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Romanticism

Romanticism put emotion, imagination and the power of nature above reason and order. Its artists painted storms, struggle, mystery and strong feeling.

Period
Renaissance and early modern art
Approximate dates
c. 1780 to c. 1850
Place of origin
Western Europe, especially Germany, Britain and France
Key regions
Europe and the Americas
Art forms
Painting, poetry-linked illustration, music, sculpture
Major artists
Caspar David Friedrich, Eugene Delacroix, Theodore Gericault, J. M. W. Turner, Francisco Goya

Visual introduction

  • Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

    Caspar David Friedrich · c. 1818 · Oil on canvas · Kunsthalle Hamburg

    A lone figure faces a vast landscape, a famous image of the sublime and of inner reflection.

    Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

  • The Raft of the Medusa

    Theodore Gericault · 1818 to 1819 · Oil on canvas · Louvre, Paris

    A large, harrowing picture of a real shipwreck, showing Romantic interest in suffering and current events.

    Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

  • Liberty Leading the People

    Eugene Delacroix · 1830 · Oil on canvas · Louvre, Paris

    Bold colour and movement turn a revolution into a symbol of freedom.

    Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Historical context

Romanticism rose in the age of the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. Many artists reacted against the calm order of Neoclassicism and against a world that seemed to be turning mechanical.

Nationalism, revolution and the wish for freedom were common themes, as were nature, the sublime and distant places. The movement grew alongside Romantic poetry and music, and encouraged artists to trust personal feeling.

Visual characteristics

Subject: wild landscapes, shipwrecks, battles, history, the supernatural, and individual people alone against nature.

Colour and brushwork: bold colour, loose handling and dramatic skies.

Composition: dynamic and open, with strong emotion. The idea of the sublime, beauty mixed with awe and fear, runs through the movement.

Related movements

Sources and further reading

Further reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Tate, Art Terms. Smarthistory.