M3: LATE NEOCLASSICISM

Late Georgian and Regency periods

• refer to the reigns of King George III and his son, George, who became the Prince Regent after his father became too unwell to rule. 

• During this period, Britain fully embraced Neoclassicism in architecture, furniture, and decoration. 

• Wealthy industrialists and the Prince Regent were the driving forces behind the period's taste making, with the English Regency being known for its luxurious and opulent style.

Late Georgian Style 

• This period marked a period of great political and cultural change in England, effects brought about by the American and French Revolutions and the manufacturing innovations of the Industrial Revolution. 

• Palladian architecture began to fall out of fashion, and a Classical Revival, led by architect Robert Adam and based on his careful studies of ancient Roman ruins, became the new norm in English architecture. 

• Often commissioned to remodel existing buildings, Robert Adam developed a new style of architectural decoration, which was more archaeologically accurate than past Neoclassical styles but innovative and not bound only by ancient precedents, known sometimes as “The Adam Style.” 

 Robert Adam

• developed a new style of architectural decoration, which was more archaeologically accurate than past Neoclassical styles but innovative and not bound only by ancient precedents, known sometimes as “The Adam Style.” 

• “The Adam Style.” 

• is based on “movement,” the rise and fall, and the advancement and recession of forms. 

• Architecture began to feature archetypal Corinthian facades with columns and pilasters, Ionic porticos, roof balustrades, and classical moldings, the essence of the Adam Style being his use of ornament.

• Another crucial element was his insistence on stylistic coherence across every element of his interiors. 

• This style is composed of interior elements that moved away from the strict mathematical proportions previously found in Georgian rooms and introduced curved walls and domes decorated with elaborate plasterwork using Roman classical motifs, pilasters, and striking mixed color schemes using newly affordable paints in pea green, sky blue, lemon, lilac, bright pink, and red brown terracotta.

Late Georgian Interiors

• The Adam Style also dominated late Georgian interiors. Interiors were splendid, dignified, and harmoniously unified, even at the sacrifice of comfort and convenience. 

• The main hall and reception rooms were moved to the front. 

• Bedrooms were on upper floors, kitchens were never fully considered, and bathrooms were outside. 

• Other characteristics featured: Circular, octagonal, and square rooms were common, with furniture related to the overall design. 

• Ceilings bore low-relief classical motifs, often with a centerpiece with details picked out with gilding. 

• Walls were in pale pastels with low-relief stucco ornaments, sometimes bearing French or chinoiserie wallpaper.

• Fireplaces, doors, and windows were framed in classical moldings. 

• Polished wood floors were typical except in the entrance hall where tile, flagstones, marble, or scagliola (imitation marble using stucco) were used. 

• Linoleum was first used on floors in this period. 

• Adam’s motifs influenced silverware. 

• Wedgewood Jasperware became very popular

The Long Gallery at Syon House

• used 62 Corinthian pilasters, gilded and painted, along with classical trailing stucco moldings, replacing their former Jacobean paneling. 

• The gallery’s color originally was bright pink and blue. 

• The current light green wash was a 19th-century addition.

Late Georgian furniture

• was very architectural. 

• They were more graceful and smaller than Chippendale pieces and were generally of three styles: Adam, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton. 

• Chippendale and French neoclassical styles influenced Adam style pieces. 

Hepplewhite and Sheraton published books on their furniture designs and today,

Hepplewhite's pieces

are more commonly known for their curved shield backs and tapering legs to a spade foot.

Sheraton

known for his square backs and cylindrical legs.

Regency Styles

• English Regency was an artistic period of creativity and production for architecture and decoration. 

• It referred to a period at the end of the reign of George III when his son ruled as prince regent until George III died in 1820. 

• The prince regent then was crowned King George IV. 

• The period also coincides with the Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands, the Federal style in the United States, and the French Empire style.  

Romantic Movements

Picturesque Movements

Regency styles were mainly influenced by two artistic movements:

• Romantic Movements 

believed in the visual qualities and symbolisms behind the unity of antique styles and nature in creating awe-inspiring experiences.

Picturesque Movements

admired the visual qualities of landscapes, particularly asymmetry.

John Nash

was the architect most associated with the period. (English Regency)

Greek revival

• The precedence of Georgian neoclassical buildings, the publications of many archeological surveys of Greek buildings, and the products of English architects after their Grand Tours led to the belief in the supremacy of Greek design. 

  • The Greek Revival served more as a superficial, piece-meal application of Grecian design to facades of housing, but more so onto public buildings to offer it a sense of monumentality, at the same time sobriety and rationalism, resonant to the sense of nationalism following England’s victory over Napoleon’s advances. 

