Victorian Classicism Art Movement
England, 1860 - 1910
Victorian Classicism Art Movement, History, Victorian Classicism Oil Paintings & Artists.
The Victorian Classicism Art Movement was a British form of historical painting propelled by the art history and architecture of Classical Greece and Rome. The Victorian classical revival in painting had little to do with ancient Greece or Rome. Despite the fact that Britons related to the old Greek and Roman eras and appreciated their accomplishments, artists in Victorian times reinterpreted the monumental events of the classical past instead of their own current experiences.
Queen Victoria Rules the World at Nineteen.
On June 28, 1838, at the age of 19, Queen Victoria became sovereign of a domain that, during her reign up to 1901, reached out to every one of the five continents. The so-called Victorian Age was a long and critical period in English history characterized by intense economic development and a growing concern for morality. This newly discovered wealth and mastery of a large part of the world enabled many to embark on the "Grand Tour" to Mediterranean lands, particularly Italy, and this interest fueled the rise of Classicism in Britain and, Orientalism.
There is no simple definition of Victorian Classicism in the context of art. All the famous artists are inclined toward eclectic and aesthetic oil paintings. Leighton's ambitious classicism was geared towards uplifting England's artistic aspirations; Alma-Tadema tamed Imperial Rome for the most un-Roman, unclassical purpose; Poynter sought to identify a heroic ideal; Moore used classical figures for aesthetic ends, and Waterhouse blended classical realism with poetic fantasy.
Victorian Classicism Oil Painting Colorizes Antiquity.
The adherents of Victorian Classicism found inspiration in Classical Greek and Roman writings, art, and architecture. There is an original elegance to this style of painting. Victorian Classicism is characterized by holding fast to a narrow approach to painting, following stringent academic composition rules, and working from a constrained palette. Followers of this movement were influenced by the high standards of the British and European Art Academies. The underlying foundations of Classicism can be found in Neoclassicism and Romanticism.
British Victorian Classicism favored Greek, Roman, and Renaissance subjects, and their oil paintings were full of symbolism based on Biblical stories, Arthurian legends, and mythology.
The Classicists were associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, and numerous artists were affected by both styles to some degree. Both movements were sentimental and motivated by comparable historical and mythological themes, the key distinction being that the Classicists embodied the unbending principles of Academic standards of painting, while the Pre-Raphaelites formed a rebellion against those same standards.
Frederick Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tandem were the leading Classicists, and in their lifetimes were considered by many to be the finest painters of their era and were immensely famous and popular, both frequently highlighting delicately clad women in intriguing or classical settings, while the allegorical works of G.F. Watts matched the Victorian feeling of high purpose. The more traditional Roman ladies of Edward Poynter and Albert Moore wore more garments and were met with much less success by the public and the critics.
Other Victorian Classicism artists: John Collier, Thomas Ralph Spence, Solomon Joseph Solomon, Aby Altson, Ralph Peacock, and Arthur Drummond.
Famous Victorian Classicism Art Movement Oil Painting Reproductions
Victorian Classicism Art Movement Painters Biography & Painting Reproductions
- Alma Tadema , Lawrence
- Cope, Charles West
- Draper, Herbert James
- Ferneley, John
- Foster, Myles Birket
- Frith, William Powell
- Godward, John William
- Hacker, Arthur
- Henner, Jean Jacques
- Herring Jr, John Frederick
- Herring Sr, John Frederick
- Hicks, George Elgar
- Kennington, Thomas Benjamin
- Landseer, Edwin Henry
- Leighton, Frederick
- Moore, Albert Joseph
- Percy, Sidney Richard
- Poynter, Edward
- Rivière, Briton
- Shayer, William Joseph
- Solomon, Abraham
- Wardle, Arthur
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