art appreciation topic vii: romanticism

Romanticism was a multi-layered movement that took many

forms and affected most branches of the arts. It began in the late 18th

century and flowered most fully in the early 19th.

Unlike the Neoclassicists who promoted order and reason, the

Romantics believed in the power of the imagination, emotion and

individualism. These qualities could be evoked in very different ways.

Much of their work was focused on the past but was typically set in the

Middle Ages rather than classical antiquity. While classical artists

reshaped nature to suit their ordered compositions, the Romantics

portrayed it as wild and ungovernable. In their landscapes, some

Romantic painters liked to show the individual as being dwarfed by the

forces of nature, which were portrayed as an expression of human

emotions and often given a mystical or visionary role.

At the same time, a sense of individualism can also be linked to

the spirit of rebellion that epitomizes the Romantic era. Its anti-rationalist

overtones led artists to explore themes that were linked with horror,

madness, violence and the supernatural. There was also a taste for the

exotic.

Cupid and

Psyche

by

Gerard

Portrait of

Madame

Récamier

by

Gerard

Portrait of the

Empress

Josephine

by

Prud’hon

The Raft of the Medusa by Gericault

A

Madwoman

and

Compulsive

Gambler

by

Gericault

The

Madwoman

Afflicted

with Envy

by

Gericault

Aspasia

by

Delacroix

The

Massacre

of Chios

by

Delacroix

Liberty

Leading

the

People

by

Delacroix

The Algerian

Women

by

Delacroix

The

Departure of

the

Volunteers

of 1792

by

Rude

Esther

by

Chassériau

Witches

in the Air

by

Goya

The Witches’

Sabbath

by

Goya

Time and the

Old Women

by

Goya

Saturn

Devouring

His Son

by

Goya

The

Hülsenbeck

Children

by

Runge

The

Wanderer

Above the

Sea of Fog

by

Friedrich

The Sea of Ice by Friedrich

Man and Woman

Contemplating the Moon by Friedrich

The Romantic movement in Germany was led by a

group of artists known as the Nazarenes (c.1809-30), who

sought to revive honesty and spirituality in Christian art. This

was most obvious from their attempts to mimic the lifestyle of

the painter-monks from the early Renaissance. The term

“Nazarene” stemmed from their communal, semi-monastic

lifestyle and their affectation of wearing biblical clothing and

hair styles.

Contemporary critics believed that the Nazarenes were

responsible for the rebirth of German art, although they

conceded that much of their work was focused on the past. The

Nazarenes were also closely linked with the upsurge of

nationalist sentiments in Germany, which led some of their

members to portray patriotic themes from German history and

legend. The Nazarenes also attempted to revive the art of

medieval fresco painting.

The Wise and Foolish Virgins

by von Cornelius

Italia and

Germania

by

Overbeck

Christ’s First Appearance to the People

by Ivanov

Pegwell Bay by Dyce

The Nightmare by Fuseli

The Three Witches by Fuseli

The

Ancient of

Days

by

Blake

The Red

Dragon and

the Woman

Clothed in

the Sun

by

Blake

Early Morning

by Palmer

Shoreham

Garden

by

Palmer

Pandemonium by Martin

The Great Day of His Wrath by Martin

The White

Horse by

Constable

The Hay Wain by Constable

Stonehenge by Constable

The

Slave

Ship

by

Turner

Rain, Steam and Speed by Turner

Moonlit Landscape by Allston

Elijah in the Desert by Allston

Daniel

Boone

Sitting at

the Door

of His

Cabin

by

Cole

The Course of Empire: Destruction by Cole

Fanciful Landscape by Doughty

Desert Rock Lighthouse by Doughty

Denning’s Point, Hudson River by Doughty

Indian

Rescue

by

Durand

Niagara

Falls from

the

American

Side

by

Church

The Oregon Trail by Bierstadt

Rocky Mountain Landscape by Bierstadt