Romanticism A Complex Movement Essay Example For Students

Romanticism A Complex Movement Essay Art is a vast and subjective term that has been haunting this world since the beginning of times. As much as people try to bring sense and some kind of order into it, just like they usually do with all parts of their lives, it does not always work. The whole reason of this paper is to try to understand better why exactly this variety of different and multilateral artist of this era that created their leading legacy for the future generations were actually put together and labelled â€Å"Romantics†- a term that was not even related to being a romantic, and how it evolved in various fields of art. According to William Gairdner in â€Å"Jean-Jaques Rousseau and the romantic roots of Modern Democracy (1999), he mentions that this name (Romanticism) was derived from Latin, and originally defined a horror story with mystical and macabre themes. He also mentions that Rousseau himself was actually the â€Å"prototypical French Romantic†. As Kathryn CalleyGalitz (Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) wrote, there is no precise point of when exactly this movement began taking over the world, but it is somewhere in the end of the 1700, the beginning of the 1800. The development was different regarding place, time and art form, but there was always a tight correlation between them. According to Cox, Jeffrey N. â€Å"Romantic Drama and the French Revolution. †(1990), it was the beginning of a new, modern world, as the collective mindset of people was desperate for change. The French revolution has set the perfect background for the development of romanticism, the grasp for freedom and modernization that was starting to emerge in the heads of so many people, from poets and philosophers to the very ordinary people became one of its’ triggers. This era is marked by a dramatic differentiation of the fields of art that though had a parallel development and an immense impact on each other. The monarchy as an idea was failing, as more and more people became aware of the notions of freedom and equality, and this as well became a huge inspiration for artists, writers and sculptors, the fight against tyranny, especially among the French ones, Eugene Delacroix, Francois Rudeand Jean Jacque Rousseau. Background Even though the native places of romanticism are considered England and Germany, the French(1789) and American(1776) revolutions played a very important, if not a key role in the birth of this movement. The liberation from the strict rules imposed by Neoclassicism, the so-calledâ€Å"age of reason†, was as well a strong impulse and a cause of revolution in the arts, as well as on the social field. As Percy Shelley said in one of his letters to Lord Byron in 1816, â€Å"the master theme of the epoch in which we live†, and by that expressing the opinion that not only the revolution meant the struggle to freedom, it became a perfect theme for covering in poetry, paintings and sculptures. Influences As it is of common knowledge, the Romantic Movement is based on a variety of previous ones, evoking the best and the most attractive sides of each of them. The Gothic, the Greek revival, the Renaissance and the Neo Baroque became a stabile pillars for building up the one and only Romanticism. Philosophy The philosophers of this period will become the ones that will influence and express the The main philosophical ideas that were evoked during this era are the human nature, its’ values and depth that need to be discovered and exploited. Again, Jean- Jacques Rousseau, along with Friedrich Nietzsche, Kant and Marx had key roles in the development of these ideas. Jean- Jacques Rousseau wrote in 1762 that â€Å"Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains†, this idea was important to him along all his life, and he truly believed that a person’s essence is in his emotions, and he has to act according to them. The romantic period has given enough freedom for exploring the depths of human nature and psychology, introducing the â€Å"intuition over reason†, so unfortunately rejected by the strictness of Neoclassicism. Music As written by Robert Sherrane, â€Å"Music History 102: a Guide to Western Composers and their music†, romanticism must have been the most important and grand period in classical music. This is the time of Beethoven, Chopin, Verdi and many others, that have brought the sense of emotion and feeling into music. According to Robert Sherrane, they have built a base for the creation of music that is until now a starting point for composers and songwriters. Musicians turned to emotion, finding inspiration in poetry, literature and paintings. Literature: Harlem Renaissance and New Negro EssayIt represented the spirit of the french revolution, evoking a scene where the volunteers were marching to protect the borders of the country, with the godess of war, Bellona(again evoking the Greek mithological themes), over them. Francoi Rude „La Marseillaise† The second representant is Barye Antoine- Luis, who along with Eugene Delacroix, according to some rumours, spend numerous hours schetchiing animal figures and making