What is Romanticism?
Romanticism is the Romantics celebrated the spontaneity, imagination, and the purity of nature. Along with these elements it also incorporated a deep feeling of emotion as an authentic source of experience which put new emphasis on emotions such as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe.
What was romanticism a reaction against?
It was also to some extent a reaction against the Enlightenment and against 18th-century rationalism and physical materialism in general. Romanticism emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental.
What is the Sublime?
The Sublime is a western aesthetic concept of ‘the exalted’ of ‘beauty that is grand and dangerous’. The Sublime refers to the wild, unbounded grandeur of nature. The Sublime is related to threat and agony, to spaces where calamities happen or things run beyond human control. It overwhelms the viewer, but also excites them with the image.
How did the Industrial Revolution have an impact on Romanticism?
The Industrial Revolution had a profound impact on the Romantic movement, shaping its themes, concerns, and artistic expressions. The loss of connection with nature, the alienating effects of urbanization, and the critique of industrial capitalism all influenced the works of Romantic poets and artists.
The Hay Wain – John Constable
This painting is a 6ft landscape made in 1821 named the Hay Wain, which is a classical painting, and is not mundane. Previously, it was called the ‘Noon’, but they changed it. This image is very diverse for it’s time, as landscape wasn’t a very popular genre to paint/ draw. This image consists of very small details planted throughout, so you have to look closely. John’s father was a land owner, so John grew up around nature and had a very environmental life. This image represents the industrial time period where it was a common ideology that machines were taking over. However, this image challenges this as it shows the beautiful side to the time period, and it makes this more significant as this was not a typical landscape that was seen. This image creates a connection between farmers and the land, which therefore makes the image romantic and personal. Especially as John’s father was a farmer, it really connects John to the landscape. Lastly, the rough textures from the paint can link to the textures of the actual texture. For example, the texture for water is similar to the water in real life.
JMW turner
