Romanticism & Realism

Caspar David Friedrich
(September 5, 1774 – May 7, 1840)

Portrait of Friedrich by Gerhard von Kuegelgen 1810-1820 and a self portrait in 1800 done when he was 26 whilst studying at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen. (Wikipedia 2011)

He was a German Romantic landscape painter and was considered to be the best of his time. He would often depict a person standing staring at a landscape. He loved to paint an eerie night sky, snowy bare forests and defined rays of sunlight. He had a strong interest in nature and so he would always paint that. There was always a hidden meaning behind each object in his painting. (artchive 2011)

He was born in Greifswald, a Swedish Pomeranian town. He studied art at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen (1794 till 1798) and then decided to live in Dresden. His paintings were often painted from memory. He had an incredible ability to accurately represent the sun’s rays that would reflect on the clouds and the water and the moon’s shimmery reflection on the ocean. These paintings were inspired by the Baltic Sea, a place he would often visit. No one had ever painted these scenes with such accuracy and emotion. (artchive, ibiblio 2011)

His painting would often depict the Rueckenfigur, which is German for back figure, meaning a person seen from the back looking at the view in front of them. This enables you, the viewer, to put yourself into the Rueckenfigur’s place and allows you to admire the view. Like many of his pieces his landscapes always had a hidden meaning, some of them were even religious meanings. Friedrich said” The artist should paint not only what he sees before him, but also what he sees within him. If, however, he sees nothing within him, then he should also refrain from painting that which he sees before him. Otherwise, his pictures will be like those folding screens behind which one expects to find only the sick or the dead."(dalihouse, Wikipedia, Börsch-Supan 1974, pp. 7–8)

There are various paintings where he had a fascination with religion. He would express his feelings towards Christianity, which often raised a few eyebrows. In the Cross in the Mountains painting, he felt that the mountains represented an immovable faith and the fir trees represented hope. (ibiblio 2011)

Wanderer Above the Sea Fog (1818)

This painting shows a typical figure viewing the landscape. It is unsure if this Wanderer (Hiker) is lost or if he is simply contemplating nature. His hair is swept by the wind, he has a coat on and is holding a walking stick. The Fog looks mystical and almost wild and in the distance are rocks like the ones he is standing on and trees that peer out of the fog. In the distance are mountains that are faint but visible. The rocks could be obstacles the man needs to overcome in order to reach those distant mountains. (hoocher, wikipedia 2011)

Chalk Cliffs on Rügen, (1818)

On January 1818 Friedrich married Caroline Bommer and they had 3 children. Although Friedrich would not admit that his marriage had an impact on his work, it is noticeable that at this time, especially this painting the Chalk Cliffs of Ruegen, which was painted after their honeymoon, that the colours are brighter and more joyful. There are more people in the painting. It could mean that Friedrich has changed his point of view now that he has a wife and children. (hoocher 2011)

Friedrich would use certain parts of his sketches, put them together and then create a painting that would not exactly look like the actual place. The 2 trees on the top of the painting are bent inwards almost as if they are reaching to touch each other. The man in the center is Friedrich himself, his hat looks like it has fallen of or just been layed to the side. He is trying to hold on to the grass. The steep drop in front of him symbolizes death. The man to the right is his brother Christian, he is supporting himself against the tree in order not to fall. He is gazing far out at sea. The 2 sailboats draw your eyes to look far out at the sea and see the horizon. The woman wearing the red dress, Caroline Bommer, is holding onto a small bush so that she does not fall down the steep slope. She is pointing down and this is what Friedrich is trying to look at. (aaronartprints, hoocher 2011)

The colours of the clothes have also got a hidden meaning. Friedrich is wearing blue symbolizing faith, Caroline is wearing red a symbol for love and Christian is wearing green meaning hope. This could represent the 3 Christian virtues: faith, hope and love. (Börsch-Supan 1987, p.118)

Cloister Cemetery in the Snow1817-19

Various landscapes covered with snow had already been depicted in some paintings in Europe, but not in the way that Friedrich did. He would paint it as bare and dead. This painting was destroyed in 1945 during the bombing of Berlin. The bare oaks surround the crumbled cloister. The oaks are leaning out as a pose to the remaining upright ruins of the church. This is a typical setting for a painting by Friedrich. The focus is on the central point, which is the church, creating the illusion of an altarpiece. (duke 2011)

Eugène Delacroix

(26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863)

Left is photograph by Nadar a famous French photographer at the time and on the right is self-portrait done in 1837.

He was born in a town near Paris. After losing both of his parents, he became an orphan at 16. Soon after he started studying art. Delacroix was a one of the most important French Romantic artists of his time. His brushstrokes were passionate and expressed certain emotions. He was fascinated with the science of optical effects of colour. Many were inspired by his art. (eugendelacroix, Wikipedia 2011)

Liberty Leading the People (1830)

This is one of Delacroix’s most famous paintings. It shows the Parisians clutching their guns and their swords ready to fight under the 3 coloured flag that stood for liberty, equality and fraternity. The woman who is a Greek goddess representing Liberty is in the middle. She distinctly brighter than the others. She is leading the people over the dead bodies. She has the flag in one hand and a weapon in the other. She shown as a woman of the people. The bodies she is standing on raise her high above anyone else. She no shoes and is wearing a goddess like robe that is revealing her breasts. She is coming forward and straight into the viewer’s sight. The guns and swords and the boy are all pointing towards her. There are people from all classes. The young man with the top hat, which is Delacroix himself, is from the upper class, there is the middle class and the boy who could come from the lower class. They all look very serious and are ready to fight. (WebMuseum, Wikipedia 2011)

