Neoclassicism is a term denoting trends in architecture, fine arts, music of the last third of the 19th and first quarter of the 20th centuries, which are characterized by an appeal to the traditional classical heritage of past eras.
Neoclassicism in architecture
The most widespread neoclassical trends are in architecture. By the end of the 19th century, an eclectic "modern" style, which had excessive decorativeness, had formed in architecture, which rather quickly ceased to satisfy the needs of rational architecture. As an antithesis of modernity in a number of countries, including Russia, a new style has appeared, based on classical values, but containing the constructive techniques developed by modernity, called neoclassicism.
The new style revived the traditions of classicist architecture, influenced the vocabulary of modernity and pushed it into the background. Neoclassicism in architecture was especially often used in the construction of public buildings: train stations, museums, metro stations, etc. The characteristic features of architectural neoclassicism are monumentality, correct proportions and pomp.
art
In the visual arts, neoclassicism became widespread at the end of the 19th century, as an alternative to impressionism. The first "neo-idealists" to promote the monumentality and plastic clarity of classical art were German painters and sculptors. Neoclassicism in painting and sculpture combined the principles of ancient art and classicism with late academic tendencies, often very closely in touch with the stylistic solutions of modernity.
Vivid examples of neoclassicism or the use of its elements in the visual arts are the works of painters: Petrov-Vodkin, Serov, Denis, Bakst, Yakovlev, sculptors: Merkurov, Meshtrovich, Konenkov, Maillol, Bourdelle, Vigeland. Just as in architecture, the official art of fascist regimes is a characteristic example of the use of the arsenal of artistic means of neoclassicism in the visual arts.
Neoclassicism in music
In music, neoclassicism refers to the academic direction that arose as a direct objection to the musical style of impressionism, which received the greatest development in the 1920s-1930s. Representatives of neoclassical music revived the stylistics of the pre-classical and early classical periods in their works. The most powerful development in music was neoclassicism in the works of Albert Roussel, Igor Stravinsky and Ottorino Respighi. Nowadays, neoclassicism is often mistakenly called the Classical Crossover style, which combines pop, rock and electronics with elements of classical music.