Romanticism In Modern Art

INTRODUCTION

With the arrival of the nineteenth century, Europe had already become the stage of many political and social reforms. The French Revolution tilted the balance of power closer to the individual. Beginning in England, the Industrial Revolution dramatically changed the lives of both common folk and the upper class. Counter-Enlightenment movements emphasized the need for personal emotion and subjectivity over strict laws of nature. Amongst the occurrence of each of these events, and throughout the 19th century, the climate of the realm of the arts became increasingly challenging of what is acceptable and possible for humans to create.

Phenomena such as the movements of Romanticism, the Pre-Raphaelites, the Symbolists, and Impressionists represented some of the biggest divergences from the strict orders of beauty dictated by neoclassicism and academic art. Romanticism in all of its forms is debatably the spark in which ignited the first challenges to orthodox artistic ideals, creating a philosophy that upheld the emotion, spirituality and individuality of the creator above all. This new-found freedom of expression created a model in which later artists would adopt, especially those associated with the Pre-Raphaelites and the Symbolists. Just as well, these movements can be considered precursors to the even more radical ideas of modern art.

However, this spark of liberal creativity did not burn old conventions and give way to new styles over-night; the developments of these phenomena were, for the most part, gradual shifts from the norm by certain groups and individuals. Developing art forms resembled small smoldering flames in which, when spurred by personal ambitions as well as the gust of revolution, became infernos th...

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...or the arts, perhaps even a new Renaissance, the possible pinnacle of Western art. Yet these masters are far too often overshadowed by the modern art movements in all of their controversy, even though they, for the most part, have never formed any meaningful contributions to progress the practice of art.

If we wish to progress in the practice of art then we must look back to where we left off. We must learn from the wealth of knowledge amassed in the artworks of 19th century artists, as they were created by the last in a long line of masters, before the cycle was stalled by the modern art fad. Contemporary artists must realize the importance of these artworks, and there is much to be learned from them. It is certain that if we wish to excel, we will look back at these artists as leaders, just as they looked back to the past for guidance from the old masters.