LANDSCAPE III – Romantic visions

Caspar David Friedrich (German 1774-1840) The Wanderer looking over the sea of fog, 1818, oil on canvas, 95x 75 cm

The Romantic movement in art ran fromabout 1800 to the mid 19th century. It was the start of an emphasis on subjectivity in art – that is, the significance of the artist as an individual with person feelings and emotions, relating to the world.

What is this painting about?

Romanticism (which included the work of JMW Turner) looked at Landscape through the Subjective Frame, we could say. The interest was on the imagination and emotion of the artist. The power and terror of the natural world, and the relative powerlessness of humanity was a common theme. (To some, this could speak of the power of God.) This awe-inspiring aspect of Nature was called the Sublime.

Theodore Gericault (French, 1791-1824) The raft of the Medusa, 1819, oil on canvas, 491 x 716cm

This is an incredibly dramaticscene the artist has chosento create. What makes it sodramatic?

Dreams, nightmares and fantasies were also a part of Romantic art. Sunsets werepopular, as a special time of day when the ‘rational’ light of day fades and the monsters of the night might come out. Descriptions of ruins, as a symbol of mortality (death) were used a lot also.

Eugene Delacroix (French, 1798 – 1863) Mephistopheles in flight, 1828, lithograph, 27 x 23cm

There is a lot of drama in this image, which is a common feature of Romantic art. Whatkind of compositional ideas has Delacroixused to add to this?

What kind of world is he representing with this image?

Caspar David Friedrich (German 1774-1840) The Sea of Ice, 1823-4, oil on canvas, 97 cm × 127 cm

This image describes a shipwreckand sheets of ice crashing intoeach other. There is somethingspooky about this Arctic wastelandwith someone (the artist) beingthere to record this event…and the ship almost totally buried in the ice.

Romantic art could also describe a world of tranquillity and peace. Sometimes this wasreferred to as an idyll – a peaceful, idealised scene, often describing a rural scene with herds of cows.

JMW Turner (British, 1775–1851) The Lake of Zug,1843,watercolour over graphite, 30 x 47 cm.

Notice how kind of fuzzy Turner’s work is, compared to the clear lines of Claude Lorrain’s work of 200 years earlier….this was a very radical approach and the critics did not care for it (but the public did.)

JMW Turner (1775- 1851) is one of the best known and regarded British artists, and is an icon of Britain.

Background to Turner’s time:

The Industrial Revolution in England: (starting approx 1760 – 1850.)

• Almost every aspect of daily life changed, and changed quickly.• The development of steam power and machines. • This effected the way people did their daily work (in factories rather than in workshops

and on the land) the places they lived ( in high density urban areas) the population exploded, transport changed.

England at war with France (Napoleon) at end of 18th / early 19th century. The Industrial Revolution + the Napoleonic wars were very expensive and created a lot of hardship for people. Hunger, poverty, unemployment were common.

Slavery was a topic of great debate. Slaves had been brought over from Africa to English Colonies by their thousands and were treated as animals.

This video is about: • Turner’s personal life • His relationship with the Royal Academy; critics; the public.• His artmaking practice;• The themes he was interested in portraying;• Relationship with Walter Fawkes who taught him about Slavery;• The kind of worlds he represented in his work at various times. Bear in mind our Conceptual Framework as we look at this video – artist / his world / audience / artwork. Also note comments made about his compositions; his artmaking techniques. The video starts with an exhibition at the Royal Academy where the artwork judged the best is a scene of dogs, and a very powerful painting by Turner is regarded as rubbish. Eventually we come back to that painting and it is explained more. The Royal Academy was a powerful institution that decided what was ‘good’ and acceptable art, and what was rubbish. It was an organisation of artists who were very highly regarded and powerful. Turner was invited to become a member as a very young man (he would have ‘R.A.’ after his name as a result. Very trendy and desirable at the time.)