  • Buildings featured bold, flat, unbroken walls with porticos, colonnades, and minimal ornamentation. 

    • Public buildings stood as "temples" to better understand the ancient world. 

    • The best examples are the British Museum by Sir Robert Smirke and the National Gallery by William Wilkins. 

Regency homes, particularly Row Houses, were designed in the Greek Revival manner.

Row Houses

• They often have a white-painted stucco facade and an entryway to the main front door (usually colored black) framed by two columns. 

• Row houses, in terraced or in crescents, formed singular palatial units. 

• Elegant wrought-iron balconies and bow windows came into fashion as part of this style. 

• Regency houses are also marked by increased use of eclectic "revival" styles, from Gothic through Greek to Indian, as alternatives to the main neoclassical stream.

Picturesque Style

• is the artistic concept and style characterized by a preoccupation with the pictorial values of architecture and landscape combined. 

• Originally, the term was used to describe buildings and landscapes that resembled the compositions of painters like Lorrain and Poussin.

  • The picturesque was promoted in England as an appropriate design for rural settings. 

    • It was a transition from the Greek to the Gothic Revival styles and was defined as the aesthetic quality between the sublime (i.e., awe-inspiring) and the beautiful (i.e., serene) and one marked by pleasing variety, irregularity, asymmetry, and interesting textures, such as medieval ruins amidst a natural landscape.

Regency Interiors

• borrows from eclectic sources. 

• Classically inspired rooms are the most common, followed by Medieval, and last, from exotic sources. 

• Designs may vary from room to room, with more ostentatious, sometimes garish, designs found in public areas to show off rank and wealth. 

• Areas such as the entry hall, parlors, and the dining room.

Regency Furniture

• The popular furniture makers were:

• Thomas Hope, 

• George Smith

• is often defined by its eclectic design based on either being Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, or Gothic inspired. 

• Pieces were severe and simple and ornamented with brass mounts.

Thomas Hope

known for his “English Empire Style” furniture

George Smith

both influenced by French Empire styles.

Monopodia

a support composed of the head, chest, and foot of a lion, became a defining feature.

Biedermeier period

• refers to an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848, during which the middle class grew in number, and arts appealed to common sensibilities. 

• The name Biedermeier was derogatory because it was based on the caricature “Papa Biedermeier,” 

• “Papa Biedermeier,” 

a comic symbol of middle class comfort. Such comfort emphasized family life, private activities, and the pursuit of hobbies.

Biedermeier Architecture

• Clean lines, simplicity, and elegance 

• Although not as innovative as their European counterparts, local designers took inspiration from Greek, Roman, French, and English influences and blended them with contemporary motifs (zopfstil, a transitional style from German Rococo) to create a uniquely German style.

• Its combination of simplicity and functionality had an important influence on later design movements such as Art Nouveau and the influential Bauhaus Design School, the melting pot of 20th century architecture.

The Schloss Tegel or Humboldt-Schloss

was built between 1820 and 1824 by Wilhelm von Humboldt and designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel

The Konzerthaus Berlin

• formerly the Schauspielhaus Berlin, 

• by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, 1821.

Biedermeier Interiors

• The main features are best expressed in the interior. 

• The aristocratic "salon" was replaced by the "living room," in which the hostess provided the "warmth of life," creating a family atmosphere and home comfort. 

• This change in the role of the house's main room led to its multifunctionality, the appearance in the interior of several separate zones, isolated visually or with the help of screens and jardinières. 

• The furniture group with a table for needlework, where households gathered around the hostess, became the symbol of the "style." 

• Small pieces of furniture, low ceilings, geraniums, pets, and cages with canaries, flower wallpaper, round shapes, and warm fabrics are all characteristic elements of the style.

Biedermeire Furniture  

• German furniture design style evolved from 1815–1848. 

• An outgrowth of the French Empire style combined with German peasant furniture, the Biedermeier style became the forerunner of the development of modern furniture. 

• it  was remarkably simple, sophisticated, and functional. 

• Its construction utilized the ideal of truth through the material. 

• They were executed in light, native woods and avoided metal ornamentation. 

• Surfaces were modulated with natural grains, knotholes, or ebonized accents for contrast; though modest, inlay was occasionally used. An identifying feature of Biedermeier furniture is its extremely restrained geometric appearance. 

The Neoclassical movement in America

• was closely tied to the country's political status as a new republic. 

• Being a fledgling nation, the United States required an official architectural style to validate its emancipation and represent its cultural identity.

Thomas Jefferson

one of its most influential presidents, was a skilled amateur architect and significantly promoted neoclassicism as a national style.

The Federal and Greek Revival styles

• were two basic variants of American Neoclassical Architecture between 1776 and 1850. 

