ROMANTICISM Art isn’t just for decoration
The Spirit of the Age (1790-1850) • A sense of a shared vision among the Romantics. • Early support of the French Revolution. • Reflected liberal ideas – rights of man, abolition of slavery, dignity of the working class • Rise of the individual alienation. • Dehumanization of industrialization. • Radical poetics / politics an obsessionwith violent change.
A Growing Distrust of Reason Early19c Enlightenment Romanticism Society is good, curbing violent impulses, keep order Civilization corrupts! • The essence of human experience is subjective and emotional. • Human knowledge is a puny thing compared to other great historical forces. • “Individual rights” are dangerous efforts at selfishness the community is more important – the individual with rights needs to help support the collective good.
“Romantic” does not mean love • First, there were those who looked back on the past as a romantic period before people were commoditized and nature destroyed. • Second, there was a growing reaction against the Enlightenment, which emphasized science, empirical evidence, and rational thought above all. • Romantics challenged the idea that reason was the one path to truth. The mysteries of life could be uncovered with emotion, imagination, and intuition. • Nature was especially celebrated • Emphasized a life filled with deep feeling & spirituality the virtues to fight the dehumanizing effects of industrialization • Extolled the value of human beings, believed to have infinite, godlike potential.
The Romantic Movement • Began in the 1790s and peaked in the 1820s. • Mostly in Northern Europe, especially in Britain and Germany. • A reaction against classicism. • The “Romantic Hero:” • Greatest example was Lord Byron • Tremendously popular among the European reading public. • Youth imitated his haughtiness and rebelliousness.
Romanticism… The Engaged & Enraged Artist: • The artist apart from society. • The artist as social critic/revolutionary. The Individual/ The Dreamer: • Individuals have unique, endless potential.
The Supernatural: The romantics rejected materialism in pursuit of spiritual self-awareness. They yearned for the unknown and the unknowable - Ghosts, fairies, witches, demons. Revival of Past Styles: Gothic and Roman revival Medieval ruins were a favourite theme for art and poetry
Glorification of Nature: • Peaceful, restorative qualities [an escape from industrialization and the dehumanization it creates]. • Awesome, powerful, horrifying aspects of nature. • Indifferent to the fate of humans. • Overwhelming power of nature. Next … The themes with examples
1. Emotion! Passion! The rugged individual! Lady Macbeth - Henry Fuseli, 1794
Wandering Above the Sea of FogCaspar David Friedrich,1818
The Dreamer Gaspar David Friedrich, 1835
Solitary Tree Caspar David Friedrich, 1823
2. Return to Christian Mysteries… God as the Architect - William Blake, 1794
The Seventh Plague of EgyptJohn Martin, 1823
3. The Power and Fury of Nature … An Avalanche in the AlpsPhilip James de Loutherbourg1803
Shipwreck – Joseph Turner, 1805
The Eruption of Vesuvius - John Martin
4. Science can be dangerous and dehumanizing … Rain, Steam, and SpeedJoseph Mallord William Turner, 1844
The Slave ShipJoseph Mallord William Turner, 1842
The Slave Ship(details)
5. Romanticizing Country Life… Flatford Mill – John Constable, 1817
The Hay Wain - John Constable, 1821
6. The Gothic: Romanticizing the Middle Ages… Eldena RuinGaspar David Friedrich, 1825
Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s GroundJohn Constable, 1825
British Houses of Parliament1840-1865
7. The Exotic, the occult and the macabre! Stonehenge - John Constable, 1836
Mad Woman With a Mania of Envy TheodoreGericault, 1822-1823
Nightmare (The Incubus)Henry Fuseli, 1781
Saturn DevoursHis SonFrancisco Goya,1819-1823
8. Nationalism… Liberty Leading the People EugèneDelacroix, 1830
Napoleonat theSt. BernardPass David,1803
The Shooting of May 3, 1808Francisco Goya, 1815
9. Interest in Exotic Foreign Lands … The Sultan of Morocco and His EntourageEugène Delacroix, 1845
Women of Algiers in Their ApartmentEugène Delacroix, 1834
The Turkish BathJean Auguste Ingres, 1852-1863
The Great Age of the Novel • Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (1847)Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (1847)Ivanhoe - Sir Walter Scott (1819)Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (1862)The Three Musketeers – Alexander Dumas (1844) Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (1817)Dracula – Bram Stoker (1897)Hugh Trevar- Thomas Holcroft (1794)
Other Romantic Writers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm - Grimm’s Fairy Tales(1814-1816) The brothers Grimm gathered folk tales that forged German identity. JohannWolfgang von Goethe- Faust (1806-1832)
The Romantic Poets • Percy Bysshe Shelley • Lord Byron (George Gordon) • Samuel Taylor Coleridge • William Wordsworth • John Keats • William Blake
The Political Implications • Romanticism could reinforce the greatest themes of political liberalism or political conservatism. • Contributed to growing nationalist movements. • The concepts of the Volk and the Volkgeist. • The uniqueness of cultures was emphasized.
So WHO CARES?? • Culture was no longer just aesthetic but also a means by which political views could be expressed and artists could take risks • Art was no longer just a reflection of society but also served as an agent for change in society.
The Romantic movement found a home in Germany…German nationalism, or Volkgeist, celebrated the accomplishments of early Germans. This helped to re-enforce a feeling of German Nationalism.
Over time, Romanticism merged with Nationalism…
And most of these “nationalists” were young men, students, searching for a better world and wanting to make a difference.
An example - Gericault’s painting, Raft of the Medusa, 1819 depicted a group of passengers who were left on a raft by the crew of a sinking ship. This Romantic painting was meant to depict the government deserting the needs of the people. But the people will prevail
Bibliographic Sources • CGFA: A Virtual Art Museum.http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/fineart.htm • “Romanticism” on Artchive.http://artchive.com/artchive/romanticism.html
