Art Appreciation Topic VII: Romanticism
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Transcript of 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
Niagara
Falls from
the
American
Side
by
Church
The Oregon Trail by Bierstadt
Rocky Mountain Landscape by Bierstadt
