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Romantic World
The Romantic world is a place of heroes and intense emotions. Nature itself reflects the dramas and hearts of men. The Romantic Era is typically defined as an intellectual, aesthetic, and cultural movement that began in the late 1700s (18th Century) and lasted into the 1850s (mid-19th Century).
Romanticism is typically identified as a reaction to both the rationalism of Enlightenment era art and politics as well as a resistance to the burgeoning Industrial Revolution.
Romanticism validates emotions as the source of aesthetic experience and seeks alternatives to Classical (and ultra-rational) standards and traditions. Both the French Revolution and the German Sturm und Drang movement (which celebrated intuition and emotion over rationality) have been identified as cultural sources for Romanticism.
However, for the purposes of this course, Romanticism offered a new perspective on cultural collisions, which were increasing at an exponential rate as imperial European appetites were fueled by the demands (and production) of the Industrial Revolution. Consider the ways the artists and artworks below model the idea of cultural collision.
List of Romantic Tropes:
- High value on heroes or heroic deeds
- Intuition and Emotions over rationalism
- Complex Compositions
- Intense Colors
- Symbolic meaning in landscape
- Natural Features and Forces
“The Sea of Ice”
Artist: Caspar David Friedrich
1823-1824
Germany
- In a research lecture at UCLA, architect Thom Mayne identified this painting as his inspiration for conceptualizing nature, architecture, and the world at large. Mayne's creative process also resembles Friedrich, who embraced a spontaneity and questioning in his art.
- See "Heritage Transformed" by Thom Mayne.
-
“Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog”
Artist: Caspar David Friedrich
1818
Germany
Group Work:
Answer the following questions in the comment box at the bottom of this page.
- What similarities do you see between Germanic Romanticism modeled by Friedrich and Shelley's Frankenstein?
- Do you think it's significant that Shelley began her manuscript while visiting in Central Europe?
The Romantic Psyche
“The Nightmare”
Artist: Henry Fuseli
1781
Switzerland/Great Britian
- Fuseli was a Swiss artist who spent a great deal of time in Britain. He influenced artists like William Blake (who was a major part of the Romantic movement in Great Britain).
- Fuseli favored the supernatural, often using it to express psychological or metaphysical ideas and experiences. Although inspired by Renaissance art in Italy, he searched for alternatives to Classical subject matter, including:
- John Milton's Paradise Lost
- William Shakespeare
- Norse Mythology
Romantic Nationalism
“The Second of May 1808”
(Charge of the Mamelukes)
Artist: Francisco Goya -1818
Spain
- Goya is often considered the last of the Old Masters (i.e. Classical Renaissance style painting) and the first of the moderns, bridging the gap between these eras of art.
- In "The Second of May 1808," Goya is processing Spain's war with France (Napoleon) as well as the recent death of his wife.
- Goya's paintings are very different from those of Freidrich. Why are they both categorized as romantics?
“Liberty Leading the People”
Artist: Eugene Delacroix
1830 (French Revolution)
France
- Like Goya and Fuseli, Delacroix sought inspiration from non-Classical sources. He was inspired by the poetry of Lord Byron and he shared Byron's belief in the power of the sublime.
“The Raft of the Medusa”
Artist: Theodore Géricault
1818-1819
France
- This painting depicts a contemporary scandal when the captain of the Meduse left his crew and passengers to die after the ship wrecked. The painting is both an indictment of corruption and a representation of man's eternal struggle with the elements.
- How is drama created in this painting (beyond the subject matter)?
- How does this image reflect Romanticism?
"Napoleon Crossing the Alps"
Jacques-Louis David
1801-1805
France
Romanticism in Music
Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven are the "Big Three" of Romantic Music in Europe. Consider Beethoven's epic Fifth Symphony here:
This symphony was composed while Napoleon was bombing Vienna in 1805 (although not completed until 1807-08). It begins by stating a distinctive four-note "short-short-short-long" motif twice: (
listen (help·info))
![{\clef treble \key c \minor \time 2/4 {r8 g'8[ g'8 g'8] | ees'2\fermata | r8 f'8[ f'8 f'8] | d'2~ | d'2\fermata | } }](http://upload.wikimedia.org/score/g/i/giz6k40oiwxynv3oc2172trek9m53bv/giz6k40o.png)
Can you hear the canon-fire rocking the town? The symphony, and the four-note opening motif in particular, are known worldwide, with the motif appearing frequently in popular culture, from disco to rock and roll, to appearances in film and television.
Since the Second World War it has sometimes been referred to as the "Victory Symphony".[2] "V" is the Roman character for the number five; the phrase "V for Victory" became well known as a campaign of the Allies of World War II. That Beethoven's Victory Symphony happened to be his Fifth (or vice versa) is co-incidence. Some thirty years after this piece was written, the rhythm of the opening phrase – "dit-dit-dit-dah" – was used for the letter "V" in Morse Code, though this is probably also coincidental.[3]
(Material here borrowed from Wikipedia).
Romantic Landscape and the Art of Protest
"Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps"
Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner
1812
Great Britian
- Turner transformed the traditional British landscape painting into high art that rivaled all other painting genres (including the celebrated "history" paintings).
- Turner's landscapes capture an ideal and often make a protest as well.
"Rain Steam and Speed the Great Western Railway" (1844) by J. M. W. Turner. Great Britain.
Consider "Rain, Steam and Speed" (1844):
- How does this image make a commentary about modernity and the changing modern landscape?
