Romantic Revolt: Challenges to Neoclassicism and the Birth of the Avant Garde in France and Germany
19,869
Published 2022-04-21
About the Program:
In the late 1820s the consensus of the architectural excellence of an immutable classicism, based on the models of ancient Greece and Rome, was challenged in a series of theoretic disputes that pitted generation against generation. In France debates were catalyzed by a group that styled themselves “Romantics,” most famous among them Henri Labrouste who rocked the French academy with a controversial interpretation of the Doric temples at Paestum and went on the craft one of the most challenging buildings of the period, the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. In the same years in the German states the young Heinrich Hübsch asked the provocative question which would resound for decades to come: “In what style should we build?” It was in the crucible of these debates as well that social thinkers coined the notion of the “avant-garde” as a position for the artist and architect, a term too often associated with the modern movement a century later but launched first in debates over the relationship of historical knowledge to modern invention.
This is a recording of an event held by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA), a nonprofit educational organization committed to promoting and preserving the practice, understanding, and appreciation of classical design. To see more educational videos and courses like this one, or if you are interested in attending our classes or becoming a member, visit www.classicist.org .
About the Speaker:
Barry Bergdoll is Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History at Columbia University and former chief curator of Architecture & Design at the Museum of Modern Art (2007-14). A specialist in 18th and 19th century French and German architecture, he is the author of numerous books on modern architecture, including European Architecture 1750-1890, in the Oxford History of Art series published in 2000. He was also co-curator of the exhibition “Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light” at MoMA in 2013, where he also curated exhibitions on Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Latin American modern architecture, and the Bauhaus. He is currently completing a book on the history of exhibiting architecture, based on the Mellon Lectures delivered at the National Gallery of Art in 2013.
Sponsors:
This lecture is presented as part of The Françoise and Andrew Skurman Lecture Series on Classical French Architecture.
Lead Annual Public Programs Sponsor: RINCK
Seasonal Public Programs Sponsor: Dell Mitchell Architects
Seasonal Public Programs Sponsor: Hyde Park Mouldings
All Comments (10)
-
Greetings to all. First of all congratulations to the teacher mr. Bergdoll and ClassicistORG for another very insightful lecture. Thank you. I am Colombian, currently visiting Spain as I am applying for citizenship here. This isn´t my first visit to Europe, but it had been a long time without visiting. Upon arriving, seeing the exquisit architecture of Madrid´s main avenues (so white and filled with greco-roman forms) made me think "¿what would a roman person think if they walked around this place in the present day? - Proud to see their cultural heritage continue to thrive, I guess." But then something started to feel awkward. Then, inside the Prado Museum I saw Rubens' as well as other Rennaissance and Baroque painter's very strong interest towards the Classical Antiquity. Not to mention the sole building of the museum itsself. For example, Ruben's literally painted Jesus's birthplace with roman columns, which of course it didn't have. That started to make me think of the struggle that more contemporary generations started to have with neo-classisism. And then something magical happened. It is as if the curator of the museum was thinking of exactly the same when he decided to dedicate one of section of the museum to a double argument: on one room was Rubens with his Classical Antiquity inspired works, and on the other a series of Dutch and Flemish painters who opted for a return to the folkloric and even nordic scenic traditions. It is as if the curator wanted to show the alternative to a worldview so caught up in the classical ideas. As a Latin American, student of an M.A. in Latin American Cultural Studies, I wonder about how we as a Civilization are thinking of our own heritage. Are we Indigenous, are we Europeans, are we Africans? What I have come to find - by reading the likes of Manuel Zapata Olivella- is that we are all three. In some cases more of one than the rest, in others equally balanced. However, as a whole we are a mix of these three roots, of these three bloods. So then, how come our public architecture doesn't speak to this? I feel exactly like Victor Hugo who sees every single public building talking via the grammar of neo-classisism. However much I love it (because I trully do). The partial answer that I have at the moment comes from two kinds of buildings that I see in Bogota: vernacular architecture, particularly that of some of the most humble areas of the city, with their use of colors and geometric shapes in the facade. This actually seems to be very popular all around the Andes, as I've seen this in the South of Colombia and down to Bolivia. On the other hand the now very popular brick buildings in the more wealthy areas which come from the trend started by Rogelio Salmona. Both of these seem to talk about who we are as a Civilization, and yet they are still so inmature. That is the beauty of folkloric creation, it talks so wisely and yet so humbly. I dream of being able to condense the history of my Civilization into architectural forms that will make us feel proud of being who we are. That involves going to the end of each of our three (or more) roots and honor each part of them fully. If anybody wants to talk about this write me an email at: [email protected]. Cheers
-
I work at Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. It‘s good to see that Hübsch’s and Karlsruhe’s legacy is also known and appreciated abroad.
-
It is believed to be the house where Mary was born and where Christ was raised as a child. Christ was born in Bethlehem where the Church of the Nativity stands today. Thank you for the fantastic presentation! Keep up the good work.
-
Wow! I have never been so obsessed with a subject. Absolutely fantastic, thank you so much for this, without you doing this I would have never had access to this knowledge. Inspired beyond belief at the colors, always loved the polychrome plates never knew the stories behind them. I cannot thank you enough! I wish I could surround myself with people as knowledgeable and interested as you in this subject, tough being in early 20s and interested in classical architecture with no community outlet!
-
Weren’t the Greeks “lying” as well, with stone details meant to imitate carpentry details?
-
I loved the presentation!
-
Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed the lecture.
-
Heinrich Hübsch - a brutalist avant la lettre?
-
Interesting that the modern development with Hübsch meant something so much uglier than Schinkel's earlier classicist work. The misunderstanding is that ornament and references to Antiquity have their own function, an emotional / psychological one. Therefore there is no 'lie' in the Roman way of invoking colums etc. The classicist language is so much more beautiful, richer in experience, etc. Relative values and development don't exclude infinite variation of eternal values... it is the same with ethics. If classicism at the time had not been so orthodox, and conventional, maybe there had not been a need for revolt.
