Throughout this assignment we will be taking a look at how artists during the Romantic period, that took place around the 18th and 19th centuries, choose to react against the approaches and philosophy established by artist during the age of Enlightenment. We will take a look at a few obviously Romantic artworks to help us better our understanding of this fascinating movement.
To understand how Romanticism has rejected, or reacted to, the Enlightenment, we first need to take a look at what artists believed during the Enlightenment era. According to Fred S. Kleiner, the Enlightenment, which took place during the first part of 18th century, brought with it a new way of thinking critically about “the world and the humankind, independently of religion, myth or tradition”(F.S Kleiner,Gardner’s Art through the Ages,2013,pg 727). The educated thinker of this age believed in things like Humanism, Rationalism, and was fascinated by the knowledge that came with the advancements in science. They rarely believed in things that they could not prove or have no evidence of. The Enlightenment artistic movement include the neoclassical artists, who were inspired by Greek and Roman antiquity.
In harsh contrast to these Enlightenment ideals and believes, Romanticism, according to Fred S. Kleiner, “emerged from a desire for freedom – not only political freedom but also freedom of thought, of feeling, of action, of worship, of speech and of taste.”(F.S. Kleiner, Gardner’s, Art through the Ages,2013,pg 762).Some believe that Romanticism had major influences on the world that came after it, and that we are all, every single one of us, still romantics at heart. Romantic ideas are still very much part of our lives today. Their believe that all should ha...
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... http://nineplanets.org/saturn.html. [Accessed 13 May 2014]
• Eeweens.com. 1997.Goya. [online]. Available at: http://eeweems.com/goya/saturn.html. [Accessed 13 May 2014]
• Artble.com. 2014. Wandered above the sea of fog. [online]. Available at: http://www.artble.com/artists/caspar_david_friedrich/paintings/wanderer_above_the_sea_of_fog. [Accessed 13 May 2014]
• Public.wsu.edu. 1998. Romanticism. [online]. Available at: http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/romanticism.html. [Accessed 13 May 2014]
• Gallery Intel.2014. JWM Turner. [online]. Available at:
• http://www.galleryintell.com/artex/rain-steam-and-speed-jmw-turner/.[Accessed 13 May 2014]
• Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 14th Edition. 2014. Wadsworth.
• Judith Clark. The Illustrated History of Art.1992. Quantum Publishing.
• Lucinde Hawksley. Essential History of Art. 2000. Parragon.
To start with, Romanticism was the first writing movement of the nineteenth century. It originated at the close of the eighteenth century in Europe, but was popular from the 1800s to 1850s. This movement was a revolt against the political and social standards of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction to the reasoning of nature through science. Romanticism’s characteristics came from philosophical sources and, because it is a reaction against reasoning, it focuses on intuition, nature, and human emotions. The philosophical background of this movement came from an author named Jean-Jacques Rousseau who emphasized the individual and the power of inspiration. Romanticism later then broke off into another two movements called Parnassian and Realism.
In short, it can be seen that while there are some basic similarities between Enlightenment and Romantic thinking -- because of the fact that they do explore nature-- their convergence, ideologically, ends there. In fact, it seems that nature’s ability to be so subjective has led to the two ideologies being exact opposites in almost every regard. The Enlightenment focuses on human’s achievement in regard to nature, while Romanticism focuses on the insignificance of humans in comparison to the immensity of nature. It seems that, in the end, the movements of Enlightenment and Romanticism were just what the description entailed – moving. It can then be wholly concluded that the two movements were far more different than alike based on their ideologies and creations.
Romanticism has been described as a “‘Protestantism in the arts and letters’, an ideological shift on the grand scale from conservative to liberal ideas”. (Keenan, 2005) It was a movement into the era of imagination and feelings instead of objective reasoning.
Kreis, Steven. "Lecture 16: The Romantic Era." The History Guide. Web. 18 Aug. 2010. .
The Romanticism period started in 1789 and lasted till 1830. This time period was a major international movement, shaping modern views of art, literature, music, and other aspects in life. Romanticism was the “reaction against artistic styles of classical antiquity, which was neoclassicism.” Neoclassicists focused on the power of reasoning to discover the truth while Romantics focused on the hope to transform the world through the power of imagination. They had a deep love for nature (Furst 302). The aspects of romanticism are important; they are the beliefs of this period. The first aspect includes nature, which allows them to be free from the artificial aspects of civilization; they were with man’s true setting. Nature was there to reveal and heal individuals. An example of the love for nature in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poetry ‘Frost at Midnight’ is he is describing how happy he is that his baby will be able to see nature instead of living in the city like he did, “But thou, my babe! shalt wander like ...
“Philosophers, writers, and artists expressed disillusionment with the rational-humanist tradition of the Enlightenment. They no longer shared the Enlightenment's confidence in either reason's capabilities or human goodness.” (Perry, pg. 457) It is interesting to follow art through history and see how the general mood of society changed with various aspects of history, and how events have a strong connection to the art of the corresponding time.