Death of Sardanapalus (1827)

Delacroix used his inspiration from Lord Byron’s play Sardanapalus to paint this painting. It is inspired by the death of the last Assyrian king Sardanapalus. This painting shows a variety of over-dramatized emotions from anger and fear to lust and betrayal. There is so much going, you are forced to look at the horror taking place. The king stares blankly at the chaos unfolding below. He remains calm as he orders his guards to kill the servants, the prostitutes and the animals before he takes his own life. He has met defeat and does not want to lose his pride. The blank expression he has on his face is one commonly depicted in Romantisim paintings at the time. Our eye is drawn to the naked woman in the front, who shall have her throat cut against her will. The warm tones and vibrant brushstrokes make this painting exciting and gut-wrenching. You cannot help but stare. (the independent, Wikipedia 2011)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791 in Salzburg. He started composing at the early age of 5 and had his first publicly held performance. (Britannica 2011)

Ludwig van Beethoven 17 December 1770– 26 March 1827. He was considered a child prodigy. He too gave his first public performance at the young age of 7. (Beethoven 2011)

Realism and Realists

Realism began after the French Revolution in 1848. It was a reaction to Romanticism. They were against the over the top emotions of Romantisicm. Realism is where the artists would depict things the way they really were. They focused on depicting things accurately and mainly depicted people at work. They show everyday scenes in a true life way. This was also the age of the rise of photography and the Industrial Revolution.

The Realists 1800-1899 were a group of international artists in Paris, who started coming up with new methods of representation in paintings. They worked with the more scientific examples of vision and studied the visual effect of light on the subject matter and its background. The Realists stood for democracy and wanted to get rid of the old artistic tradition. The Realists encouraged artists to be inspired by what surrounded them. (Museum quality 2011)

So Realism is the movement and Realists are the artists that drove the movement.

Honoré Daumier

(February 26, 1808 – February 10, 1879)

He was born in Marseille. He was a French painter, a caricaturist, a sculptor and a printmaker. He is best known for his caricatures of political figures and his drawings were published in the local newspaper. Much like today when they draw those cartoons of Zuma and Julius Malema in the Cape Argus. He became interested in art from a young age, which his father was not to pleased about. His brushstrokes were strong and powerful in direction. He had the talent to capture the movement and gestures of his subject matter in his caricatures. He was a Naturalism painter, meaning he painted things the way they really were. He was almost blind by 1873. (limbiek, artchive, Britannica)

Le Wagon de troisième classe (The third-class wagon), 1864

This is a painting of a working class family. There are 3 generations being depicted: young, middle-aged and old. This could represent the cycle of human life. There are no men with them. This suggests they are making their way alone. You can see that life for the mother is tough, because she has many lines on her face. William Thomas Walters paid Daumier to do this painting. It is one of 3. First class, Second class and Third Class. The bush work is loose. The painting is unfinished. He is showing the daily stillness that takes part in a working class family’s life. The family has their backs to the other people, which shows that they are outcasts from society. The focus is on this family and you can see more of them than the rest of the passengers. There is a strong difference between light and dark. This family is on the move, but they do not know what awaits them where they arrive. (artble 2011)

The Burden (The Laundress). 1850-1853

This is a poor laundress with her child. The tone is harsh and fast-paced. The burden could be her child or it could be her laundry that is weighing down on her. This could represent her life that weighs down on her. It is so much to handle and she needs to take care of her child. The child is holding on to her mother to try and keep up with her. There is not much detail and this could show how the upper class never noticed the peasants and thought very little of them. The mother’s expression is clearer than the child. She looks worried and overwhelmed. She is worn out. They are running but we don’t know where too. The colours of the mother and child are similar to those of the background. This indicates that she has no joy in her life and she is fighting against the gust of wind. In this painting Daumier is more romantic in the sense that he is in sympathy with his subject matter. (arthermitage, the independent 2011)

Nadar Elevating Photography to the Height of Art, 1862.

Nadar Actually went in an air balloon and took the first photos of Paris. This lithograph print is a caricaturist comment on the success of photography 23 years after it was invented. There was a debate as to whether photography was a technical process or if it could be classed as art. When photography was first introduced to the public in 1839, it was seen as something magical. (cosmosclub 2011)

Lithography- the artist applies the drawing with a greasy crayon or paint, then the stone is wiped with water, he ink will only stick to the greasy surface. You have to put the reverse side of the image on the stone otherwise your image will print the wrong way round on your paper. (youtube 2011)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Secularization & Modernity. Resources. http://www.duke.edu/web/secmod/pfau/friedrich2.html

WesMuseum, Paris. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/friedrich/

The Artchive. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/F/friedrich.html

Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspar_David_Friedrich#cite_note-51

The Dali House. http://dalihouse.blogsome.com/2006/12/16/friedrich-lonely-and-old-but-what-wonderful-dreams

Hoocherus Populos Virginiae. Senex Magister. http://hoocher.com/Caspar_David_Friedrich/Caspar_David_Friedrich.htm

Aaron Art Prints. http://www.aaronartprints.org/friedrich-chalkcliffsonrugen.php

The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/great-works-the-death-of-sardanapalus-1827-eugegravene-delacroix-2015856.html

Britannica Encyclopedia. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/395455/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart

Beethoven’s Website. http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Bio/BiographyLudwig.html

Museum Quality. http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/c19th/realism.htm