Which Civilization Has Produced The Most Influential Art?

Roman Classicism – more refined than Greek art – has been in and out of style since the fall of the Roman Empire. It was revived in the Renaissance, and it went on to be revived in the 18th and 19th centuries, then again in the early 20th century. And still today, anything considered modern inevitably falls back onto Classicism.

The most significant export of European Classicism was to America. Classical sensibilities were instilled in American art and architecture from Americas inception. As the United States grew in its cultural influence across the 20th century, Classicism was exported again, watered down, to the rest of the world.
Empire-building in the 19th and 20th century strongly references the Roman Empire; first Napoleon, then the Third Reich. The Nazis championed Roman Classicism – the Swastika design was used extensively in Roman decor, the rallies, and the architecture… all was a cartoon variation on the original Roman Empire.

Even Mao in China, who enforced the Cultural Revolution in the 70s, sought to destroy traditional Chinese art, and replace it with something more Western, which led to Classicism indirectly seeping into Chinese design. The Westernization of cultures outside of Europe and Anglo-America has meant the indirect export of watered-down Roman Classicism.

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