"Slave-ship" (1840) by J. M. W. Turner. British.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slave-ship.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Slave-ship.jpg
Discussion questions:
- What is the subject of "Slave-ship"?
- This painting was originally titled: "Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhon coming on" (1840). How does that title change your perception of the scene?
- What is going on here?
- How is Turner using landscape and romantic techniques here?
- How does Turner's painting reflect upon cultural collisions and Europe's global interactions?
Romanticism Outside of Europe
Outside of Europe, the Romantic Era became an era of global dialogue through the arts. For the purposes of this course, Romantic art became a space where artists could express the universality of human emotions as well as respond to colonial pressures (colonialism/imperialism were hot-button topics for Romantics).
"The Course of Empire - The Savage State" (1836). Thomas Cole. United States
"The Course of Empire The Savage State Thomas Cole 1836" by Thomas Cole - http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=8533. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Course_of_Empire_The_Savage_State_Thomas_Cole_1836.jpeg#mediaviewer/File:The_Course_of_Empire_The_Savage_State_Thomas_Cole_1836.jpeg
Although Romantic visual art was clearly produced outside Europe, the U.S. and Latin America are more famous for the poetry and philosophy produced during this era. One of the reasons for this was money. During the Romantic era, high art is shifting from patronage to popular culture. Painters and composers primarily depended upon patrons to support their work, and those patrons typically lived in Europe. However, by the end of the Romantic Era artists (including Beethoven) are being supported by public patronage (i.e. popularity). As the public - the growing middle class - begins buying high art (supporting painters and musicians), American artists gain a greater sphere of practice and influence.
Aesthetic Movements
- The elements of formal analysis (that we focused upon in this course) are only a part of visual thinking.
- Art can also be characterized by aesthetic qualities and movements
- Aesthetic qualities can basically be reduced to two categories:
- IMAGINATIVE
- Imaginative art often emphasizes the emotional (or psychological or non-rational).
- Imaginative art is often highly symbolic.
- REALISTIC
- Realistic art often emphasizes the rational.
- Realistic art imitates perceived (visual) reality.
- Where does ROMANTICISM fit on this spectrum?
- Aesthetic movements describe specific artistic practices shared by a group of artists (during a specific time, in a specific place). These aesthetic movements typical emphasize either the imaginative or realistic aesthetic.
- Some aesthetic movements we are going to explore include:
- We're also going to look at aesthetic movements that are not bounded by a single time or place.
- Although these aesthetic movements are typically associated with mainstream Western art, we are going to look at them from a global perspective and examine the ways in which similarly-identified movements developed across cultures. We're also going to look at the ways in which cultural collisions shaped these movements (rather than emphasizing orthodox Western definitions).
Note: The resources available here are limited by what is available online and in the English language. Although (I believe) online resources are giving us access to an increasingly diverse range of resources, the resources available here may still privilege a Western perspective on global art.
Romantic Era Resources
Comments (8)
Danielle said
at 4:54 pm on Sep 23, 2014
Danielle Rosni / Anthony Sisson
Similarities:
Isolation and miscommunication are common themes between Germanic Romanticism and Frankenstein. The monster is isolated in his form, as no one shares his physicality. The wanderer is isolated in nature, alone on the mountain.
"The Sea of Ice" bears similarirites to the beginning of Frankenstien, where Walton's narrative is set in the Arctic. The cold setting in a way also reflects the coldness shown to the creature, who simply desires a "warm welcome."
Tanner Tulgetske said
at 4:54 pm on Sep 23, 2014
Tanner and Joe
- The chaos of nature
- Stresses death and tragedy
- Tranquility of the landscape
- Wanderer/Frankenstein have the feeling of being ignored
George Kasmikha said
at 4:55 pm on Sep 23, 2014
George Kasmikha & Gerrit Stollenwerk
*Mysterious Landscape
*Seems like your shrouded by your own sense of entitlement
*In a fog so you don't understand people's points of view
*Limited Perspective
*Defeated/directionless almost open-ended
*Loneliness
Celeste K. Scott said
at 4:55 pm on Sep 23, 2014
Similarities:
The mysterious vibe from the artwork and the book.
We think it is significant and makes sense. This is because the society/daily living in Europe reflected the guidelines in the book (ex. women rights, experiments)
Brad Finegan said
at 4:55 pm on Sep 23, 2014
Brad and Nick
The theme of isolation is present in both Frankenstein and these pieces. Comparing the isolation of the subjects of the paintings to the isolation of the monster, both seem rich in the theme.
Tranquility: There's a theme in the paintings of tranquility, similar to Victors tranquility when connected with nature how these pieces are.
There's a difference between positive and negative isolation. Positive isolation is more tranquil, as represented in these paintings. Negative isolation is the feeling the Monster (and probably Shelley) felt; mental isolation.
John McCarthy said
at 4:55 pm on Sep 23, 2014
Blank empty landscape similar to the Arctic
Godlike figure depicted by both
Priority on nature of the situation
Clash between emotional and logical through characters in Frankenstein and in the painting
Civilized masculine figures are described by both
Gabriel Stroe said
at 4:55 pm on Sep 23, 2014
Sense of mystery. With Frankenstein there was a sense of not knowing what came next. They did not know how the monster would act, nor did the reader see everything from another characters point of view. The letters left the read with a partial view of the story, with some smaller details that are left unknown. The pictures also display this sense of mystery, as they hid a bit of the scenery. Nature vs man is important and symbolized in the colors and the placements of the paintings.
John McCarthy said
at 4:57 pm on Sep 23, 2014
Group: John, Mitch, London
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