American music from the 1920s to the 1950s. The neoclassical movement spanned a diversity of styles. Scholars explain, for instance, that the works of neoclassicists Paul Hindemith and Igor Stravinsky are vastly different, yet have a basic classical aesthetic in common. Though hardly considered currently relevant, classicism survives in many aspects of the cultural, legal, political and educational fields.

Bibliography

Carter, Alexandra, and Rachel Fensham,eds. Dancing Naturally: Nature, Neo-Classicism and Modernity in Early Twentieth-Century Dance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.

Dowling, Elizabeth Meredith. Classical Interiors: Historical and Contemporary. New York: Rizzoli, 2013. Print.

Goalen, Martin. Ideal or Model? Greek Architecture and Its Reinterpretation. Farnham: Ashgate, 2014. Print.

Grafton, Anthony, Glenn W. Most, and Salvatore Settis, eds. The Classical Tradition. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2010. Print.

Gruber, Alan, and Bruno Pons, eds. Classicism and the Baroque in Europe. New York: Abbeville, 1996. Print.

Jia, Song. Neo-Classical Villa Design. ArtPower International, 2013. Print.

Tobin, James R. Neoclassical Music in America: Voices of Clarity and Restraint. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. Print.

Winterer, Nadine. The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780–1910. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 2004. Print.

Zerner, Henri. Renaissance Art in France: The Invention of Classicism. Paris: Flammarion, 2004. Print.

Ziolkowski, Theodore. Classicism of the Twenties: Art, Music and Literature. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2014. Print.