French Romantic painting  

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 +[[Image:The Raft of the Medusa (1818-19, Le Radeau de la Méduse) is a painting by the French painter Théodore Géricault.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[The Raft of the Medusa]]'' (1819) by [[Théodore Géricault]]]]
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-:''[[French Romanticism]]'' 
-[[French]] [[Romanticism]] was [[epitomized]] by [[Victor Hugo]] (''[[Hernani]]'', 1830 and the preface to ''[[Cromwell (play)|Cromwell]]'', 1827) in literature, [[Delacroix]] (''[[Raft of the Medusa]]'', 1819 and ''[[Death of Sardanapalus]]'', 1827) in painting. A key work to understand [[French Romanticism]] is [[Baudelaire]]'s art and literary criticism anthologized in ''[[L'Art romantique]]''.+'''French Romantic painting''' is [[epitomized]] by two paintings: [[Théodore Géricault]]'s ''[[Raft of the Medusa]]'' (1819) and [[Eugène Delacroix]]'s ''[[Death of Sardanapalus]]'' (1827), two paintings about [[death]].
-== Key figures ==+==Background==
-* [[Alexandre Dumas, père]] (writer)+The [[French Revolution]] and the [[Napoleonic wars]] brought great changes to the arts in France. The program of exaltation and mythification of the Emperor [[Napoleon I of France]] was closely coordinated in the paintings of [[Gros]] and [[Guérin]].
-* [[Charles-Valentin Alkan]] (composer)+
-* [[Hector Berlioz]] (composer)+
-* [[Georges Bizet]] (composer)+
-* [[François-René de Chateaubriand]] (writer)+
-* [[Eugène Delacroix]] (painter)+
-* [[Théophile Gautier]] (poet) +
-* [[Theodore Gericault]] (painter)+
-* [[Victor Hugo]] (poet, novelist, dramatist)+
-* [[Alphonse de Lamartine]] (poet)+
-* [[Alfred de Musset]] (poet)+
-* [[Charles Nodier]], (writer), leader of the Romanticist movement+
-* [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] (philosophic grounds)+
-* [[George Sand]] (novelist)+
-* [[Stendhal]] (novelist)+
-* [[Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc]] (architect)+
-* [[Honoré de Balzac]] (novelist)+
-* [[Alfred de Vigny]] (poet)+
-== Literature ==+Meanwhile, [[Orientalism]], [[Egyptian motifs]], the tragic [[anti-hero]], the sublime and the wild landscape, the [[historical novel]] and scenes from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, all these elements of [[Romanticism]] created a vibrant period that defies easy classification.
-[[French literature of the 19th century|French literature from the first half of the 19th century]] was dominated by [[Romanticism]] -- associated with such authors as [[Victor Hugo]], [[Alexandre Dumas, père]], [[François-René de Chateaubriand]], [[Alphonse de Lamartine]], [[Gérard de Nerval]], [[Charles Nodier]], [[Alfred de Musset]], [[Théophile Gautier]] and [[Alfred de Vigny]] -- and their revolutionary work in all genres (theater, poetry, prose fiction). The effect of the romantic movement would continue to be felt in the latter half of the century in wildly diverse literary developments, such as "[[realism]]", "[[symbolism]]", and the so-called [[fin de siècle]] [[decadent movement|"decadent" movement]].+One also finds in the early period of the 19th century a repeat of the debate carried on in the 17th between the supporters of [[Rubens and Poussin]]: there are defenders of the "line" as found in [[Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres]], and the violent colors and curves as found in [[Eugène Delacroix]]. The comparison is however somewhat false, for Ingres' intense realism sometimes gives way to amazing voluptuousness in his [[Turkish bath]] scenes.
 +==Shift towards Naturalism and Symbolism==
 +The Romantic tendencies continued throughout the century: both idealized landscape painting and [[Naturalism (arts)|Naturalism]] have their seeds in Romanticism: both [[Gustave Courbet]] and the [[Barbizon school]] are logical developments, as is too the late 19th century [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]] of such painters at [[Gustave Moreau]] (the professor of Matisse and Rouault) or [[Odilon Redon]].
-French romanticism is a highly eclectic phenomenon. It includes an interest in the [[historical novel]], the [[romance (genre)|romance]], traditional myths (and nationalism) and the "roman noir" (or [[Gothic novel]]), lyricism, [[sentimentalism]], descriptions of the natural world (such as [[Elegy|elegies]] by lakes) and the common man, [[exoticism]] and [[orientalism]], and the myth of the romantic hero. Foreign influences played a big part in this, especially those of [[Shakespeare]], Sir [[Walter Scott]], [[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Byron]], [[Goethe]], and [[Friedrich Schiller]]. French Romanticism had ideals diametrically opposed to French classicism and the classical unities (see [[French literature of the 17th century]]), but it could also express a profound loss for aspects of the pre-revolutionary world in a society now dominated by money and fame, rather than honor.+== Key figures ==
- +* [[Eugène Delacroix]] (1798-1863)
-Key ideas from early French Romanticism:+* [[Auguste-Barthélemy Glaize]]
-* "le vague des passions" (waves of sentiment and passion) - Chateaubriand maintained that while the imagination was rich, the world was cold and empty, and rationalism and civilization had only robbed men of their illusions; nevertheless, a notion of sentiment and passion continued to haunt men.+* [[Eugène Devéria]]
-* "le mal du siècle" (the pain of the century) - a sense of loss, disillusion, and [[aporia]], typified by [[melancholy]] and lassitude.+* [[Pierre-Paul Prud'hon]]
