With the French Revolution the French monarchy came to an end in 1789 and was replaced by the French Republic. Things however did not calm down. With Napoleon Bonaparte quickly rising to power around 1800, new wars started in Europe. In 1804 he declared himself emperor of France and went out to conquer new territories. This came to an end in 1815, when Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. What followed was the Congress of Vienna, a plan for peace in Europe and the reinstatement of the French monarchy.

On the other side of the great pond, the Boston Tea Party was the great event of the year 1773. The conflict between the 13 colonies and Great Britain led to the Revolutionary War and finally the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This and the Constitution of the young United States directly inspired the French Revolution.

The time of Neoclassicism was also the era of Classical composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn. The modern version of the piano with iron frame was invented, making it the main keyboard instrument being used. As opposed to Haydn, Mozart (and other artists) was not directly employed by a member of nobility anymore but a free musician - with all its advantages and disadvantages.

In the mid 18th Century, the beginning of Industrialisation - starting in England - brought great changes in society. James Watt crucially improved the steam engine, a revolutionary technology. In 1785 followed the invention of the mechanized loom by Edmond Cartwright, which made the textile industry the first to make the turn towards modernized production methods. More and more people came to the already overcrowded cities to work in factories. Many cities which had been insignificant before rose to new importance. The rise of mechanisation led to a decline of craftmanship and increase in specialisation of workers.

The late 18th Century saw the start of fast-paced design trends as manufacturers tried to maximise their sales with ever changing new styles - starting with textile patterns. Soon patterns of clothes changed seasonally. The design process and production became two separate things - as opposed to craftsmen doing both. This required special schools to educate the industrial designers, which were seen as inferior to arts at academies educating 'real' artists. Industrial production of designed products was rationalised and strandardised and designers had to take into account limitations in the production process, which resulted in less individuality and freedom in design. On the other hand the workers who actually produced the wares did not have to be learned craftsmen anymore but could often even be unskilled workers. This allowed a large number of wares of the same design to be produced.

To make items even more affordable various materials and craftsmen techniques were cheaply reproduced in mechanised production at a much lower cost. 'Plated silver' for instance became a cheap replacement for actual silver. To make items look more expensive, an abundance of decoration was added. Before industrialisation richly decorated objects were luxury items and only affordable to the rich, from now on all people could own such items. This was the start of widely available kitsch. This is also the root of modern design as artists later turned against the trend and discarded the kitsch and cheap materials. The nobility and clergy did not dictate about what exactly was good taste anymore. Instead production catered to a wider audience with not such refined taste.

With the rising of the middle class, art gained a wider audience during the 18th Century. This led to the creation of more and more profane art, while sacral topics lost their importance. The arts academies¹ which were founded during the Baroque age continued to have great influence but important art is also made outside of them.

In the mid 18th Century the German Johann Joachim Winckelmann excavated the antique cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, laying the foundations of modern archeology. He wrote a work about art of the Antiquity, setting art in relation to culture and social aspects of antique society and how it developed. From this time forward arts history lost its focus on artists' biographies and started to sytematically categorise different genres of arts. It regarded arts as a separate form of creativity but also part of a wider culture. Winckelmann's writings inspired others to research and write about arts history. He advocated the imitation of antique arts (especially Greek) as idealized beauty. He also established the idea of a monochromatic, white antiquity (as opposed to the reality of colourfully painted temples and statues), which would widely influence the image of antique arts and architecture and therefore also Neoclassicism. All of this reinforced the opinion among artists that Baroque and especially the overboarding Rococo style had strayed too far from the artistic ideals based on Antiquity.

Until the late 18th Century arts collections were always private and supposed to show off the wealth and good taste of the owner. Seeing them was a privilege of the few who were personally invited. There were also exhibitions at the arts academies and artists invited people to their ateliers. After the French Revolution the French king's collection was made accessible to the public for free. It became the first museum of its kind and found its home in the Louvre palace in Paris in 1793. It was supposed to educate the middle classes and became an archetype for similar collections all over Europe, although the wish to accept the importance of the middle classes was not as pronounced in all places. Collections were soon arranged according to arts history and meaningful developments, to make visitors able to appreciate them. The rooms in which pictures and objects were shown were richly decorated in what seemed to be a fitting way for their use.

