Western European Neoclassicism and Romanticism: David Versus Delacroix

Introduction

Neoclassicism and Romanticism are the two styles of painting that were regarded as enemies. One style wanted to depict the absolute truth of life, whereas the other wanted to portray reality via illustrations of the raw and wild emotions that endured after the Revolution. There was an existence of a vast gulf among them and the disputation was often bitter and lengthy, but eventually Romanticism came out as the leading style of this period.

As a rejection of the late Baroque and Rocco styles, Neoclassicism was birthed in the mid of the 18th century. A style was wanted by neo- classists that could express serious ideas concerning ethics and moral like honor, justice, and patriotism. It was an intensely educational one, for its followers deemed that there could and should be the spread of enlightenment and knowledge through fine arts. In the same era, i.e. in the middle of eighteenth century, Romanticism began but rather than the antique, it had a modern approach. It was about expression and wildness instead of control. There had no fixed laws of Romantic artists regarding properties and beauty of theme. Instead, Romanticism was a way of life, a creative stance.

The Oath of the Horatii and Liberty Leading the People represent two examples of the contrary attitudes of Neoclassicism and Romanticism. This paper aims to demonstrate how each of these works is a perfect manifestation of its respective tradition and on the basis of these two artworks, how both of the traditions can be contrasted.

Discussion

Exemplification of Romanticism by Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People

Romanticism, dissimilar to Neoclassicism, was during the Age of Passion; pieces usually depicted emotional extremes as there was no time for contemplation. It was actually a reaction to the contemplative, classical nature of neoclassical pieces.

Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People was made as a reaction to the political upheaval that would caused the downfall of the reigning monarch. The painting was used by Delacroix as a political poster for the revolution. Considered as the first political work of modern painting, this canvas gives a sense of artist's full participation. Resplendent with historical reference, Delacroix's is a complex painting, yet from grand heroism to angry despondency, it is also alive with the spectrum of human emotion——that is an essential attribute of French Romanticism. There is a complex interaction among areas that are vibrantly reflective and adjoining ...