Romanticism and Realism: Contrast and Comparison
Following and mirroring social transitions through their crafts, artists reflect in their work their current reality. By comparing artwork from distinct time periods, differences in movements and styles become increasingly apparent, consequently demonstrating the close parallel between art and society. In this respect, the quick passage from Romanticism’s idealized vision of the world to Realism’s more true-to-life and relatable style could be due to nothing other than the 19th century Industrial Revolution and the major social and economic shifts it entailed.
Although visual representations of such drastic changes can be found in numerous art forms, I believe the high contrast between Henry
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The painting is composed of two African American men – an older man with graying hair, accompanied by a younger boy – giving thanks before a (very plain) meal. The painting’s theme, as mentioned in its title, is about being grateful for small victories, such as having a hot meal at the end of the day, even though extravagance is out of the picture, contrarily to the Romantic style. This display is simply Tanner’s way of “dignifying the people with whom he was raised (Susan Benford),” hence transforming familiar and relatable content with respect to the working class, into works of …show more content…
In Romantic art, theatricality and dramatization is crucial, while Realism opts for more matter-of-fact and common scenes, without any form of embellishment. This can easily be seen simply by comparing the woman’s pose in Fuseli’s painting to the men’s positions in Tanner’s artwork.
An additional difference between the two movements would be the lighting styles. Romanticism favors a high intensity lighting contrast, using bright colors on the foreground and dark colors for the background which immediately catches the viewer’s eye. On the other hand, Realism offers a very strict and neutral color palette, making both the objects and subjects blend together.
Lastly, the Romantic style conveys emotion, while Realist art usually exhibits simple tasks or common people, thus not exuding any particular emotion. This can be observed in the comparison between The Nightmare and The Thankful Poor; Fuseli’s painting evokes unpleasantness, irritation and fearfulness, while Tanner’s painting can arguably not be pinned down as a specific
Realism was an offshoot of Romanticism, too, but was a much larger movement. It occurred around the 1840s to the 1890s. This mov...
...elationship between the people in the composition and their feelings in each other’s company. The viewer is forced to think critically about the people in the painting and their feelings and body language.
During the 20th Century artists began to challenge art and question the foundations and boundaries of artistic techniques and approaches. The main challenge artist faced during this time was breaking the barrier of realism and moving to representative art. Although, the creation of the camera made this change even more difficult. With this technological advance, anyone could buy a camera and snap a shot of a specific moment in time, without having to recreate it by hand. This was a very attracting concept to most, but also another impulse for those artists who were trying to break the artistic boundaries. Likewise, artists who decided to continue, or begin, painting were also looking to create something different that also evoked a specific
Many have condemned realist art for “sacrificing beauty for exactitude and obviating conceptual integrity if favour of in-your-face reality”. They argue that the glorification of ordinary, banal subjects may in fact be a pathetic attempt to ignore the drab realities of contemporary life by attempting to ‘spice up’ commonplace objects. Perhaps they think that modern technology and flashy photographical equipment defeats the purpose of original realist art, and provides a far more accurate reproduction of contemporary life. I however, beg to differ. For the realist artist, the vast world is their subject and their aim is to present this world through their art in what they see as their honest representation of it. To label realism as obsolete is to call these artists’ sincere opinions obsolete. People often fail to remember that the world is constantly changing and the ‘ordinary’ doesn’t always remain so. The writer J.P. Stern remarked once that realism is “the creative acknowledgment of the data of social life at a recognisable moment in history”. True, photography and digital technology may produce a more accurate reproduction of real life but representation-wise, a genuine hand-made artwork may in fact offer a far more meaningful result- not merely due to the allowance for modification and
For example, the pastel painting of “The Kiss,” depicts a man embracing a woman tightly. The woman drops the bouquet of flowers and bends slightly backwards as she receives the man’s kisses and adoration. The pastel color and blurry texture reveals the figure’s intense emotional expressions. His other famous painting “Il Convegno” or “the conference,” illustrates the emotional reunion of lovers. In the portrait, the woman places her arms on the gate in an expression of relief, while the man pull himself against the gate to kiss the woman. “Il Convegno” reveals the longing and yearning between the two figures. One of his late pieces was a painting of his daughter Amelia and his mother, which shows the mother feeding his
A formal analysis of these works of art reveals style that is consistent throughout his pieces of arts. For instance, his arts use figures that have real life. For instance, these figures had natural faces and experienced real emotions. Besides, he has given the characters real space to move about and given them real life poses. H...
