Modern Classicism

Classicism’s prehistory begins in the Middle East in the 4th Millennium; from this point developing – via oral resurgences – in Egypt, Crete, Greece, Rome and Europe where it dominates – if challenged by the Picturesque – until the middle of the 19th century, when it slides into becoming a costume from when a new way, called Modernism, emerges; the two competing over the next century in a sort of peace, based on the failure of the tabula rasa and on discovering the vitality of the city as a beneficent chaos.  There follows a sort of free-for-all, the weak and the strong embraced in a sort of dance.  Buried in this overview are passions of great intensity: Leonardo’s “Vitruvian man”, Bugs Bunny and Duchamp’s “bottle-rack”.   Enough time has elapsed to review this development, to understand this long tradition, to see how this tradition re-emerges as Modernism within Post-Modern Classicism at the end of the 20th century.  In the 21st century, all bets are off!