The Romantic Era - Preferences and Perspectives
This week I will be exploring the Romantic era. The Romantic era was most popular between 1800 and 1850. In this era, we saw artistic, musical, intellectual, and literary movements flourish in Europe. This era was also somewhat of a reaction to the Industrial Movement which was happening at the time. The Romantic era has so many different styles. It focused on elements such as emotion, imagination, and mystery.
One style of the Romantic era that I don't necessarily not like but like less than my other choice is Impressionism. Impressionism opened a new world of modern art. Impressionism was about capturing moments in time. This art also used elements such as color, light, and lack of detail. All these elements created modern scenes of mostly everyday life and landscapes.
Below are two famous paintings from this part of the era. The first one is Paris Street: Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte. It was created in 1877 and is located in Place de Dublin. This painting presents you with an everyday scene of people walking down a street in the rain. You can see that the elements of color and light were used in this painting as they tried keeping color on the blander side and light and highlight being a focus. The second painting is called Dance at Le moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. This painting was created in 1876 and is housed in Paris. In this painting we see people attending an afternoon dance. The element heavily used in this painting is light. We see the light flickering on the faces of the people attending as it breaks through the trees. The artist of this style wanted to achieve leaving the classical art behind and introducing familiarity and desired to created art of the world they lived in. I think they definitely achieved this as these painting are simple scenes from everyday life at the time. The two paintings below clearly are just that.
One style that I find very interesting and beautiful in this era is Post-impressionism. This style followed directly after the Impressionist style. Post-impressionism wanted to stretch the boundaries of what was laid down by Impressionism. Here, we found a new generation of artist. Post-impressionism still used elements such as light, shadows, and color that they learned from before, but they also wanted to add new flare to the art. The artist introduced new subjects, techniques, and shapes to express themselves. Shape was the big element that was added.
Below are two painting very famous paintings from this part of the Romantic era. The first one is the very well known Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. It was created in Saint-Remy-de-Provence asylum in 1889. This painting shows a small town under the night sky. This is where the elements of color and shape are advanced in this style. The colors are more vibrant and the element of imagination in the Romantic era is very present through the shape found in this painting. I love the shape and flow of this painting. It really catches your eye. This is what Van Gough was trying to achieve; shock. I think he definely got the reaction he wanted. Such a new style would have caught anyones eye at that time. The second painting is called Day of the God by Paul Gauguin. It was painted in 1894 and created in France after the artist's trip to Tahiti. In this painting we see a women sitting on sand. This piece definitely uses the elements of shape, color, and imagination. I love this painting due to the vibrancy of the colors used in this painting. This style wanted to create awe within a crown. They achieved this through stepping out of the box with the color and shape presented in their paintings.
Anirudh, et al. “Anirudh.” Learnodo Newtonic, 15 July 2019, learnodo-newtonic.com/10-most-famous-post-impressionist-paintings.
https://blog.singulart.com/en/2017/08/25/the-5-most-romantic-scenes-in-impressionist-paintings/
Resnik, Muriel, and Pingback: “The 5 Most Romantic Scenes in Impressionist Paintings.” Singulart Magazine, 11 Apr. 2019, blog.singulart.com/en/2017/08/25/the-5-most-romantic-scenes-in-impressionist-paintings/.
Hi Tiare,
ReplyDeleteI learned something new reading your blog. I did not know that Van Gogh created Starry Night while he was in the asylum of Saint-Remy. I had to google it after I read your blog. Did you know that Saint -Remy served as the setting for many of his most famous works? He was there for a year and produced over 150 paintings. Personally I never really was into Van Gogh but I do appreciate the Day of the God, by Paul Gauguin that you posted. I am drawn to his painting during the romantic era that uses the vibrant shapes, color and symmetry. It evokes my imagination and It reminds me of trips I've taken to the islands. I still see the reality of nature and landscape in this painting even though it presents some mystery with its use of play on imagination.
I found Paris Street: Rainy Day, and Dance at le moulin de la Galette to be so different in emotion that they give off. Paris Street uses that light blue hue in the umbrellas, the buildings and the mist, it really helps to reinforce the weather on this day. I can feel that damp cool feeling emitting from this piece. I enjoy the little details put in, like the shade in the puddle that is coming from the people walking past and the man in the fronts jacket, it is upturned as his movement slightly pushes his jacket.
ReplyDeleteIn the Dance at Le moulin de la Galette, the color pallet just on its own is I think very warm and inviting. Overall you get a sense of nostalgia from this piece.
The Day of the God painting, I am intriged by the subject matter being women, and the statue that looks to be Buddha. I know that it is believed that Buddha was born as a woman, and there are Godesses. So I wonder if part of the reasoning for this art piece was to celebrate women. The women seem to be framing this statue almost perfectly. I love the bold colors and the odd leaves on the tree.