Romanticism

Romanticism

(Beginning in the late 18th century and lasting until the middle of the 19th ).

The Background

The industrial period started developing  around the 18th century. It started and flourished in England, later developing in France and America. Villagers moved from farms and the country side to the city to find jobs in factories. Rapid growth developed cities that were very dirty and crowded with the poor living in inhumane places and the sky blackened with soot.

At the same time there was an opposite reaction against the Industrial age. The Philosophy of the Enlightenment which emphasized science, empirical evidence and rational thought above all was beginning to be frowned upon. Romantics  challenged the idea that reason was the one path to truth and that judging it was not enough in understanding the mysteries of life.

The Clove Catskills, by Thomas Cole, 1827

Nature was one of the main subjects in this period as it provided a sense of self discovery and spiritual learning an place in which mysteries could be reviled to the mind of man. The Artists produced work containing deep feeling, spirituality and free expression . They used this as a form of rebellion against the effects of industrialization and prioritized the human beings which they believed to have infinite, godlike potential.

Artists in this period tried to capture their ideas in their work. They differed from the path of the Neo-classicists which was characterized by their rationalism and rules-driven orderliness. Somewhat like Baroque  artists, Romantic artists tried to achieve an emotional response in those who viewed art. Though instead of inspiring faith as the Baroque, most looked to evoke nostalgia, pastoral life, the stirring of life's mystery, and the sense of power and grandeur of nature.

In this period art also depicts the romantic ideal of nationalism.

Sources:

Art of Manliness. 2010. The Basics of Art: The Romantic Period. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/03/03/the-basics-of-art-the-romantic-period/. [Accessed 04 April 13]
       
Paul Brians. 1998. Romanticism. [ONLINE] Available at:http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/romanticism.html. [Accessed 04 April 13].          http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/03.30