them close to perfection. And as Delacroix said †I wish I could put a twist in a tiger’s tail like that man†. Barye Antoine- Luis â€Å"The Lion crushing the Serpent† Architecture According to Allison Lee Palmer, â€Å"Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts†(2008), in architecture as well the abundance and variety of themes and stiles prevaled and magnified the specific themes used in it. The ancient Egiptian Style was used beside the Greek, the Renaissance with a twist of the Gothic, there are new twists and curves that create magnificent new architectural dinasty that mostly was created according to the desires and ideas of their owners. James Wyatt „Fonthill Abbey†(considered to be the best evocation of the Gothic style in the Romantic period) Influence on future generations According to† A Guide to the Study of Literature: A Companion Text for Core Studies 6, Landmarks of Literature†(2009), the romanticism has been the inspiration for two different and some would say opposite movements, that were not connected to each other in any way, Symbolism and Realism. Symbolist artists In realisms’ case, the painters went against the Romantic Movement, rejecting its’ principles and ideas. The concept that stood at the core of the romantic mentality is breaking the rules, bending the normal and going against the current, which spread through time and space, causing people, not only artists to evolve, to question things and emotions. This was the mark of that period; the idea that created a new generation of artists that started their own revolution, the one that was a major step towards the world that we live in today. As a conclusion, I have to say that romanticism has started the creation of a new world, started building up a new mentality for those who did not dare to think before. The timing for it was actually perfect, as the world itself the way people knew it started to fade, and instead, on the ashes of a forgotten life was build a brand new world, a new kind of people that dare to go against the rules and break stereotypes. In my opinion, they were the ones that triggered the building of today’s society, and even if is not perfect, it wouldn’t have been the same without the â€Å"Romantics†. Bibliography: 1. Galitz, Kathryn Calley. (2000)Romanticism. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,. Academic search complete . Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roma/hd_roma.htm (Accessed: 29 October 2014) 2. Kathryn VanSpanckeren,(2004). The Romantic Period, 1820-1860: Fiction. Academic search complete. Available at: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2008/05/20080516124158eaifas0.4010736.html (Accessed: 3 november 2014) 3. Palmer, Allison Lee. (2008) â€Å"Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts†. Academic search complete. Available at: http://architecture_history.enacademic.com/255/ROMANTIC_ARCHITECTURE (Accessed: 29 October 2014) 4. Sherane,Robert.(2009). â€Å"Music History 102: a Guide to western Composers and their music†. Academic research complete . Available at: http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/rom/(Accessed: 29 October 2014). 5. Rahn, Josh.(2011), â€Å"Romanticism†. Academic research complete . Available at: http://www.online-literature.com/periods/romanticism.php(Accessed: 29 October 2014) 6. Introduction to Romanticism.† Adapted from A Guide to the Study of Literature: A Companion 7. Text for Core Studies 6, Landmarks of Literature. 23 Sept. 2001. 6 Jul. 2007. Academis research complete . Available at: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/rom.html (Accessed: 29 October 2014). 8. Gairdner, William. (1999).† Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Romantic Roots of Modern Democracy†. Academic research complete . Available at: http://www.nhinet.org/humsub/gaird12-1.pdf(Accessed:30 October 2014). 9. Cox, Jeffrey N. â€Å"Romantic Drama and the French Revolution.†Ã‚  Revolution and English Romanticism.  Keith Hanley  Ã‚  and Raman Selden, Eds. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990. 10. The Independent(2006). Fuseli, Henry:the Nightmare(1781). Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/fuseli-henry-the-nightmare-1781-797997.html (Accessed: 30 October 2014). The Pictures: 11. Studyblue(2012). â€Å"Fonthill Abbey†. Available at: https://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/midterm/deck/201319 (Accessed: 4 november 2014) 12. Burnaway(2008). â€Å"The Louvre and the masterpiece at thehigh museum†. Available at: http://burnaway.org/the-louvre-and-the-masterpiece-at-the-high-museum/ (Accessed: 4 november 2014). 13. Nella Buscot(2013). â€Å"Biographie- Francois Rude†. Available at: http://burnaway.org/the-louvre-and-the-masterpiece-at-the-high-museum/ (Accessed: 4 november 2014). 14. The Guardian(2011). â€Å"Politics Blog†. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2011/oct/20/protesters-world-beware-remember-liberty (Accessed: 4 november 2014) 15. Smart Histroy(2006). â€Å"Henry Fuseli’s The Nightmare†. Available at: http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/henry-fuseli-the-nightmare-1781.html (Accessed: 4 november 2014).