1. ROMANTIC ART, LITERATURE AND MUSIC
A LATE 18TH CENTURY CHALLENGE TO RATIONALISM & REASON

2. ROMANTICISM DEFINED
Romanticism was an artistic, musical, and literary movement that emerged at the end of the 18th century
It stressed emotion, feeling, intuition, nature, the occult, and imagination
Creates the artist as bohemian; intellectuals experimented with rebellious clothing, drugs, earrings, etc.

3. ROMANTIC ART KEY PLAYERS Caspar David Friedrich J.M.W. Turner
Theodore Gericault
Eugene Delacroix
These artists attempted to express emotion directly and subjectively. They rejected classical restraint in favor of warmth and movement.

4. CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH German Romantic, 1774-1840
Preoccupied with God & nature, Friedrich often intertwined nature and the divine
He advised peers to “Shut your physical eye and look first at your picture with your spiritual eye.”
His, Cloister Cemetery in Snow, on the right is an example of this synthesis . .

5. CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH
For Friedrich, nature was a manifestation of the divine
He often portrayed humans overwhelmed by their surroundings and longing for infinity
On the left is his famous, Chalk Cliffs of Rugen, an example of that longing for infinity

6. Joseph Malford William Turner English Romantic, 1775-1851
Like many Romantic artists, Turner painted dramatic landscapes
He loved ships at sea being tossed by nature’s force
At left a ship is thrown in his Snowstorm
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7. J.M.W. TURNER
A prolific artist, Turner skillfully use light and color to depict the power of the locomotive
Early in his career he accurately depicted such scenes
As he developed he used general fields of color to convey power

8. THEODORE GERICAULT French Romantic, 1791-1824
Gericault greatly influenced the work of Delacroix
Considered one of the first to “load his shadows” with emotion & power
His dramatic, Raft of Medusa, is considered a Romantic masterpiece

9. EUGENE DELACROIX French Romantic, 1798-1863
One of the most famous Romantic painters, Delacroix embraced nationalism (a favorite Romantic topic)
On the left, his Liberty Leading the People expressed French nationalism, during the Revolution of 1830
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10. EUGENE DELACROIX
Delacroix’s famous, Death of Sardanapalus, was based on Lord Byron’s account of the last dramatic moments of the Assyrian King
At right, a guard slits the throat of a harem woman
Delacroix was renowned for his use of theatrics and movement with a dramatic use of color

11. ROMANTIC LITERATURE KEY PLAYERS
Johann von Goethe
Thomas Carlyle
Walter Scott
Edgar Allan Poe
Mary Shelley
Percy Shelley
Lord Byron
William Wordsworth
Romantic writers, like their artistic counterparts, used emotion, sentiment and inner feelings in their works
As one writer said, “It was my heart that counseled me to do it, and my heart cannot err.”

12. JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE German Romantic Writer, 1749-1832
Goethe’s famous novel, The Sorrows of the Young Werther, is a fine example of the new literary era
The title character sought freedom and fulfillment (individualism was a common theme)
Tragically, Werther commits suicide due to unrequited love
Sorrow & sadness were common themes in Romantic literature

13. THOMAS CARLYLE English Romantic Writer, 1795-1881
Thomas Carlyle embodied sentimentality and individualism in his portrayal of the heroic figure who transformed society
He believed events were determined by deeds of heroes
Carlyle, in his epic book, Heroes and Hero Worship, wrote, “No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men”

14. SIR WALTER SCOTT English Romantic Writer, 1771-1832
Scott’s novels became best sellers in Europe in the first half of the 19th century
His classic novel, Ivanhoe, depicted the clash between the Saxons and the Norman Knights in medieval England
A common milieu of Romantic authors was historical novels, often set in the Middle Ages

15. EDGAR ALLAN POE American Romantic Writer, 1808-1849
Poe helped promote a type of literature known as “Gothic”
His chilling short stories emphasized the bizarre and unusual
Among his most famous works was The Raven

16. MARY SHELLEY English Romantic Writer, 1797-1851
Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, about a scientist who creates a humanlike monster has become a staple of high school English departments

17. PERCY SHELLEY English Romantic Poet, 1792-1822
Romantic poets believed their medium was most pure of all Romantics because it came directly from the soul
Percy, the husband of Mary Shelley, lived a brief but intense life
Wrote Prometheus Unbound, a poem about rebellion against society, rules and laws

18. LORD BYRON English Romantic Poet, 1788-1824
A true Romantic, Byron dramatized himself in his poem, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage
Died in heroic fashion fighting for Greek Independence against the Ottomans

19. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH English Romantic Poet, 1770-1850
Romantic poets first love was nature
Wordsworth epitomized that love
“One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man, Of moral Evil and good, than all the sages can.” (Wordsworth, The Tables Turned)

20. ROMANTIC MUSIC KEY PLAYERS Ludwig van Beethoven
Hector Berlioz
Historians have called the 18th century the Age of Classicism and the 19th century the Age of Romanticism
Beethoven was the bridge between the two

21. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN German Composer, 1770-1827
Beethoven single- handedly transformed an era
He is widely considered the preeminent composer of all-time
THE MAN!!

22. BEETHOVEN Like true Romantic artists, Beethoven worked off of emotion
He said, “I must write, for what weighs on my heart, I must express”

23. BEETHOVEN
By age 13 Beethoven was off to the music capital of Europe– Vienna, Austria
Between he was still working within the Classical framework under the influence of both Haydn & Mozart

24. BEETHOVEN
With the composition of the Third Symphony (Eroica- 1804), Beethoven broke through to the elements of Romanticism
His use of uncontrolled rhythms to create drama set his music apart
A prolific composer, Beethoven was increasingly afflicted by deafness
His famous Ninth Symphony was composed when he was totally deaf

25. HECTOR BERLIOZ French Composer, 1803-1869
Considered a musical genius, Berlioz composed in the Romantic style
Ironically never achieved the notoriety in his native France that he did in Germany, Russia and Britain

26. HECTOR BERLIOZ Berlioz was one of the creators of “program music”
This was an attempt to use moods & sound effects to depict a story
His most famous was, “Symphonie Fantastique,” a story of an intense love affair that included a fifth movement in which musically he creates an opium-induced nightmare of a witches gathering