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Neoclassicism

Europe turns back to Greece and Rome: clear line, calm figures and civic virtue.

109 works · hang 9307 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

First room, north wall

  1. The image depicts a forest scene with large trees dominating the right side, two figures seated by a stream, rocky formations on the left, grazing animals in the distance, and a monochrome color palette of brown and espresso tones.
    A Shepherd and a Young Woman With Their Feet in a BrookSalomon Gessner, 1764Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. This painting shows a man standing upright, his body slightly turned to the right. He has pale skin and curled white hair under a large black hat, and he wears a long brown jacket over a yellow vest with a white ruffled neck and a wide blue-and-white striped sash over his torso. His pants are black, and he wears tall black boots with brown tops. His hands are covered by yellow gloves, and he is holding a tall, thin rifle on the left, its bottom on the ground. Next to him on the right is a white dog with brown spots and large brown ears. The dog is sitting, looking up at the man. The background features an outdoor setting, with a landscape of hazy hills in shades of pale green and blue below a white and gray sky. There is a tall, dark green tree behind the man, and the ground he stands on is brown.
    Charles IV of Spain as HuntsmanUnrecorded Spanish maker, c. 1799/1800Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. RUSTIC INTERIOR: STAGE DESIGN FOR THE TEATRO DE' FELICINI, BOLOGNA
    Rustic Interior: Stage Design for the Teatro de' Felicini, BolognaAntonio Giuseppe Basoli, ca. 1810Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  4. A work made of conté crayon on gray-blue wove paper.
    Landscape with HaystacksConstant Troyon, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

First room, south wall

  1. A work made of engraving in black on ivory wove paper.
    George Washington, Front View, from Oeuvre de CanovaAntonio Canova, 1817Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of handcolored etching in black on cream laid paper.
    The Grotto of Posillipo (La Grotta di Posillipo)Louis Jean Desprez, 1785/90Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. DESIGNS FOR ORNAMENTAL ARABESQUE MOTIFS
    Designs for Ornamental Arabesque MotifsEtienne de Lavallée-Poussin, 1770Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  4. Towering, pale, celery-green trees frame a view of a lush park with about a dozen elegantly dressed, light-skinned men and women in this vertical landscape painting. The color palette is dominated by moss and lemon-lime green, golden yellow, and spruce blue. The men all wear jackets with long tails over knee-breeches, and their long hair is pulled back at the napes of their necks. The women wear long dresses with full skirts and hints of lace at the sleeves and bust, and their brown or white hair is pulled up. Nine of the men and women gather to our right on a stone terrace along the bottom edge of the painting. A man in butter yellow kneels in front of a woman wearing rose pink. Around this pair, people stand, kneel, sit, or recline wearing aquamarine blue, light turquoise, or ivory white. A man and woman sit on a bench to our left, a little removed from the larger group. This woman wears ruby red and the man leaning toward her wears topaz blue. Two people in the park beyond these groups are painted with only a few strokes of pale blue and white paint, and they look over a low hedge row lining the walking path. Beds of red flowers fill the lower corners of the composition in front of a statue of a woman to our left and a person, perhaps on a fountain, to our right. The grassy walking path and trees become more blue as they fade into the hazy distance between the tall tress to either side. The sky fades from pale blue along the horizon to a silvery blue, almost white, at the top.
    A Game of Hot CocklesJean Honoré Fragonard, c. 1775/1780Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Second room, south wall

  1. Overdoor Painting, by Pierre Rousseau, 1790s
    Overdoor PaintingPierre Rousseau, 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. A woman wearing flowing, pastel-colored robes and two, winged, child-like putti gather on a bank of clouds among musical instruments and sheet music in this horizontal painting. The people all have pale, pink-tinged skin. The woman sits to our right of center, facing our left in profile. She has straight nose, a rounded chin, and her small, pink lips are closed. Her ash-blond hair is pulled back under a yellow band. A voluminous white robe falls away over her left shoulder, to our right, to reveal a firm breast and small pink nipple. Sky-blue drapery wraps over her far arm, and deep rose-pink cloth falls across her lap and onto the clouds around her. Her legs extend to our left, her toes pointed. She leans back on her left elbow, closer to us, and points with that index finger to a lyre she props against her knee with her other hand. One chubby, nude putto reaches forward to strum the strings. The other putto hovers above, holding a ring of laurel leaves up in one hand and a flute in the other. Both putti have chubby limbs and torsos, blond curls lifted as if in a breeze, and short, ice-blue wings. Both look at the woman. In the lower left corner, a helmet with a topaz-blue feather and the gold hilt of a sword sit near the woman’s feet. Beneath the woman’s lower leg, at the bottom center of the painting, is a gold horn encircled by another wreath of laurel leaves. Two white doves with wings spread support an open book of sheet music and two pink roses tucked under the woman’s bent elbow. Fog-gray clouds billow up both sides of the scene against a pale blue sky. The clouds on which the trio gathers are parchment brown shaded with mauve pink. The outer corners of the image are white, indicating that the corners of the canvas were rounded. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner, “F Boucher 1764.”
    Allegory of MusicFrançois Boucher, 1764Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Second room, north wall

  1. Tomb with Sphinxes and an Owl, by Louis Jean Desprez, c. 1779–84
    Tomb with Sphinxes and an OwlLouis Jean Desprez, c. 1779–84Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. TROPHY WITH ECCLESIASTICAL OBJECTS
    Trophy with Ecclesiastical ObjectsRomolo Achille Liverani, 1830–1850Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  3. Condesa de Altamira and Her Daughter, María Agustina, by Francisco Goya, 1787–88
    Condesa de Altamira and Her Daughter, María AgustinaFrancisco Goya, 1787–88Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  4. A work made of oil on canvas.
    Birth of BacchusKároly Markó, Sr., 1826 (?)Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Third room, north wall

  1. This oval painting depicts a cherubic child in a garden setting. The child is standing with one foot in front of the other and has small wings on their back. The child has light skin, curly blond hair, rosy cheeks, and a playful expression. They are mostly nude, except for a cloth that wraps around their back and covers their groin. The child is holding a golden arrow. They are standing in front of a light green bush with pink flowers. In the bottom left, there is a dark blue object in the green grass that looks like a torch or cylindrical quiver. The setting includes lush greenery and more clusters of pink and white flowers. The background features a pastel blue sky with soft pink clouds and two white doves flying above.
    Love the SentinelJean Honoré Fragonard, c. 1773/1776Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. The Billiard Room, by Nicolas Antoine Taunay, after 1810
    The Billiard RoomNicolas Antoine Taunay, after 1810Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art