Fact File

• Romanticism began in the 18th century​
• 3 key elements to romanticism in art is imagination, emotion and individualism​
• It is the contrast to rationalism and order​
• It was originally inspired by the political and economic atmosphere during 1798 with inspirations such as the French revolution evolving​
• In modern times realism has taken over from romanticism​
• Jean Jack Rousseau is the “founder” of romanticism

 

The Sublime

The Sublime is a concept which emerged in the seventeenth century and is art that’s supposed to inspire awe and wonder. It is defined as “a quality of greatness or grandeur that inspires awe and wonder.” – according to https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/the-sublime#:~:text=The%20sublime%20has%20long%20been,relation%20to%20the%20natural%20landscape.

JMW Turner

• Turner is a famous English painter born April 23 1775 in London who became known as “the painter of light” for his talent of creating incredibly skilled landscape paintings able to capture light at different times of the day and in different settings using bright and vibrant colours which happened to be because of his un-diagnosed colour blindness and therefore wasn’t exaggerating the colours.​
• He began attending the Royal Academy of Art at 15 years old where he first exhibited his Fishermen at Sea oil painting in 1796.​
• Turners last words were “The Sun is God” before he died of cholera in 1851.

John Constable

Constable was an English landscaper born on June 11th 1776 in Suffolk. He was known to be the one who revolutionised the genre of landscape painting. Constable focused on painting the surroundings of his home and once write to a friend “I should paint my own places best” “painting is but another word for feeling”​

.Though in modern times his paintings are extremely valuable and popular he was never financially successful in his lifetime however his work was popular in France, and was only elected to the Royal Academy of Art at age 52. ​

He then died at age 60 in 1837 in London of coronary artery disease.

Terms and Words Associated

• Apostrophe​
• Glorification​
• Nature​
• Awareness and acceptance of emotions​
• Celebration of artistic creativity and imagination
• realism
• idealism
• enlightenment
• classism
• neo-romanticism
• symbolysm
• affinity for the natural world

Timeline of Landscape Art And Photography

The earliest known of cave art was found to be from 40,000 years ago so art has dated back to the very first humans.

A work during the bronze age around 1627, found in Santorini a Greek island preserved under volcanic ash until 1967. At this time Greece was ruled by Ottoman Empire also called the Turkish empire who was Islamic believing.

The renascence began in the 14th century Italy.

The Renaissance meaning rebirth was the first big movement to influence on landscape art. The renaissance was a movement to revive the Greek and Roman philosophical way of thinking. It encouraged people to express themselves and encouraged individuality and new ideas instead of sticking to the way things have always been done.

The Renaissance came after The Black Death killed half of Europe’s population which left business owners with little to no competition meaning the economy grew especially in Italy known as The Cultural Capitol of Europe at the time.

Ideals and attitudes towards the church and medical knowledge began to change, many began to question their authority after so many died during the black death despite appealing to god such as flogging and even following medical advise like cleansing the air by wearing masks filled with nice smelling herbs to combat miasma. This new attitude and encouragement of questioning was also expressed through art and the boundaries of what art was. Realism in art was widely developed and realistic drawings of nature and humans became popular.

During the renaissance time period artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo rose to fame. To this day biblical interpretations from Leonardo da Vinci are still famous such as The Last Supper.

After the renaissance during the 17th to 18th century was the Age Of Enlightenment where Romanticism took off with artists being inspired by the French Revolution. Society began to emphasise on emotion key artists such as JMW Turner and John Constable as mentioned before lived through this time. Many political changes were made through this era and attitudes and way of thinking changed. Science began to proceed and slavery was abolished. People began to idealise individuality and connection with nature. The Sublime began with this thought process as people began to explore beauty past religion and find a godly aspect to nature especially in the UK as the rules to religion were changing constantly due to the arguments between Catholics and protestants. Art like the dramatic style of Rococo architecture became more popular.

The earliest known landscape photograph was taken during the 19th century between 1826 and 1827 by Nicephore Niepce a Frenchman and inventor who invented the Pyréolophore an internal-combustion engine. The image was taken using a camera obscura out of the window of his estate based in Saint-Lop-de-Varenees, Burgundy, France.

Carleton E Watkins born in 1829 New York began his career in photography at age 5 when he began his apprenticeship in a portrait studio.

in as used the Large Format Camera

Watkins was unimpressed with the performance of his regular camera as it could not capture the entirety of the landscapes he was photographing so in 1861 Watkins hired a cabinet worker to create a massive camera so he could use mammoth sized negatives

After Romanticism came Modernism from 1900 to 1930 before the great depression began. Modernism culture rejected many traditions and looked to fundamentally rethink the world especially after and during World War One. Many political events were taking place such as the Russian revolution and the League of Nations was formed however almost all countries had faced epic losses within the economy was declining and the population had too.

Other changes were happening too, including in America the roaring 20’s. Women’s rights and opinions on gender roles began to shift however crime was rising. Artists searched for new way to express themselves and their opinions on the world without the constraints of realism.

Artists such as Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Jackson Pollock and Vincent Van Gough all arose and are still famous to this day. Modernism art often uses very bright and vibrant colours and experimented with abstract art.

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