How the Romantic Movement Influence Visual Art

Officially tagged as beginning in 1798, the Romantic movement gained its foothold in Germany and Great Britain. In the first half of the 19th century, it's influence spread over Europe. It spread west with the migrations to the United States. The Romantic movement spread across all of the arts from painting to literature to music.

In the purest form, the Romantic movement elevated imagination above realism. It sought to convey the thoughts and emotions behind a work. In the visual arts, the departure was dramatic though not as much as the era of Modern art over a century later. Much of the material painted was easily recognizable. A horse, person, or landscape still could be identified as such.

Landscapes were often portrayed with dark foreboding skies or seas as their backdrop to convey the sense of worry or gloom. Distorted faces might show the determination of the subject or give a glimpse into a troubled personality. The shape of a horse might be modified to give the sense of haste due to the shortness of time. In Romantic art, something always seems a step away from reality. It is, by design, shooting for the gut reaction. This form has very little concern with whether someone believes the painting actually looks like the original natural scene. It is subjective and interpretive in nature.

With the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars, the French revolution, and other social upheavals of the time, artists used the Romantic movement to express the times of rapid change and uncertainties of their era. Viewing the works of the Romantic artists, you can see into the thoughts and emotions of the artist as the work was created.

The brush strokes, distortions of the subject matter, and choice of color tones and hues touch the heart. They are intended to stir deep into the viewer's emotional base. The mind appreciates this art because of the sense of curiosity about what caused the artist to render his material in such a way. Seeing Romantic art should be like looking back into the passions and fears of a previous generation. You are pulled into the turmoil and social concerns of the era.

When the struggles of the revolutionary period began to wane, the Romantic movement ran out of steam. It did leave an indelible mark on art. The understanding that more than reproduction of a scene could be overlaid onto a canvas opened the doorway for later more interpretive art styles to emerge.