The historical painting I chose for my final, is an illustration of Bret Harte’s novel, Her Letter, His Response, and Her Last Letter, creatively illustrated by Arthur Ignatius Keller in 1905. The historical painting I chose for the comparison of Arthur Keller’s painting is another painting done by Arthur I Keller; illustrated for 54-40 or Fight by Emerson Hough, in 1909. Arthur I Keller is a very natural, elegant style painter, with an eye for natural beauty. Keller’s many paintings express intricate detail, and genuine quality. Although I picked two water color paintings out of Arthur Keller’s many collections of paintings, he also uses charcoal, acrylics, oils, and pastels to create other works of art. In both paintings I chose, Arthur Keller uses water color and gouache to paint people. Arthur’s first painting I mentioned, illustrating “Her Letter” is a more detailed painting. Keller uses water color to create a graceful look to his painting; his delicate balance of color, keeps the viewer’s eyes wandering around the painting. The focal point in the painting does not catch the viewer’s eyes because of heavy, dark colors, but because of the proportion differences of the people he implies. The painting gives off a very old fashioned feel, in a tasteful way. Arthur Keller’s second painting, illustrating “54-40 or Fight” has a completely different color theme, and gives off more of a mysterious, dark feel to it. The painting is detailed, but in a more simple way, and there is less negative space. As to where Keller’s “Her Letter” painting had a lot of open areas on the canvas, this painting, displays two people in a small enclosed dark room. The focal point is more dramatic, and a lot more obvious because instead of using sizing,...
The fiscal boom of technology and merchandise of the Industrial age drove breakthroughs in science and industrial technology. During this time, realism; the truthful and objective representation of the social world, without illusion or imaginative alteration, was in full affect (pg 351). The Avant Garde art movement
...f Realism came about. Realism wanted to truthfully represent the circumstances and hardships of the deprived with hopes and dreams of altering the social order. In dissimilarity through Romanticism, which was fundamentally hopeful about humans and how they function, Realism presented a harsh idea of deficiency and misery. Likewise, while Romanticism overvalued life, Realism displayed life in the lowest position of an inner-city harsh environment. The Realism era opened the eyes of many people worldwide. Realism in fine art and writing correlates to the effort to be a symbol of recognizable and daily people and dilemmas in a precise, unpleasant approach. It is vital for readers to be familiar with and recognize the people and the humanity they dwell in. The realists wanted to admire what they thought was the honest self-respect of modest citizens leading plain lives.
For example, Perseverance, is a painting created by Gerald Brommer that although it shares similarities with Makenzie’s work like the color palette used, its rigid lines, and poor use of emotionalism, it was able to create its own mood by using a very distinct medium. One of the resemblances between these two pieces of art is the artists’ choice in colors. Perseverance, is also largely composed of neutral colors with a few darker objects that stand out. Both of the painters used the same technique with their color palettes to successfully draw attention to a certain piece in the painting. Another connection both pieces have is their poor use of the aesthetic theory, emotionalism. They both successfully create a meaning and connect with the viewers, but they do not appeal to the viewers in an emotional level. Not all works of art work towards appealing to its viewers in an emotional level, so it is not a lousy characteristic to miss. Perseverance also possesses the same kind of ridged lines throughout the painting. It contains geometric shapes that create a mood, similar technique used in Reverence. However, Brommers ridged lines helped create the mood of the whole painting, while Reverences ridged lines helped express the woman’s emotions. The moods of the paintings are very distinct. Reverence carries more of a sympathetic feel, while Perseverance carries a stronger more brutal mood. The mood created by Brommer was also acquired in a very contrasting manner. He used watercolor painting on paper in contrary of McKenzie’s oil on canvas. Although both artists prosperously created pieces of art by using similar techniques, they were able to have very unique moods by using distinct
Realism was a huge movement in the late 1800s to early 1900s. All art forms were influenced by it. Writers, artists, actors and more started taking a more simple direction and tried to depict life as it actually was. In visual art it was common for artists to illustrate ordinary people doing every day tasks, as opposed to elaborate paintings of holy and royal figures from the previous eras (Campell). In literature, the plots were simple and focused on common citizens of the lower and middle classes (Campbell).
In 1789, the French Revolution began. The Enlightenment ways of thinking, combined with a financial crisis and poor harvests left many ordinary French people both angry and hungry. The revolutions asked for a constitution that would limit the power of the king. Although the idea failed, the revolution entered a more radical stage (A beginner's guide to the Age of Enlightenment, n.d.). With the revolution, art took a turn from Rococo to Neoclassicism, which latterly competed with Romanticism. This essay will discuss the effect of the French Revolution on painting and sculpture during two artistic styles including Neoclassicism and Romanticism.
Realism was a popular theme among the 20th century Europe. Realism was an attempt to make theatre more useful for the society at the time (Trumbull). Realism was employed in order to add significance and meaning to the plays people wer...
In conclusion, the art of the 19th century was composed of a sequence of competing artistic movements that sought to establish its superiority, ideologies and style within the artistic community of Europe. These movements, being Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, ultimately spread far beyond the confines of Europe and made modern art an international entity which can still be felt in today’s artistic world.
Many believed that Modernist works were not “art” because they did not always look like real life. But what is “real life”? A new outlook on reality was taken by Modernists. What is true for one person at one time is not true for another person at a different time. Experimentation with perspective and truth was not confined to the canvas; it influenced literary circles as well.