Romanticism

Romanticism, or Romantic era/ period originated in Europe end 18th century, and developed during the 19th century,  it was during this time when the industrial revolution changed many lives and Romanticism was the outcome, the reaction in many forms of visual arts.  Romanticism is also the revolt against the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, late 17th and 18th century Europe, which emphasized reason and individualism rather than tradition.  The visual arts had different characteristics in different countries, some works had a nostalgic effect, returning to the Middle Ages and creating Neo-Gothic inspired art, other artists might have focused on the theme of emotions and imagination, the works made during the Romantic period had subjects which varied from violence to nature and much more, as it was during this time that many artists went to certain extremes.

The Nightmare- by Henri Fuseli- 1781.
The Nightmare remains as one of the Swiss artist's best known works, the main subjects being emotion and imagination, and also sleep and dreams, which are common subjects in his works.  There are many ways on how to view the painting, for example, it may not just be an image of a dream, but also a dream image of the woman herself.   Fuseli uses a chiaroscuro effect to create contrast between the light and darker areas and the rest of the interior is quite fashionable using shades of red and yellow to compliment the warm colour palette.  The Nightmare, in fact, was so popular that Henri painted more versions.

Snow Storm- Steam-Boat off a Harbor's Mouth- J.M.W Turner- 1842.
From the title we can see that the painting was made during the Industrial Revolution, because it is a steam boat out in a stormy sea.  At first it is hard to tell what the picture is, but with the movement of the strokes we can form the rough waves and the boat, we can say that the picture is somewhat impressionistic, a similar styled painting by Turner is Rain, Steam and Speed- The Great Western Railway( 1844) where we see his excitement when seeing the new coal trains speed by.

Sources:
Teach Art Wiki 2014- The Nightmare Herni Fuseli - http://teachartwiki.wikispaces.com/The+Nightmare--Henry+Fusel
Wiki Paintings 2014- Snow Storm- Steam-Boat off a Harbor's Mouth J.M.W Turner - http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/william-turner/storm-seam-boat-off-a-harbour-s-mouth-making-signals-in-shallow-water-and-going-by-the-lead
Wiki Paintings 2014- Rain, Steam and Speed- The Great Western Railway J.M.W- http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/william-turner/rain-steam-and-speed-the-great-western-railway
[All accessed 20th February 2014]
Other notes taken in class.