Angelica Kauffmann
“the painting princess”
1741-1807
Swiss Neoclassical Historical Painter
Artistically and Stylistically Influenced by the Following Painters - Sir Joshua Reynolds, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Jacques-Louis David
Education - learned to the basics of painting in her fathers, Johann Josef Kauffmann, studio.
Cause of Death - heart failure, she died in Rome
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She was born in
Switzerland in 1741 as
the only child to the
mediocre portrait
painter Joseph
Kauffmann.
Something of a child
prodigy she spoke
five languages and read
voraciously. Kauffmann
was captivated by the
ideas of Prussian
antiquarian
Johann
Joachim Winckelmann,
whom she befriended
while in Rome.
"Angelica was now
eighteen years old, and
in a measure was
prepared to profit by
the aid and advice of
Winckelmann. He
conceived an ardent
friendship for the young
artist, and, though no
longer young, and
engaged in most
important and absorbing
research, he found time
to interest himself in
Angelica's welfare, and
allowed her to paint his
portrait, to which she
gave an expression which
proved that she had
comprehended the spirit
of this remarkable man
of threescore years." She
painted a famous
portrait of him in 1764.
Kauffmann's paintings are outstanding examples of the Neoclassical style accepted by the French Academy in the nineteenth century. Her favorite subjects were frolicking cherubs, chivalrous flirtations and historical scenes, all within the guidelines firmly dictated by the Academy. Kauffmann recognized the danger of undue acceptance of strict rules, rejecting the overstated frigidity of the purest forms of neoclassicism and adding sensuous lines, a refined sensibility and a harmonious feminine touch. She believed as Wincklemann did that unity and simplicity are the two true sources of beauty.
Description and Origins of the Neoclassic Art Movement
The period is called neoclassical because its artists looked back to the art and culture of classical Greece and Rome. The spread of Neoclassical Art was primarily inspired by recent roman archeological excavations and by the manuscripts of German classical archaeologist and art critic Johann Joachim Winckelmann. Winckelmann gushed about the "noble simplicity and quiet grandeur” of Greek sculpture, which he believed to be the most perfect beauty ever created by human hands, and recommended that artists emulate these classical forms. His ideas were mainly influential to the generation of neoclassical artists who flocked abound him in Rome. Neoclassical art is characterized by its classical form and structure, clarity, and to an degree, realism.
French Neoclassism painters emphasis's patriotism, as well as a sense of civility and honorableness. The movement was particularly connected with the beliefs of the French Revolution and was seen as anti-aristocratic. The fantasy-based aristocratic art of the Rococo seemed an insult upon the rights of men and was vilified by critics and the general public. In an age of sweeping revolution and transformation Neoclassicism became the art of change.
Principle Artists of the Neoclassical Period
James Barry Irish, 1741-1806
Antonio Canova
Italian, 1757-1822
Jacques-Louis David
French, 1748-1825
Jules Elie
Delaunay French, 1828-1891
Francois Gerard
French, 1770-1837
Antoine-Jean Gros
French, 1771-1835
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres French, 1780-1867
Angelica
Kauffmann Swiss, 1741-1807
Rembrandt Peale
American, 1778-1860
Bertel
Thorvaldsen Danish, 1770-1844
John Trumbull
American, 1756-1843
Elisabeth
Vigee-Lebrun French, 1755-1842
Benjamin West
American, 1738-1820
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