To understand how Romanticism changed the way society thought, you must first understand the meanings and reason behind the movement. The Romantic Movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries was described as a movement in the history of culture, an aesthetic style, and an attitude of mind. (Fiero) Romanticism provided expression of their thoughts and ideas toward their own societies, which was in effect predominantly in Europe and in the United States. The movement was a reaction to the Enlightenment which provided strict ideology and rationalism. The Church had much to do with the Enlightenment seeing as if religion and the importance of God were incorporated into most aspects of their culture. Thus, Romanticism was a response to the Enlightenment Movement and their religious ideology.
The Romantic period was an expressive and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century and peaked in the 1800s-1850s. This movement was defined and given depth by an expulsion of all ideals set by the society of the particular time, in the sense that the Romantics sought something deeper, something greater than the simplistic and structured world that they lived in. They drew their inspiration from that around them. Their surroundings, especially nature and the very fabric of their minds, their imagination. This expulsion of the complexity of the simple human life their world had organised and maintained resulted in a unique revolution in history. Eradication of materialism, organisation and society and
Romanticism first came about in the 18th century and it was mostly used for art and literature. The actual word “romanticism” was created in Britain in the 1840s. People like Victor Hugo, William Wordsworth, and Percy Bysshe Shelley had big impacts on this style of art. Romanticism is an art in which people express their emotion. Whatever they believed is put into a picture, painting, poem, or book. Romanticism goes deep into a mind. It is very deep thinking and it’s expressing yourself through that deep thinking. Romanticism is the reaction to the Enlightenment and the enlightenment aka the “Age of Reason” took place during the 1700s to 1800s. The enlightenment emphasized being rational and using your mind; on the other hand, romanticism focuses on emotion and imagination. It says don’t just focus on rationality and reason.
The destruction that the French Revolution had exacted on the European consciousness was evident in the attitudes of the people most touched by the tumult of the era – people who came to realize that absolution was no longer a pertinent intellectual goal. The cold rationale of the Enlightenment was no longer adequate to explain the significance of life in a society where everything had so recently been turned upside down. Romanticism was the expression of this society’s craving for answers and fulfillment. Everywhere, people embraced life passionately and lived as... ... middle of paper ... ...
Romanticism was a reaction to the Enlightenment as a cultural movement, an aesthetic style, and an attitude of mind (210). Culturally, Romanticism freed people from the limitations and rules of the Enlightenment. The music of the Enlightenment was orderly and restrained, while the music of the Romantic period was emotional. As an aesthetic style, Romanticism was very imaginative while the art of the Enlightenment was realistic and ornate. The Romanticism as an attitude of mind was characterized by transcendental idealism, where experience was obtained through the gathering and processing of information. The idealism of the Enlightenment defined experience as something that was just gathered.
... It was all about progress, political correctness and it was very controlling in the area of how people lived their lives concerning many matters. By embracing the ordinary and unknown of human existence, the romantics overthrew the limitations that were seen in the Enlightenment. Defining Romanticism is not easy as there was not a particular dominate set of beliefs nor were the styles in literature and art the same. It was a time to be yourself, to let out whatever type of personality that was within. The modern world has Romanticism to thank for much of the way we live today concerning ideas, values, love, dreams and beliefs. It’s worthwhile to mention that both era’s consisted of varieties of thought, much like it is today. We are better off today because of men like Isaac Newton during the Enlightenment and for the Romantics teaching us how to be free thinkers.
The Romantic period has many beginnings and takes different forms; so that in a celebrated essay, On the Discrimination of Romanticism (1924), A.O. Lovejoy argued that the word “Romantic” should no longer be used, since it has come to mean so many things that by itself, it means nothing. On the derivation of the word “Romanticism” we have definite and commonly accepted information which helps us to understand its meaning. Critics and literary historians differ widely and sometimes as violently, about the answer then have differed about love truth and other concepts. Romanticism is concerned with all these concepts and with others with equal importance. It is an attitude toward life and experience older than religion, as permanent as love, and as many-sided as truth. (Watson, J.R. English Poetry of the Romantic Period, Longman Inc. New York)
Romanticism was an artistic and literary movement that began in the late 18th century Europe that stressed the individual’s expression of emotion and imagination, glorification of the past and nature, and departure from forms of classicism. The movement emerged as a reaction against the ideas
Romanticism is described as the basis of the fact that reason cannot explain everything. Romantic artists tried to reach their audience through a deeper and an enhanced emotional appeal. The Romantic Era was seen as a rebellion towards the Enlightenment. Romantic thinkers created a different idea to the middle ages than enlightenment thinkers. They used this time as a way to expand their knowledge and become more spiritually adventurous. The Romantic Era was seen as a revolt to the age of Enlightenment. It can sometimes be described as an opposite of “classicism”. Rousseau believed in the goodness and the natural while romanticism is a logic that is not meant to be explained or questioned, because there are no answers. On a larger scale, it was more widespread both in its origins and influence. Romanticism was largely based on self-expression. Not only was there a revolution in Romanticism but there was also a comparable revolution in music. The revolution of romantic music lasted from about 1820 to 1900. Germany largely invested in Musical Romanticism. One respected French reference work defines it entirely in terms of “The role of music in the aesthetics of German romanticism”. Romantic music describes an era of Western classical music. Romantic music took control over the Romantic period in Germany. The characteristics of music that evolved and influenced development during the Romantic Era were the elements of music, acclaimed musicians lifestyles, famous composers, and the events in history that inspired these composers.