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Chapter 11.4: Romanticism, 1800-1850

Generally characterized by a highly imaginative and subjective approach, emotional intensity, and a dreamlike or visionary quality. Romantics believe the human spirit’s nobility and strength can triumph against all odds. They believe in social justice and defend the weak, exalt all feeling, and love Nature.

Some of the Artists involved: Edmund Burque, William Blake, Lord Byron, Francisco de Goya, Theodore Gericault, Eugene Delacroix, Samuel Palmer, John Constable, J.M.W Turner, Claude Lorraine.

The first marker of a French Romantic painting may be the facture, meaning the way the paint is handled or laid on to the canvas. Viewed as a means of making the presence of the artist’s thoughts and emotions apparent, French Romantic paintings are often characterized by loose, flowing brushstrokes and brilliant colors in a manner that was often equated with the painterly style of the Baroque artist Rubens. In sculpture artists often used exaggerated, almost operatic, poses and groupings that implied great emotion. This approach to art, interpreted as a direct expression of the artist’s persona—or “genius”—reflected the French Romantic emphasis on unregulated passions. The artists employed a widely varied group of subjects, including the natural world, the irrational realm of instinct and emotion, the exotic world of the “Orient,” and contemporary politics.

Images and Videos

Image of Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix. Shown is Liberty holding the French flag as she leads the French people. The people from the crowd hold guns and swords. To the right of Liberty is a boy holding a gun. At their feet there are several dead men. In the background the towers of Notre Dame are visible. Oil on canvas painting.
Figure 1. Eugene Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830, oil on canvas. (Musee de Louvre; Image source: Erich Lessing/ART RESOURCE, N.Y. via ArtStor. Used with permission. For educational use only).

Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People (5:58)

 

Image of The Third of May by Francisco de Goya. Shown is the execution of several men by French soldiers. A man being executed wears a white shirt with yellow pants holding his arms up in the air. Oil on canvas painting.
Figure 2. Francisco de Goya, The Third of May 1808, 1814, oil on canvas. (Museo del Prado; Image source: Erich Lessing/ART RESOURCE, N.Y. via ArtStor. Used with permission. For educational use only).

 

Art historical analysis (painting), a basic introduction using Goya’s Third of May (10:40)

 

Raft of the Medusa by Theodore Gericault. Depicted is a tragic scene of people on a small raft left out at sea from the Wreck of a French ship. Shown are some dead people and others reaching up trying to survive. Oil on canvas painting.
Figure 3. Theodore Gericault, Raft of the Medusa, 1819, oil on canvas. (Musee de Louvre; Image source: Erich Lessing/ART RESOURCE, N.Y. via ArtStor. Used with permission. For educational use only).

Gericault, Raft of the Medusa (6:36)

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