Late 18th Century to Mid 19th Century
Romanticism might best be described as anti-Classicism. A reaction against
Neoclassicism,
it is a deeply-felt style which is individualistic, beautiful, exotic, and
emotionally wrought. Although Romanticism and Neoclassicism were
philosophically opposed, they were the dominant European styles for
generations, and many artists were affected to a greater or lesser degree
by both. Artists might work in both styles at different times or even mix
the styles, creating an intellectually Romantic work using a Neoclassical
visual style, for example.
Great artists closely associated with
Romanticism include
J.M.W. Turner,
Caspar David Friedrich,
John Constable, and
William Blake.
In the United States, the leading Romantic movement was the
Hudson River School
of dramatic landscape painting. Obvious successors of Romanticism include the
Pre-Raphaelite
movement and the
Symbolists. But
Impressionism,
and through it almost all of 20th century art, is also firmly rooted in
the Romantic tradition.