Become an art expert from the comfort of your own home with our handy glossary. We’re picking up where we left off in our spring issue, and you can view all of our previous instalments online if you’d like a refresher. Learn Your ABC
NEOCLASSICISM (HAMISH BLAKELY )
The Neoclassical art movement, which began c. 1760, championed Greco-Roman ideals of harmony and stood in opposition to the overly decorative and whimsical styles of Rococo and Baroque. The excavation of the ruins found at Pompeii and Herculaneum rekindled interest in classical art, architecture and literature. Also Johan Joachim Winckelmann's Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture played an important role in establishing the aesthetic and theory of Neoclassicism. The main pioneer of this period was Anton Raphael Mengs. The circle of artists that gathered around Mengs and Winckelmann in Rome created the
centre of the new movement, which influenced British artists like Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West John Flaxman, Jessica Kaufman and Jacques-Louis David, who was the front man of Neoclassicism in France. Hamish Blakely took inspiration from neo- classical painters like John William Godward, John Waterhouse, or Jean-Léon Gérôme to create his latest collection iMasterpiece . The artist fuses classical paintings with the materialistic symbols of mass consumerism to highlight the shallowness of popular culture and social media-obsessed narcissistic society.
MAQUETTE (PETER SMITH)
As the French word for ‘scale model’, a maquette – also known in Italian as plastico or modello – is a sculptor’s small preliminary study or model. Serving as the artist’s first realisation of a concept, it can aid in the selection of materials and overall approach. One artist known for his maquettes is the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who made his models from wax or baked terracotta. plaster maquettes as part of the theatrical stage sets for their popular Impossimals ® characters. See if you can work out the artwork from these behind-the-scenes photographs. A little closer to home, Peter Smith and his wife Jayne create
‘ Shine ’ inspired by Jean-Léon Gérôme’s provocative piece ‘A Roman Slave Market’ (c.1884).
46 FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN2019
FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN2019 47
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