Antiquity Revived: Neoclassical Art in the Eighteenth Century March 20–May 30, 2011
Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1786, oil on canvas, lent by the Toledo Museum of Art;
purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, gift of Edward Drummond Libbey.
Giovanni Paolo Panini, Ancient Rome, 1757, oil on canvas,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gwynne Andrews Fund.
Angelica Kauffman, Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus, 1774, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harris Masterson III in memory of Neill Turner Masterson, Jr.
Ernst Matthäi (after Bertel Thorvaldsen), Venus, 1816–20, marble, the MFAH.
Joseph Marie Vien, Greek Lady at the Bath, 1767, oil on canvas,
Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico, the Luis A. Ferre Foundation, Inc.
Pompeo Batoni, Academic Nude, 1765,
charcoal heightened with black and white chalk on blue-grey paper, the MFAH.
"Neoclassicism" is the name given to the various classicizing movements that developed in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and that profoundly influenced the fine arts, decorative arts, and architecture.
This sweeping survey, co-organized with the Musée du Louvre in Paris, showcases some 150 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and works of decorative art. Antiquity Revived: Neoclassical Art in the Eighteenth Century explores, from various points of view, how the renewal of classical taste found its roots in ancient sources, and how painters, sculptors, designers, artisans, and architects from Rome to Paris and from London to St. Petersburg forged an imaginative classical style that satisfied the needs and tastes of their own age.
Explore the exhibition with MFAH curator Edgar Peters Bowron in Antiques & Fine Art Magazine.
Exhibition Catalogue
The accompanying illustrated catalogue is available through The MFAH Shop (713.639.7360) and the Museum's Hirsch Library (713.639.7325). Read more in the New York Review of Books.
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in association with the Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Generous funding is provided by: Lead corporate sponsor:
Birgitt van Wijk Total
Linda K. Finger
Luther King Capital Management