Romanticism And Realism - Assignment Example

? Romanticism and Realism Jerry Ciacho Romanticism and Realism Romanticism, also known as the Romantic era or the Romantic Period was a creative, literary, and academic movement that began in Europe near the end of the 18th century, and eventually spread to the rest of the world. In most regions, it was at its greatest in the estimated time from 1800 to 1840. Romanticism was partially a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and to the Age of Enlightenment. The Industrial Revolution denoted a key turning point in history. Virtually all aspects of everyday life were affected in some way. Most particularly, typical salary and population started to show unparalleled persistent growth. During this time however, an artistic and intellectual opposition to the new industrialization that was occurring. This movement was called Romanticism. Additionally, around 1800, the Age of Enlightenment, which was flourishing, started to decline drastically since the emphasis on reason gave way to Romanticism's importance on emotion. It was exemplified most strongly in the world of art. Romanticism gives major importance to the unrestricted illustration and demonstration of the artist’s feelings and emotions. To truly express these emotions, the substance of the art must originate from the mind of the artist, with as little intervention as possible from man-made rules decreeing what art should consist of. The influence of reproductions of other works would obstruct the creator's own imagination, so freshness and originality was unquestionably indispensable. The concept of the mastermind or the artist who was able to fabricate his very own original and unprecedented work through this process so-called as the "creation from nothingness,” is crucial to Romantic art, and to be unoriginal was the worst possible sin one could ever make. Romantics were also very skeptical of the world of men, and inclined to believe that an intimate relationship and connection with nature was emotionally, psychologically and spiritually healthy. Therefore, even though not necessary or fundamental to Romanticism, but so extensive as to be normative, was a sturdy solid belief and awareness in the significance of nature. It later on, “allowed it to push painting about out of the focus of art.” (R. Romanticism and Realism: The Mythology of Nineteenth-Century Art. Viking Press, 1984. p. 35) Romanticism, for a time, dominated art, particularly in France during the later periods of the 1700s and the early 1800s. Then, at about the middle of the nineteenth century, the effect of many societal dynamisms caused artistic palate to change from idealistic romanticism to realism, starting in France in the 1850s. Realism in France emerged subsequent to the 1848 Revolution. These realists put themselves straight against romanticism. The emotional and exaggerated qualities of Romanticism began to break up European art. (S. Decline of Romanticism: End of the Century, Turn of the Century. Akademiai Kiado, 1970, p. 1) After a time of a loosened form of the expression and depiction of subjects in art, there was a tightening that occurred. At large, realists concentrated more on ordinary, run-of-the-mill characters, situations, places, problems, and objects, all in a "true-to-life" method or approach in depicting it. Realists discarded exaggerated or melodramatic portrayal or depiction of emotion, grand subjects, in favor of commonplace motifs or themes. After a time, artists like Monet and others started to feel that actual realism did not truly present the creative nature of the emotion. They grew exhausted of producing art for the rich and desired something much more. Simplicity substituted technique and method. Thus, they showed the impression of the scene, allowing the realism to be interpreted by the viewer. This movement that arose from Realism is known as Impressionism. Realism during the 1800s also supported an art movement called Naturalism, as a response to the exaggerated representations of themes in Romanticism. Indeed, Romanticism and realism were two very distinct art movements. Romanticism focused greatly on idealization, exaggeration to depict this idealistic nature and greatly favored the use of creativity and imagination in depicting art. Scholars settled on the conclusion that Romanticism was an ‘abuse of adjectives.’” (F. Romanticism: A Very Short Introduction by Ferber. Oxford University Press, 2010 p. 3) Meanwhile, realism concentrated more on the accurate and evidently impartial description of the normal, perceptible world. It was a transformation and a revolution that was particularly evident in painting. Realistic art devoted its paintings and works to the straightforward and precise depiction of the representations that nature and existing life offered to the artist. The artificiality of Romantic art was universally scorned during the time. The newfangled idea was that ordinary people and commonplace activities were admirable subjects for art. Furthermore, realism can be believed as the fundamental of conventional art, and it finds its topics and themes in bourgeois lifestyle and way of living. Where romanticists surpass the immediate to unearth the ideal, realists place their attention to an extraordinary degree on the immediate. They focus on the here and now, the unambiguous action, and the apparent significance. Realists endeavored and put their exertion in the illustration and truthful representation of the lives, appearances, features, problems, customs, traditions and behaviors of the middle and lower classes of the society. It focused more on the undistinguished, the normal, the lowly, and the plain. These were realists’ main subject matters in their works of art. They set themselves meticulously to replicate all that was real, including the environment, the subject itself, their mental attitudes, physical settings, and material conditions. Among famous paintings during the flourishing period of the Romantic Age was The Nightmare by artist Henry Fuseli (1781). Interpretation and versions of The Nightmare has diverged widely. It used the imagination of the artist as it involved spirits and mystical concepts. The painting seemed to portray a woman dreaming and her nightmare simultaneously. The incubus and the head of the horse denote the contemporary belief at the time on folklore about nightmares. Around the 16th until the 18th centuries, art education was formalized and creativity was limited. Depicted in another example of a Romantic artwork, The Death of Chatterton by Henry Wallis (1856) portrayed Thomas Chatterton, who committed suicide. Other artists thought of him at the time as a hero for young artists. To them, it showed what they believed to be a depiction of what they were experiencing: grief and misinterpretation, having to deal with poverty for their art that was, according to them, unappreciated. This artwork’s overall theme can be contrasted from that of works showing Realism such as Stone-Breakers which was painted by Gustave Courbet (1849.) This painting shows two ordinary workers, doing ordinary work. There is no apparent exaggeration in its emotion, unlike The Death of Chatterton, or the manifestation of any form of transcendent aspects such as the one in The Nightmare. It is a painting that depicted only the actual. References Courbet, G. (1849) Stone-Breakers. Oil on Canvas. Dresden: New Masters Gallery. Wallis, H. (1856) The Death of Chatterton. Oil on Canvas. Birmingham: Birmingingham Museum and Art Gallery. Fuseli, H. (1781) The Nightmare. Oil on Cavas. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts. Szabolsci, B. (1970) The Decline of Romanticism: End of the Century, Turn of the Century. Hungary: Akademiai Kiado. Ferber, M. (2010) Romanticism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rosen, C. and H. Zerner. (1984) Romanticism and Realism: The Mythology of Nineteenth- Century Art. New York: Viking Press. Read More