2. Romanticism was a cultural movement that started
in Europe. It was somewhat of a reaction to the Industrial
Revolution which occurred during the same time period.
The movement affected philosophical thinking, literature,
music, and art.

3. When was the Romantic style of art
popular?
The Romantic Movement started at the end of the
1700's and reached its peak in the early 1800s. It marked
the end of the Baroque movement and was followed
by Realism.

4. Characteristics of Romantic Art
• Romantic art focused on emotions, feelings, and
moods of all kinds including spirituality, imagination,
mystery, and fervour.
• The subject matter varied widely including landscapes,
religion, revolution, and peaceful beauty. The brushwork
for romantic art became looser and less precise.

5. Artists and their
Paintings During the
Romantic Period

6. Caspar David Friedrich
He was a landscape painter
of the nineteenth-century German
Romantic movement, of which he is
now considered the most important
painter.
As Romanticism called for,
Friedrich demonstrated devotion to
God through nature, the diminished
strength of man in the larger scale of
life, and great emotion.

7. The Wanderer Above the
Sea and Fog
by Caspar David
Friedrich, 1818
In this picture, a man
stands at the peak of a rocky
precipice, his back to the
viewer as he looks out over
the clouds and the world. The
viewer experiences the awe of
nature and at the same time
feels the insignificance of man.
The painting does an excellent
job of conveying the emotion
of a moment and the drama of
nature.

8. Francisco de Goya
He is considered the
“Father of Modern Art.”
Goya moved from jolly
and light-hearted to deeply
pessimistic and searching in his
paintings, drawings, etchings,
and frescoes.
In 1770s, Goya began to
work for Spanish royal court. In
addition to his commissioned
portraits of the nobility, he
created works that criticized the
social and political problems of
his era.

9. The Third of May 1808
by Francisco Goya
The Third of May
1808 shows a different side of
the Romantic artist, the side of
revolution. In this painting
Francisco Goya is
commemorating the Spanish
resistance to France and the
armies of Napoleon. This
painting has movement,
drama, and emotion typical of
the Romantic Era. It is also
one of the first paintings used
to protest the horrors of war.

10. Joseph Mallord
William Turner
(JMW Turner)
One of the finest landscape
artists whose works were exhibited
when he was still a teenager.
His work was exhibited when
he was still a teenager. His entire life
was devoted to his art. Unlike many
artists of his era, he was successful
throughout his career.
In 1850 he exhibited for the
last time.

11. Fishermen at Sea
by JMW Turner, 1794
Turner was fascinated
by the mood of nature, her ever
changing effects. He was
always sketching the clouds,
the sky, and his natural
surroundings. Turner was
particularly fascinated with the
power of the ocean and said
that he had once asked to be
lashed to the mast of a ship in
order to “experience the
drama” of a mighty storm at
sea.

12. Frederic Edwin Church
He was an American
landscape painter born in
Hartford, Connecticut.
He was known for
painting large panoramic
landscapes, often depicting
dramatic natural phenomena,
with emphasis on light and a
romantic respect for natural
detail.

13. Aurora Borealis
by Frederic Edwin Church,
1865
In a time before advanced
photography, Romantic
paintings provided ordinary
people a chance to see
natural phenomena they
would never have an
opportunity to witness
themselves.

14. Thomas Cole
He is regarded as the
founder of the Hudson River
School.
Coles' only student
was Frederic Edwin Church, one
of the leaders of the second
generation of the Hudson River
School.
He specializes
in landscapes.

15. The Voyage of Life
by Thomas Cole,1840
The Voyage of Life series depicts four stages of a
man’s life and serves as a Christian allegory set in a
Romantic backdrop.

16. Childhood. The baby exits the dark canal and
begins his new life. The water is calm and smooth, the
surroundings innocent and Edenic. The boy’s guardian
angel grasps the tiller and controls the boat.

17. Youth. The water is still smooth, the surroudings still peaceful and
lush. But now the angel leaves the boy, who eagerly takes the tiller himself
and sets off on his own towards his lofty dreams and ambitions.
It is hard to tell from this image of the painting, but around the
bend of the river the water begins to get choppy and rough; journeying to
the castle of his dreams will not be as easy as it now seems.

18. Manhood. The boy is now a man. The vegetation is gone; the waters
are choppy; the skies have darkened. The tiller of the boat is gone; the man is
no longer entirely in control, and he prays for help.
The angel still watches over him, but now from afar. The man cannot
see the angel and must have faith that she is there.
Cole wanted to convey the way the dreams and idealism of youth
crash into the “realities of the world.”
The ocean symbolizes the end of the man’s life; he can begin to see
it, and the warmth of the sunset hints of hope in the midst of his trials.

19. Old Age. The man is now old and the angel returns to his side. His
boat has made it to the ocean. The waters are once more calm. The
light is breaking through the dark clouds. The man’s faith has sustained
him throughout the trials of life and now the beauty of eternity stretches
out before him.

20. Hudson River School
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th
century American art movement embodied by a group
of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was
influenced by romanticism.
The paintings for which the movement is named depict
the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, including
the Catskill, Adirondack, and the White Mountains; eventually works by
the second generation of artists associated with the school expanded to
include other locales in New England, the Maritimes, the American
West, and South America.