by David Brown (Author), David Brown (Author)
Romanticism was a way of feeling rather than a style in art. In the period c.1775-1830 - against the background of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars - European artists, poets and composers initiated their own rebellion against the dominant political, religious and social ethos of the day. Their quest was for personal expression and individual liberation and, in the process, the Romantics transformed the idea of art, seeing it as an instrument of social and psychological change.
In this comprehensive volume, David Blayney Brown takes a thematic approach to Romanticism, relating it to the concurrent, more stylistic movements of Neoclassicism and the Gothic Revival, and discussing its relationship with the political and social developments of the era. He not only looks at how artists as diverse as Goya, Delacroix, Friedrich and Turner responded to landscapes or depicted historical events, but also examines artists such as David and Ingres who are not usually considered Romantics. As a result, the reader is given a clear understanding of a complex movement that produced some of the greatest European art, literature and music.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 450
Edition: 1
Publisher: Phaidon
Published: 20 Aug 2001
ISBN 10: 0714834432
ISBN 13: 9780714834436
On the Art & Ideas series
Art & Ideas has broken new ground in making accessible authoritative views on periods, movements and concepts in art. As a series it represents a real advance in publishing. -Sir Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate London
The format is wonderful and offers what had long been missing in academic studies: usable manuals for specific themes or periods... I am definitely not alone in welcoming Art & Ideas as a precious set of teaching tools. -Joachim Pissarro, Yale University
Phaidon's series may prove to be the pick of the crop. It boasts expert but undogmatic texts and a wealth of illustrations. -The Sunday Telegraph