Romanticism

Art Period: 1789-1848

The French Revolution, European revolts.
Freedom in France inspired other revolutions as well
Romantics espoused social independence, freedom, individual thought, expression
Opposes Enlightenment: based on emotion rather than reason
Pleasure seeking, audaciousness; extremes of human behaviors
Delacroix and Goya most important figures
Romantics enjoyed a state of melancholy; depressed mindset
Development of photography; new art form; no academies, formal teachings
Photographs rejected as works of art; marginalized populations used cameras as they were accessible; First instance of equal opportunity in the arts

Architecture:

Architecture characterized by a revival of nearly every style of the past; modern living corrupted by the Industrial Revolution; nostalgic of medieval times
Medieval art revived, as well as Egyptian, Islamic and Baroque
Bath homes in England done in Islamic style; Opera houses in Paris are Baroque; office buildings in the US are Gothic, etc.
Use of iron in architecture; elegance and malleability.

Painting:

Artists viewed the symmetrical, logical, and scientific with disdain
Searched for a cathartic experience in art
Artists wanted to create the fantastic, the unconscious, the haunted, and the insane
Painters eventually learned that photography was a new art form; did not compete with the traditional
Political paintings became important; even landscape paintings had a political agenda, made statements
Landscape art criticized the Industrial Revolution and the pollution of land, for example.

Photography:

Modern photohraphy invented in France and England
Daguerrotypes showed detail; Calotypes inferior in quality but able to produce more

Vocabulary:

Sublime: cathartic experience that causes the viewer to marvel in awe
Odalisque: a woman slave in a harem
Daguerreotype: type of early photograph, developed by Louis Daguerre; shiny surface, clarity of detail

Summary:

art history