- +* [[Théodore Chassériau]]
-Romanticism in England and Germany largely predate French romanticism, although one finds a kind of "pre-romanticism" in the works of [[Étienne Pivert de Senancour|Senancour]] and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] (among others) at the end of the 18th century. French Romanticism took definite form in the works of [[François-René de Chateaubriand]] and [[Benjamin Constant]] and in [[Madame de Staël]]'s interpretation of Germany as the land of romantic ideals. It found early expression also in the sentimental poetry of [[Alphonse de Lamartine]].+* [[Frederick Antal]]
- +===[[Romanticism]]===
-The major battle of romanticism in France was fought in the theater. The early years of the century were marked by a revival of classicism and classical-inspired tragedies, often with themes of national sacrifice or patriotic heroism in keeping with the spirit of the Revolution, but the production of [[Victor Hugo]]'s ''[[Hernani]]'' in 1830 marked the triumph of the romantic movement on the stage (a description of the turbulent opening night can be found in Théophile Gautier). The [[Three unities|dramatic unities]] of time and place were abolished, tragic and comic elements appeared together and metrical freedom was won. Marked by the plays of [[Friedrich Schiller]], the romantics often chose subjects from historic periods (the [[French Renaissance]], the reign of [[Louis XIII of France]]) and doomed noble characters (rebel princes and outlaws) or misunderstood artists (Vigny's play based on the life of [[Thomas Chatterton]]).+*[[Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson]] (1767-1824)
- +*[[Antoine-Jean Gros]] (1771-1835)
-Victor Hugo was the outstanding genius of the Romantic School and its recognized leader. He was prolific alike in poetry, drama, and fiction. Other writers associated with the movement were the austere and pessimistic [[Alfred de Vigny]], [[Théophile Gautier]] a devotee of beauty and creator of the "[[Art for art's sake]]" movement, and [[Alfred de Musset]], who best exemplifies romantic melancholy. All three also wrote novels and short stories, and Musset won a belated success with his plays. [[Alexandre Dumas, père]] wrote ''[[The Three Musketeers]]'' and other romantic novels in an historical setting. [[Prosper Mérimée]] and [[Charles Nodier]] were masters of shorter fiction. [[Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve]], a literary critic, showed romantic expansiveness in his hospitality to all ideas and in his unfailing endeavour to understand and interpret authors rather than to judge them.+*[[Pierre Narcisse Guérin]] (1771-1833)
- +*[[Theodore Gericault|Théodore Géricault]] (1791-1824)
-Romanticism is associated with a number of literary salons and groups: the Arsenal (formed around [[Charles Nodier]] at the Arsenal Library in Paris from 1824-1844 where Nodier was administrator), the Cénacle (formed around Nodier, then Hugo from 1823-1828), the salon of [[Louis Charles Delescluze]], the salon of Antoine (or Antony) Deschamps, the salon of [[Madame de Staël]].+*[[Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot]] (1796-1875)
- +*[[Eugène Delacroix]] (1798-1863)
-Romanticism in France defied political affiliation: one finds both "liberal" (like [[Stendhal]]), "conservative" (like [[François-René de Chateaubriand|Chateaubriand]]) and socialist ([[George Sand]]) strains.+*[[Théodore Rousseau]] (1812-1867)
 +*[[Jean-François Millet]] (1814-1875)
 +*[[Théodore Chassériau]] (1819-1856)
 +*[[Gustave Doré]] (1832-1883)
== See also == == See also ==
-[[French literature of the 19th century]]+*[[French Romanticism]]
 +*[[Romantic painting]]''
 +*[[French art of the 19th century]]
 +*See also [[French Revolution]], [[Napoleon I of France]], [[Victor Hugo]], [[orientalism]].
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French Romantic painting is epitomized by two paintings: Théodore Géricault's Raft of the Medusa (1819) and Eugène Delacroix's Death of Sardanapalus (1827), two paintings about death.

Contents

Background

The French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars brought great changes to the arts in France. The program of exaltation and mythification of the Emperor Napoleon I of France was closely coordinated in the paintings of Gros and Guérin.

Meanwhile, Orientalism, Egyptian motifs, the tragic anti-hero, the sublime and the wild landscape, the historical novel and scenes from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, all these elements of Romanticism created a vibrant period that defies easy classification.

One also finds in the early period of the 19th century a repeat of the debate carried on in the 17th between the supporters of Rubens and Poussin: there are defenders of the "line" as found in Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, and the violent colors and curves as found in Eugène Delacroix. The comparison is however somewhat false, for Ingres' intense realism sometimes gives way to amazing voluptuousness in his Turkish bath scenes.

Shift towards Naturalism and Symbolism

The Romantic tendencies continued throughout the century: both idealized landscape painting and Naturalism have their seeds in Romanticism: both Gustave Courbet and the Barbizon school are logical developments, as is too the late 19th century Symbolism of such painters at Gustave Moreau (the professor of Matisse and Rouault) or Odilon Redon.

Key figures

Romanticism

See also




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