• Both were modeled on the architectural principles invented and perfected by ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, which were deemed the most appropriate models for the newly found democracy of the United States.

American Federal Architecture

• The term Federal style describes a loose classicist style that flourished up to 1815 and was characterized by the addition of Greek and Byzantine elements to symmetrical Georgian design. 

• Simpler than its English prototypes, this style has slenderer proportions, classical decoration, color contrasts, and geometric forms, emphasizing straight lines and geometric curves.

• differed from Georgian architecture in its preference for fewer pilasters/columns and plainer surfaces with less detail, usually set within panels, tablets, and friezes. 

• Other characteristics included bright interiors with large windows and a decorative but restrained appearance. 

• The bald eagle was a common symbol in this style, with the ellipse a frequent architectural motif. 

• The style broadly corresponds to the classicism of the Biedermeier style in the German-speaking lands, Regency architecture in Britain, and the French Empire style.

Federal Interiors

• follow the styles of Robert Adam but are simpler and with fewer colors. 

• Rooms are refined, elegant, and formal. Other features include: 

  • Interior plans were symmetrical: a central hallway with a stairway with many specialized rooms leading off the hall. 

  • Walls bore dados with wallpaper or plaster and were painted in bright colors. 

    • Pilasters were common, as well as classical moldings, especially cornices.

  • Ceilings were high and painted white or in pastels with classical motifs around the central chandelier. 

  • Floors were either on wide boards or parquet, covered with rugs in geometric patterns. 

  • Doors, windows, and fireplaces were all framed in classical motifs flanked by pilasters. 

    • Fireplaces were beautifully designed in marble with wooden mantels. 

  • Cotton and other printed textiles were now locally available, as well as locally manufactured rugs and carpets. 

Convex mirrors were the most popular accessory, surmounted by a gilt frame topped by an eagle, fueled by the overall patriotism during the era. Imported items from Europe and Asia were also now more common.

Federal Furniture

• Earlier designs by Sheraton, Hepplewhite, and Duncan Phyfe dominated Federal furniture. 

• Later designs bore more French Empire influences. 

• Inlay was the most sophisticated, and most popular feature of Federal furniture.

Greek Revival Architecture

• Despite the unbounded prestige of ancient Greece, there was minimal direct knowledge of that civilization before the middle of the 18th century. 

• Grand touring Europeans found Greece too inconvenient and dangerous to travel to until the Kingdom of Greece gained independence from the Ottomans. 

• In America, the appeal of ancient Greece and its architecture rose in the 19th century along with the growing acceptance of democracy. 

• Furthermore, many saw Greece's struggle for independence against the Ottomans (1821-1830) parallel to the United States' history with Great Britain. 

• Greek Revival style in America became associated with Republicanism and a visual metaphor for beauty, democracy, liberty, and civic virtue. It became America's first national style.

• Revivalist Greek architecture closely adhered to Greek art's values and stylistic models. 

• Structures became deeper than wide, with low, triangular, gabled, pedimented porticos supported by classical columns. 

• The Doric order was the most popular since it was the simplest to fabricate. 

• Greek Revival houses were often 2-3 stories high, with tall first story windows that reached the floor and allowed access to the porch.

 Big House

• mansion at Andalusia

• is one of the finest, most distinctive examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States. 

• soaring white Doric columns and superbly crafted interiors

Greek Revival Interiors

• do not replicate the past since few examples survive. 

• Interiors are designed to project a dignified and somber presence. 

• Rooms are rectangular, symmetrical, and regular, with more important rooms decorated with grand columns, pilasters, moldings, and coffered ceilings. 

• Hallways fall out of fashion in houses as rooms are arranged in enfilade. 

• Double parlors, separated by pocket sliding doors, become popular. 

• Used for entertaining, the parlor is elegant and decorated to impress visitors.

American Empire Furniture

• Greek Revival interior styles are best appreciated in furniture with new designs inspired by French Empire and English Regency pieces, such as sideboards and sleigh beds. 

• Pieces such as ottomans and the lazy susan also first appeared. 

• The Empire style was most notably exemplified by the work of New York cabinetmakers Duncan Phyfe and Paris-trained Charles-Honoré Lannuier.  

• Empire furniture shifted towards using heavier classical forms with more emphasis on outline than on carved detail. 

• French and English publications of the time provided inspiration for the Empire style. 

• Mahogany remained the preferred wood, but when it wasn't available, walnut was used instead. 

• Veneer was also a common material, especially in cheaper pieces. 

• Inlay, which had been popular during the Federal period, was replaced by carving in high relief, stenciling, gilding, and stamped-brass plaques. 

• Marble was also a commonly used material. 

• Some pieces were kept simple by omitting carving and emphasizing the overall line.