Neoclassicism vs Romanticism
新古典主義 / ロマン主義
Neoclassicism comes from Historical Styles and Romanticism from Figurative Painting. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Neoclassicism
A movement that turned back to ancient simplicity, prompted by the excavations at Pompeii and reacting against the decorative excess of Rococo. Contours are hard, color is held down, and the subjects preach civic virtue. States of the revolutionary period chose this style as their own face.
Romanticism
Romanticism pushed beyond reason and rule toward emotion, the sublime, overwhelming nature, revolution and exceptional events through dramatic light, diagonal force, turbulent brushwork and extreme scale.
| Neoclassicism | Romanticism | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1760s–1830s | c. 1790–1850 |
| Family | Historical Styles | Figurative Painting |
| Kind | Style | Style |
| Cues | Hard, clear contour lines / A restrained number of colors / Ancient subjects and dress / Shallow, stage like space | Storm, sea, mountain or fire making nature sublime / High-contrast light and diagonally driven composition / Gesture and loose brushwork carrying crisis or passion / Tiny figures against vast landscape or a dramatically compressed crowd |
| Best used for | Showing public purpose and discipline by cutting ornament away · Making a scene that borrows historical legitimacy | Making nature, politics or private emotion bodily felt before it is explained · Breaking classical order by turning weather, light and gesture into narrative forces |
| Type | Inscriptional capitals, letterspaced wide. | Choose a serif strong enough for high contrast and slope, moving body text to a quiet edge. |
| Composition | Let the horizontal work hard and place elements symmetrically. | Establish a diagonal axis and large light-dark masses first, then pull figures into the force of landscape or crowd. |
| Material | The white of stone and plaster, with gold kept to key points. | Collide deep shadow with the warm light of flame, sunset or lightning and dissolve some contours into weather and brushwork. |
| Caution | Do not mistake simplicity for dullness. Hard contour and tense composition are both required at once. | Sunsets, ruins and dramatic figures alone are not enough. Decide whether the sublime, revolution or personal emotion is resisting the norm. |