Romanticism

Short Paper 2: Romanticism First coined in 1798 by Schlegel, Romanticism described an overt reaction against the Enlightenment and classical culture of the eighteenth century. Europe’s Classical past and the values it had attained were disintegrating. The paintings in this era showed the emotional attachment to victims of society. A lot of the work also always pitted the human against nature. The Romantics were devoted to seeing the beauty in nature through their own experiences. During this period we see landscape paintings arise with some of the earliest paintings of J.M.W. Turner’s work such as the, Interior of Tintern Abbey, in 1794. This watercolor depicts the monastery in ruins with overgrown vegetation to symbolize the Catholic Church during this time in its current state. Joseph Mallord William Turner was considered to be one of the greatest English landscape painters of the day. Turner left over 19,000 drawings and watercolors to the British nation. His style depicts the lightness, and “sweeping linear rhythms” defined by this period. The looseness or loose style painted in this era reflects the “dark vs. light” style that these artists painted. Other works by this artist include Snow Storm, in 1842, and The Upper Falls of the Reichenbach produced between 1810-15. The Second artist we’ll touch on in this period of Romanticism is Francisco Goya, one of my favorites. The Spanish painter was first enthusiastic about Napoleon’s appointment in France, but that quickly turned sour into a bitter hatred for the emperor. Goya detested Napoleon as did most Spaniards during this time, and as a result he painted a scene depicting the horrific events that occurred in Madrid in 1808. The two paintings were broken up into the first portraying the battle and the second showing the executions that had happened the following day. “The Third of May, 1808, is one of the greatest testaments to the horrors of war ever painted.” Lastly, the German artist by the name

Cited: Sayre, Henry M. "12." Discovering the Humanities Books. 2nd ed. N.p.: Pearson, 2013. 389-99. Print.