Famous Classicism Artists
List of famous Classicism artists, with images, bios, and information about their notable works. All the greatest artists associated with the Classicism movement are included here, along with clickable names for more details on that particular painter or sculptor. These notable Classicism period artists are organized alphabetically, but you may sort this information by clicking any column. Every well-known or influential figure in this movement is listed below. You can use the artists in this fact-based list to create a new list, re-rank it to fit your opinion, then share it on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networks you belong to. The list you're viewing is made up of artists like John Flaxman and Ernst Mayer. {#nodes}
- Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domainNicolas Poussin (French: [nikɔlɑ pusɛ̃]; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a small group of Italian and French collectors. He returned to Paris for a brief period to serve as First Painter to the King under Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, but soon returned to Rome and resumed his more traditional themes. In his later years he gave growing prominence to the landscapes in his pictures. His work is characterized by clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. Until the 20th century he remained a major inspiration for such classically-oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne. Details of Poussin's artistic training are somewhat obscure. Around 1612 he traveled to Paris, where he studied under minor masters and completed his earliest surviving works. His enthusiasm for the Italian works he saw in the royal collections in Paris motivated him to travel to Rome in 1624, where he studied the works of Renaissance and Baroque painters—especially Raphael, who had a powerful influence on his style. He befriended a number of artists who shared his classicizing tendencies, and met important patrons, such as Cardinal Francesco Barberini and the antiquarian Cassiano dal Pozzo. The commissions Poussin received for modestly scaled paintings of religious, mythological, and historical subjects allowed him to develop his individual style in works such as The Death of Germanicus, The Massacre of the Innocents, and the first of his two series of the Seven Sacraments. He was persuaded to return to France in 1640 to be First Painter to the King but, dissatisfied with the overwhelming workload and the court intrigues, returned permanently to Rome after a little more than a year. Among the important works from his later years are Orion Blinded Searching for the Sun, Landscape with Hercules and Cacus, and The Seasons.
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John Flaxman
John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several years in Rome, where he produced his first book illustrations. He was a prolific maker of funerary monuments. - Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domain
Laurent de La Hyre
Laurent de La Hyre (French pronunciation: [loʁɑ̃ də la iʁ]; February 27, 1606 – December 28, 1656) was a French Baroque painter, born in Paris. - Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domain
Heinrich Füger
Heinrich Friedrich Füger (8 December 1751, in Heilbronn – 5 November 1818, in Vienna) was a German classicist portrait and historical painter. - Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domain
Jacob Philipp Hackert
Jacob Philipp Hackert (15 September 1737 – 28 April 1807) was a landscape painter from Brandenburg, who did most of his work in Italy. - Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domain
Johann Halbig
Johann Halbig, (also Johann von Halbig) (13 July 1814 – 29 August 1882) was a German sculptor of the Classicism school. - Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domain
Ernst Mayer
Ernst Mayer (24 June 1796 – 21 January 1844) was a German sculptor in the classical style. He was a pupil of Antonio Isopi and worked for Leo von Klenze, mainly in Munich where in 1830 he became Professor of Sculpture at the Polytechnic, now the Technical University. - Photo: Metaweb (FB) / Public domain
Antonio Isopi
Antonio Isopi (5 February 1758 – 3 October 1833) was a Roman sculptor of Classicism mainly working at the court of the Dukes (later Kings) of Württemberg. Antonio Aloysius Petrus Isopi first lived and worked in his home city as a sculptor and soon specialized on restoring antique pieces of art. The iron cast Württemberg heraldic animals lion and hart – still to be seen in front of Stuttgart's New Castle – are one of his major works.
