Romantic Period: Art

1. Romanticism was a cultural movement that started in Europe. It was somewhat of a reaction to the Industrial Revolution which occurred during the same time period. The movement affected philosophical thinking, literature, music, and art. 

2. When was the Romantic style of art popular? The Romantic Movement started at the end of the 1700's and reached its peak in the early 1800s. It marked the end of the Baroque movement and was followed by Realism. 

3. Characteristics of Romantic Art Romantic art focused on emotions , feelings , and moods of all kinds including spirituality , imagination , mystery , and fervour . The subject matter varied widely including landscapes, religion, revolution, and peaceful beauty. The brushwork for romantic art became looser and less precise.

4. Artists and their Paintings During the Romantic Period

5. Caspar David Friedrich He was a landscape painter of the nineteenth-century German Romantic movement, of which he is now considered the most important painter . As Romanticism called for, Friedrich demonstrated devotion to God through nature, the diminished strength of man in the larger scale of life, and great emotion .

6. The Wanderer Above the Sea and Fog   by Caspar David Friedrich, 1818 In this picture, a man stands at the peak of a rocky precipice, his back to the viewer as he looks out over the clouds and the world. The viewer experiences the awe of nature and at the same time feels the insignificance of man. The painting does an excellent job of conveying the emotion of a moment and the drama of nature.  

7. Francisco de Goya He is considered the “Father of Modern Art .” Goya moved from jolly and light-hearted to deeply pessimistic and searching in his paintings, drawings, etchings, and frescoes.  In 1770s, Goya began to work for Spanish royal court. In addition to his commissioned portraits of the nobility, he created works that criticized the social and political problems of his era.

8. The Third of May 1808  b y Francisco Goya The Third of May 1808  shows a different side of the Romantic artist, the side of revolution. In this painting Francisco Goya is commemorating the Spanish resistance to France and the armies of Napoleon. This painting has movement, drama, and emotion typical of the Romantic Era. It is also one of the first paintings used to protest the horrors of war.

9. Joseph  Mallord William  Turner (JMW Turner) One of the finest landscape artists whose works were exhibited when he was still a teenager.  His work was exhibited when he was still a teenager. His entire life was devoted to his art. Unlike many artists of his era, he was successful throughout his career. In 1850 he exhibited for the last time.

10. Fishermen at Sea by JMW Turner, 1794 Turner was fascinated by the mood of nature, her ever changing effects.  He was always sketching the clouds, the sky, and his natural surroundings. Turner was particularly fascinated with the power of the ocean and said that he had once asked to be lashed to the mast of a ship in order to  “experience the drama”  of a mighty storm at sea.

11. Frederic Edwin Church He was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut .   He was known for painting large panoramic landscapes, often depicting dramatic natural phenomena, with emphasis on light and a romantic respect for natural detail.

12. Aurora Borealis by Frederic Edwin Church, 1865  In a time before advanced photography, Romantic paintings provided ordinary people a chance to see natural phenomena they would never have an opportunity to witness themselves.

13. Thomas Cole He is regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School. Coles ' only student was Frederic Edwin Church, one of the leaders of the second generation of the Hudson River School . He s pecializes in  landscapes .

14. The Voyage of Life series depicts four stages of a man’s life and serves as a Christian allegory set in a Romantic backdrop. The Voyage of Life by Thomas Cole,1840

15. Childhood .  The baby exits the dark canal and begins his new life. The water is calm and smooth, the surroundings innocent and Edenic . The boy’s guardian angel grasps the tiller and controls the boat.

16. Youth .  The water is still smooth, the surroudings still peaceful and lush. But now the angel leaves the boy, who eagerly takes the tiller himself and sets off on his own towards his lofty dreams and ambitions. It is hard to tell from this image of the painting, but around the bend of the river the water begins to get choppy and rough; journeying to the castle of his dreams will not be as easy as it now seems.

17. Manhood .   The boy is now a man. The vegetation is gone; the waters are choppy; the skies have darkened. The tiller of the boat is gone; the man is no longer entirely in control, and he prays for help. The angel still watches over him, but now from afar. The man cannot see the angel and must have faith that she is there. Cole wanted to convey the way the dreams and idealism of youth crash into the “realities of the world.” The ocean symbolizes the end of the man’s life; he can begin to see it, and the warmth of the sunset hints of hope in the midst of his trials.

18. Old Age.  The man is now old and the angel returns to his side. His boat has made it to the ocean. The waters are once more calm. The light is breaking through the dark clouds. The man’s faith has sustained him throughout the trials of life and now the beauty of eternity stretches out before him.

19. Hudson River School The   Hudson River School  was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism. The paintings for which the movement is named depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, including the Catskill, Adirondack, and the White Mountains; eventually works by the second generation of artists associated with the school expanded to include other locales in New England, the Maritimes, the American West, and South America.