Romanticism

The old folk saying telling us that ‘there is nothing stranger that plain people.’ I found that is the best way to describe European art in the late 18th early 19th centuries. I would even drew the conclusion that whole Romanticism movement is the attempt to investigate the mind and Sigmund Freud just put these visual imagery in words later on. I failed to find anything romantic however but rather depiction of deep physiological and emotional experiences of individuals. Kleiner and Mammya describe it as “a shift in emphasis from reason to feeling, from calculation to intuition, and from objective nature to subjective emotion.” (Gardner’s art through the ages, 659)


We all know that pretty much anything new arises from something old. In case of Romanticism, it would be rebirth of spirituality in art from medieval era that combined with high technical skills of the latest periods. During Romanticism we have an ability to get to know artists on the very personal level. Like never before, artists used their artworks like manifestations of their personal fears, fascinations by exotic subject matters, attitudes towards politic and sociology, explorations of sexuality and so on. More than ever before viewer can see and feel the cultural and social differences of painters from different countries through representation of symbolic landscapes. “Rather than simply describe nature poets and artists often used nature as allegory.” (Gardner’s art through the ages, 670). Romanticism landscape can be seen as an allegoric barometer showing the mood of certain social group.

Self Portrait
Artist: Richard Parkes Bonington (1802-1828)
Period: Nineteenth century
Museum: Private Collection
Vendor: Bridgeman Art Library

In my opinion, Romanticism brought up important change in artist social status. If during the Renaissance artists achieved an “art-star” or “God-like” status instead of medieval artisans, during Romanticism artists become human again. At the same time they obtained more freedom and independence. They achieved very important personal ability to think, feel, and judge through their artworks. The very beginning of ego-centrism could be seen in works of Romanticism artists.