Romanticism
VISUAL POETRY
Breathtaking landscapes and gruesome human atrocities; Romanticism was a complex, emotional movement that prized the intuitive and poetic side of the individual life. As an oppositional reaction to the moral authority and staunch rationalism of Neoclassicism, Romanticists embraced the expressive power of art and nature, the sublime. Both movements were incited by the Enlightenment, but had very different responses indeed.
WHEN & WHERE
c. 1840s–1890s
France, England, USA
Romanticist artists were inspired by the stories of the Middle Ages and Classical myth. Tales of bravery, love, freedom, and truth lit the way. The lure of exotic cultures was represented in richly painted Islamic scenes. The grandeur of dramatic, raw landscapes were painted to envelope the viewer in awe. They wanted to represent life and the soul as untethered by reason and science. Political issues like the fight for liberty and the tragic woes of the proletariat from the ravages of war were fodder for often monumentally sized paintings. From images of contorted corpses to beautiful trees at sunset, they covered it all!
Though styles and content varied among artists, they had a similar rebellion against the norm in the way they executed their work. The polished look of Neoclassical paintings was not for them. Romanticists breathed life into their brushes and let the paint itself be expressive. Strokes could be seen and edges were blurred.
Romanticism opened the door for the potential of art to be an individual’s personal expression, representations of our inner selves and imaginations. —ARR
Selected artists: Eugène Delacroix, Caspar David Friedrich, Théodore Géricault, Francisco Goya, William Turner