Art of the Enlightenment: Neoclassicism and Romanticism

Emerging in the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment was a period of intellectual and cultural flourishing across Europe that championed reason, progress, and individual liberty. Its emphasis on empirical evidence and natural rights catalyzed both the Industrial Revolution and the democratic revolutions in America and France. This course explores how Enlightenment ideals gave rise to two distinct artistic movements: Neoclassicism and its successor, Romanticism. We begin with the French Neoclassical painter, Jacques-Louis David, whose Enlightenment ideals helped document and promote the French Revolution. We then examine how Romanticism emerged to counter Neoclassical restraint, replacing cool rationality with drama and emotion. Tracing regional variations of the Romantic movement across Europe, we analyze works by J.M.W. Turner, Caspar David Friedrich, Théodore Géricault, and Eugène Delacroix.