There were also arts exhibitions by different artists and it was common to visit artists' ateliers to look at their works. Artists became important personalities and liked to be identified with their work.

Since the liberalisation of the press in France after the Revolution, arts journalism was at the rise. Arts journalists wrote about different exhibitions which took place at the time and the pictures they showed. They were often written as imagined conversations between painter and critic. Even when journalism was targeted by censorship again, arts critique was rather free as it was seen as neutral. In reality it often adapted to current political situations.

Painting

Neoclassical paintings brought the return of antique ideals, especially through the study of antique vases and reliefs, as classical Greek paintings were hard to find. Favourite topics were antique history, mythology and antique texts. Much emphasis was laid on seriousness and moral correctness, which led to a certain stiffness.

The most popular and most prestigious pictures were history paintings: large canvas, which told a story of some kind. Very often political topics were addressed through stories from antiquity. This way historic scenes commented on contemporary situations. These large pictures however, were only affordable for few. Small-scale artworks came in fashion as they were an affordable item for middle-class households. Mass reproductions of famous old and contemporary artworks were also very popular.

The paintings showed a strong contrast between light and shadow. They always incorporated a certain darkness. An emphasis was layed on outlines and precision, the depiction was always idealistic. Dramatic gestures did not prevent figures from seeming stiff and motionless. Compositions were usually asymmetric.

One of the most important creators of history paintings was the French Jaques-Louis David, whose influence spread over all of western Europe. He started out his career at the Royal academy of arts, then became a flaming helper of the Revolution and member of the Republic. During his later years he became a follower of Napoleon and his style changed from a rigid and stoic impression to the more dynamic Empire style.

In America large paintings were hardly ever realised but instead artists had to content themselves with mostly making portraits. Some artists even went to England to be able to work more freely. One of the most important American artists and the first who was internationally recognized was Benjamin West. After starting his career with mainly painting portraits in America he travelled to Europe where he helped founding the Royal Academy of Arts in London (1768) and created some of the earliest neoclassical history paintings in England.

Sculpture

Sculptors could look at a vast amount of Roman copies of Greek sculptures for inspiration. Just like the paintings they were strongly idealized.

Many sculptures were created for public places in cities, where everyone could see them. Older statues were often replaced as their messages did not agree with the current rulers. Statues of rulers were used as propaganda and to show their power. Such public artworks brought big publicity for the artists (who were mostly responsible for the design, the actual work of chiseling etc was done by their helpers) but also made them subject to public discussion and criticism of so far unknown proportions.

Portrait busts and portrait statues were still the most important subjects of sculptures, they showed the contemporary taste in decoration and clothing but otherwise still resembled works of the past in style.

Sculptures in private places remained to be luxury items for rich collectors for a long time.

Printing

At the end of the 18th Century reproductions of popular paintings as litographic prints were at their peak. This technique uses stone plates to print paint or even chalk on paper. The picture is a result of hydrophobic and hydrophilic portions on the stone, which are created by applying a fatty substance on the stone. Several colours can be printed after each other and even gradients are possible. Over 20 different colours in one print (one stone plate per colour) were not unusual. The technique was improved continually. Large quantities of prints could be produced from one picture in a short time, which made them affordable.

More and more original works were produced as coloured prints. They were used not just as decoration but also in journalism (and caricatures), as illustrations in books and for propaganda Beautifully illustrated books were printed, showing a symbiosis of text and pictures like it was last seen in the middle ages (two different printing presses were needed for text and pictures). This technique was for instance used for books about different countries or landscapes, which were greatly enriched by a large number of illustrations.

Empire style

The Empire style was used during and after the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte in France and was a conglomerate of ancient Roman, Greek and also Egyptian influences. It is especially known for its interior decorations where copies of antique decorations were 'stuck' on walls and furniture. During this time the battles of Napoleon became a favourite subject of French history paintings, largely replacing antique scenes.

Is it the real life - is it just fantasy?

While Neoclassicism stayed the favoured style at the academies, other artists thrived for more individualism and wanted to get away from the strict conventions. Accurate depictions of an idealized reality were not so important anymore. This was the birth of Romanticism, which focussed colours and movement and a certain feeling of nostalgia.