Lecture Notes on Romanticism, Realism, and Photography

Introduction

• Transition from Neoclassicism to Romanticism, Realism, and Photography
• Focus on art from numbers 108 to 117

Romanticism

• Context:

  • Early 1800s Europe
  • French Revolution aftermath; questioning of pure reason led to a shift towards imagination
  • Influences: novels (e.g., Notre Dame), spiritual and religious revivals (Great Awakening, Transcendentalism), social movements (abolition of slavery)

• Liberty Leading the People:

  • Represents the Revolution of 1830 in France
  • Symbolizes freedom and democracy through various social classes
  • Emotionally charged with elements of suffering and revolution
  • Stylistic elements: diagonal lines, dynamic and dramatic scenes

• Romantic Art Characteristics:

  • Emphasizes color over line (expressive color)
  • Themes of nature and the sublime (nature's beauty and terror)
  • Reaction to Industrial Revolution; longing for nature

• The Oxbow (109):

  • American painting reflecting on nature vs. development
  • Political subtext about America's future direction

• Turner’s Works:

  • Known for political subtexts, especially abolition of slavery (e.g., Slave Ship)
  • Stylistically focused on color and near-abstraction

Architecture: Palace of Westminster

• 19th-century Gothic revival in the context of the Industrial Revolution
• Represents a return to "good old days"
• Gothic elements: verticality and spires

Realism

• The Stonebreakers by Courbet:
  • Represents realism by depicting real workers
  • Reflects the secular, worker-focused art of the time
  • Connection to workers' rights and emerging thoughts by figures like Karl Marx

Photography

• Emergence in the 1800s, impacting art significantly

• Key Themes:

  • Photographs resembling art (still lifes, portraits)
  • Debate over photography as art; some artists embrace it, others reject it

• Notable Works and Concepts:

  • Nadar's famous photograph—debate on photography as high art
  • Horse in Motion:
    • Series showing movement, significant for its artistic value

• Photography's Influence on Art:

  • Questioning realism vs. modern artistic expressions
  • Photography's role in changing the approach to art and leading into modernism

Conclusion

• Anticipation of modernism following the developments in Romanticism, Realism, and Photography