Introduction
Romanticism is a movement in history that went against the established order, status quo, peace, ideologies, and beliefs of the time. Art was used to depict the manner in which individuals thought and believed as well as their orientation towards their surroundings in the olden days (Ferber, 2010). Art dealt mostly with issues of motive and realism while other forms of art dealt with the darkness of the community on one hand and its magnificence on the other. Romanticism was a form of art that strived to detach itself with Neoclassicism which was rife during the enlightenment period. Romanticism brought about a strong and extremely emotive form of art that took over most half of the 19th century. It became the greatest art movement in most parts of Europe from late 18th century lasting to mid of 19th century (Beers, 2010).
The Early Romantic Artists
There are a number of artists who are considered popular during the movement. However they are dichotomized into The Early Romantic Artists and The Later Romantic Artists (Brown, 2001). John constable is one artist who falls under the first category. He is viewed as an expert in Romantic art. He developed art in form of paintings that mostly covered landscapes. His works portrayed an awesome sense of beauty and the greatness of nature. This marked a great difference when compared to the dull garden paintings that came from the Enlightenment period. John gave nature a huge sense of spirituality with the belief that it is obscure and cannot be seen by even the spirits. Another artist called Gericault Theodore considered nature as a great force that went against any motive and plan. He is associated with the world renowned painting called the The Raft of Medusa. This painting shows people who survive a very violent shipwreck. In deed, most painters of the Romantic era associated beauty with their arts. For instance, Eduard Gaertner is popular with the method of combining light and dark when painting Paris streets (Brown, 2001).
The Later Romantic Artists
Some other artists under The Later Romantic Artists are John Everett Millais and Edward Burne-Jones. John painted pictures that carried normal scenes. However, they contained much depth and color. His art, The Black Brunswicker is a tale of lovers and shows an in-depth feeling and nostalgia. Edward is credited with stunning Gothic revitalization pieces. Such forms of art were extremely popular towards the last years of the Romantic era. He accorded great honor to the olden times with the designing of Briar Rose that beautified parks in Oxfordshire.
There are several cultural, political, and/ or social events that may have impacted art from the Romantic period. Culturally, Romanticists got inspired by the change of life from one generation to the next and felt that there was need for change in art too. In addition, the social setup in the early 19th century played a big role in inspiring artists then (Vaughan, 1994). A surging form of nationalism combined with the recurrence of Christianity and fresh focus on the old times to impact a sense of change in art. Wars experienced in Europe and the revolution that took place in France made individuals reject anything that was associated with the olden times (Berlin, 2011).
Romantic art has a direct effect on 21st century art. Artists are keen on further improving such art forms. The knowledge of the Romantic Movement makes it easy to improve art forms using such art as reference for improvement.
References
Beers, H. (2010). A History of English Romanticism. London: Nabu Press.
Berlin, I. (2011).The Roots of Romanticism. New York: Princeton University Press.
Brown, D. (2001). Romanticism (Art and Ideas). New York: Phaidon Press.
Ferber, M. (2010).Romanticism: A short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Vaughan, W. (1994). Romanticism and Art. New York: Thames & Hudson.