Romanticism as a Reaction to Neoclassicism :: Romanticism Essays

The time of Romanticism began in the late 18th century and ended around the mid 19th century. Just showing what the Romantic Movement is, it can be shown as a reaction against Neoclassicism. Romantic art portrays emotional, painted, or shown in a bold and dramatic manner, and there is often a stress on the past. Romantic artists often use sad themes and dramatic tragedies. Paintings by famous Romantic artists such as Gericault and Delacroix are filled with energetic brushstrokes, rich colors, and emotive subject matters. While the German landscape painter Casper David Friedrich created images of lost loneliness, and at the same time in Spain, Francisco Goya conveyed the horrors of war in his works. This shows the variety of different art works of this time period. Some of these artists were fascinated in nature, people can definitely see this if they are shown through any Romanticism museum, also the importance of drama and emotion. At this time artists made their art work portray more then what the eye sees, the artists added more symbolism to the art work then in the Renaissance. The Pre-Raphaelite movement succeeded Romanticism, and Impressionism is firmly rooted in the Romantic tradition. Other famous Romantic artists include George Stubbs, William Blake, John Margin, John Constable, JMW Turner, and Sir Thomas Lawrence. And Although Romanticism was very popular for the paintings, it was also popular for its music, and poetry, and even architecture. This shows that this period advanced not only in variety of artwork but also a variety of all sorts of effects. The German poets and critics, August Wilhelm and Friedrich Schlegel first used the term ?Romanticism? to label a wider cultural movement, the period expanded way more then they ever dreamed. This gave the Schlegel brothers a good time to show Christianity through art, even though the majority of people where using the plain Classical culture. This started the ?Romantic Movement. The ?Romantic Movement,? gained popularity in Germany and then quickly spread to England, France, and beyond. Eventually the movement reached America, this was around the year 1820, (some 20 years after William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge had revolutionized English poetry by publishing Lyrical Ballads). In America and in Europe, fresh new ideas and visions struck the artistic and intellectual circles in America.