Artistic style in the art of Europe in the 17th and 19th centuries, the most important feature of which was a profound appeal to ancient art as an ideal, a standard, classicism. In painting, as in sculpture, architecture and other forms of creativity, the traditions of the Renaissance continued - faith in the power of the human mind, the worship of the ideals of the measure and harmony of the ancient world.
The tendencies of classicism appeared in Italy in the late 16th century. The pan-European style began to form in the bosom of French artistic culture . The aesthetic value of this era has only timeless, timeless. Great importance was attached to the educational and social functions of art. Therefore, classicism in painting brings forth the newest ethical norms, which forms the images of its heroes: subordination to the common personal, passions to reason, duty, supreme interests of the public, the laws of the universe, resilience to the vicissitudes of existence and cruelty of fate. Orientation to non-stop images, to a reasonable beginning, determined the regulation of art laws, the normality of the requirements of classical aesthetics, the strict hierarchy of existing genres - from "low" (portrait, landscape, still life) to "high" (mythological, historical, religious). Each genre put forward meaningful strict boundaries and formal clear signs.
The first classicism in painting was introduced by the Frenchman N. Poussin, he is his founder. The artist's paintings - "Death of Germanicus", "Rinaldo and Armida", "Arcadian shepherds", "Finding Moses", etc. All of them are marked by the harmony of the rhythmic color and structure, the sublimity of ethical and philosophical content.
Classicism in Russian painting was expressed by the affirmation of the beauty of the individual, unique, unusual. The highest achievement of this era is in painting, not historical themes, but a portrait (A.Antropov, A.Agrunov, F.Rokotov, D.Levitsky, V.Borovikovsky, O. Kiprensky). Russian classicism in painting of the 19th century occupies an honorable place, because it has its own discoveries and features. O. Kiprensky, for example, discovered not only new human qualities, but also the newest possibilities of painting. All his portraits are different: each has its own original picturesque structure. Some are built on the picturesque contrast of shadow and light. In others, there is a subtle gradation of similar, close colors.
Russian classicism in painting is necessarily associated with Bryullov's priceless paintings. They differ in the fusion of academic classicism and romanticism, the novelty of the stories, the theatrical effect of plastic and lighting, the complexity of composition. A. Ivanov was able to overcome many of the patterns inherent in academic technology and gave his work the character of sacrificial judgments to ideas.
Classicism in Russian painting was also promoted by such famous artists: I.Repin, I.Surikov, V.Serov, I.Shishkin, A.Savrasov, I.Levitan. All of them individually did a lot for the art of their country, and together they were taken for the culture of the whole world.