Romanticism 1792 - 1838

Some artists were tired of working within the Classic restrictions of form and proportion. This developed into a full-blown movement called Romanticism that emphasized emotion and individualism. The name came from a widespread interest in medieval stories like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and the Search for the Holy Grail .

Stories of great adventures and heroism were called romances and were written in French. Ancient Greece and Rome were forgotten and the Middle Ages, Africa and the Orient became the new sources of inspiration Colour, emotion, content and passion became key ideas in Romantic painting. In writing: Wordsworth and Keats were romantic poets In music: Beethoven and Schubert and Italian tragic-opera flourished

Francisco Goya 1746 - 1828

After a severe illness in 1792, he became totally deaf Francisco Goya In 1786, Goya was appointed painter to King Charles IV of Spain and did the portraits for the royal family After a severe illness in 1792, he became totally deaf When he visited Italy he was unimpressed by the Neoclassical masterpieces and hated the structure that David imposed on artists. Goya strove to produce emotionally charged and powerful pieces, and was considered a genius of Romantic painting and printmaking

Francisco Goya. Third of May, 1808. oil on canvas 1814 8’9” x 13 ¼”

Francisco Goya. Third of May, 1808 The story: this depicts the slaughtering of Spanish rebels by French soldiers Done in 1814 just after the French left the country, this dramatic work could be seen as a “social protest.” Goya wanted to capture the incredible inhumanity of people towards each other It is an emotional portrayal of the event as the artist remembered it.

Francisco Goya. Third of May, 1808 Romantic characteristic: depicting real emotions, even dark ones Note the difference in brushstrokes, edges of colour, emotional feeling and sense of action from Neoclassical works

Theodore Géricault 1791-1824

Géricault was an adventure seeker, had little concern for his personal safety, loved to travel, always stood up for the “little guy”, and dedicated himself to an emotional life He was influenced by Michelangelo’s muscular and dynamic figures He was particularly interested in humanity’s struggle with nature

Theodore Géricault. Raft of the Medusa. 1818-1819 The Story: a government ship, the Medusa, was wrecked on the way from France to Senegal in 1816 The captain abandoned ship first, along with his crew. The 149 passengers were crowded onto a raft to be towed by the lifeboat, but were cut free when it was weighing the lifeboat down too much. After suffering extreme starvation and thirst, only 15 survivors made it to the African coast. This became a national scandal that shook the entire country.

Theodore Géricault. Raft of the Medusa. 1818-1819 o/c 16’1” x 23’6”

Theodore Géricault. Raft of the Medusa. 1818-1819 Géricault relished in the subject matter. He interviewed the survivors, read the newspaper accounts, made sketches and paintings of corpses at the morgue. He even had himself tied to the mast of a small ship in a storm so he could feel the movement of the swells and the wind!

Theodore Géricault. Raft of the Medusa. 1818-1819 Composition is built around two pyramids, one of dead, dying and tragic figures and the other of hope and struggle The hopeful pyramid has spotted the gunboat Argos in the distance

Eugene Delacroix 1798 - 1863

After Gericault died at 33, Delacroix became the official leader of the romantic movement. He and Ingres were exact contemporaries and the leaders in their separate movements. He produced thousands of paintings, sketches and watercolours.

Eugene Delacroix. Liberty Leading the People. 1830 o/c 8’6x 10’8

Eugene Delacroix. Liberty Leading the People. 1830 This painting was inspired by the 1830 insurrection in Paris The allegorical figure of Liberty, holding a French flag, is leading the revolutionaries over the street barriers in Paris He glorifies the cause of the riot but still shows the horror and violence of the fighting Two dead bodies are in the foreground to lead the viewer’s eyes through the chaos and show the severity of revolutions

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775 - 1851

Turner worked in the traditional English landscape style. His earliest works were all in watercolour, though he used this medium all his life. He produced over 19,000 watercolour paintings! Turner was interested in the effects of light, and later, swirling colours and light. He enjoyed painting the pure movement of masses of colour without representational meaning (nonrepresentational), though he usually had a subject in mind.

Joseph Mallord William Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner. Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth, 1824 o/c 36” x 48’

Movement is shown through the swirling fog, steam, colour, and water. Note how violent action is portrayed without people or things.

The colours and values swirl in a vortex that eventually centers on the mast of a ship. No one at that time knew anything of nonrepresentational painting, so Turner added in a ship. The subject matter is really the colour and movement.

John Constable 1776 - 1837

John Constable was one of the first painters to paint outdoors. He tried to match all his oil colours to nature as closely as possible. He once said of the English landscape, “…water escaping from mill dams, willows, old rotten planks, slimy pots and brickwork – I love such things.”

John Constable. The Hay Wain. 1821 o/c 50 ¾” x 72 ¾”

John Constable The Hay Wain. 1821 Constable shows his skill in painting the huge trees, flat fields, the stream and the clouds. A red hay wagon is pulled through the Stout River near a typical English farmhouse.

John Constable The Hay Wain. 1821 Constable was the first artist to paint water with such sparkling clarity and depth of shadow by adding touches of white to the canvas. Critics liked his paintings generally, but they made fun of his whites and called them “Constable’s snow.”

Cool Point: The Hay Wain was one of six huge paintings that Constable did of subjects close to his home. They were the first landscapes done in a size normally used for important historical subjects. His figures are small and belong to the environment.

John Constable. Stoke-by-Nayland. 1836 o/c 50 ½” x 66 ½”

John Constable. Stoke-by-Nayland. 1836 In his later years, Constable abandoned his careful depiction of nature. He began to paint with a great vibrancy and force. This is a large studio painting with the immediacy of an outdoor sketch.

John Constable. Stoke-by-Nayland. 1836 The colours are applied freely and some are mixed right on the canvas with a palette knife. The loose and rapid strokes and the elimination of detail create a spontaneous effect. One can see how this is leading into Impressionism

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