Caspar David Friedrich's figure gazing across the mountain tops could just as easily be contemplating the meaning of death (an equally Romantic theme). Friedrich's mother died when he was seven.
AI will always lack emotion, and that most human characteristic, weirdness. However, emotion is not highly prized. Photography replaced portrait painting, and portrait painting is largely a lost skill.
Tolstoy's War and Peace, serialized in 1865, is an exploration of Romanticism, by subject and example.
Hi! I read this post and became curious about the differences between Romanticism and the Arts & Crafts movement. Romanticism, as I understand from this piece, is defined as a movement in late 18th c. art and literature that rebelled against industrialization in favor of nature and the Sublime. The arts and crafts movement, although occurring in the mid-19th c., was also a product of rebellion against the Industrial Revolution - albeit one that occurred more through an object-focused / process-focused lens than the Romantic movement. As I understood it, the arts & crafts movement was focused more on the individuality of the maker (political), while the Romantic movement was more about aesthetics. Maybe the general idea you describe - rising interest in artistic integrity - is simply integral within both movements? Would love to learn more about the differences & why you highlighted Romanticism vs. Arts & Crafts! Thanks very much.
Great question! There is indeed some overlap! Like you, I would make the distinction on the basis that Arts and Crafts (19th C) was more about material and societal reform, while Romanticism was more about philosophy, emotion, and the individual artist’s vision (18th C). I’ve included texts that span both, simply because there is so much commonality between them.
I'll absolutely do Blake. The idea of "the sublime" had been abandoned since the Ancient times. It was the Romantics who brought it back, even if with a slightly different perspective.
Thanks for this reading list. I'm especially looking forward to the Fuseli. As for the New Romanticism as a reaction against AI: AI may have some small influence on the burgeoning neo-romanticism, but NR has been building for a lot longer than AI has been available. The new Romanticism is a way of reconnecting us to life away from digitalization/mechanization, and possibly also a natural reaction to dramatic physical threats to our environment. New Romanticism builds on a nostalgia for the old Romanticism,. The old Romanticism, at least in Germany, was very much a real movement--not of painters (Friedrich was an outlier) but of thinkers and poets. Goethe was a fence-rider between Classicism and Romanticism. He admired many of the young Jena thinkers (and probably wished he was young enough to join them). But he missed the point of Monk by the Sea completely--giving away his age and true 'colors'.
You are right that the transitions between 'Neoclassicism' and 'Romanticism' are not so clear-cut. In fact, it's hard to properly define what Romanticism even is...! In this article I'm mainly interested in art writing, and I think Goethe's affective and intuitive reading of colours fit nicely into that frame. However, I totally get your point. Thanks so much for reading <3
I'm glad you included Theory of Colours. According to Johann Eckermann in his 'Conversations with Goethe', that was the work that Goethe felt most sensitive about when it came to criticism. Eckermann questioned one aspect of the theory--and caused a temporary rift in their friendship. Goethe couldn't care less if one criticised Faust, for instance, but Theory of Colours was another story.
I’m a bit dyslexic - putting that down to my creative side. But I’ve never admitted to it - even when I did my English MA - it seemed weakness to ask for the free extra editing. But what my word blindness means is that I read very quickly - recognising the pattern of the whole word, as an Egyptian might recognise a complex hieroglyph, rather than spelling it out c-a-t like. Most genetic anomalies have positive and negative effects.
These days I don’t let fear of misspelling stop me!
Caspar David Friedrich's figure gazing across the mountain tops could just as easily be contemplating the meaning of death (an equally Romantic theme). Friedrich's mother died when he was seven.
AI will always lack emotion, and that most human characteristic, weirdness. However, emotion is not highly prized. Photography replaced portrait painting, and portrait painting is largely a lost skill.
Tolstoy's War and Peace, serialized in 1865, is an exploration of Romanticism, by subject and example.
We need to reprioritise emotion and common feeling, absolutely!
Thank you so much for all this, and especially for the reading list!
Glad to help!
Hi! I read this post and became curious about the differences between Romanticism and the Arts & Crafts movement. Romanticism, as I understand from this piece, is defined as a movement in late 18th c. art and literature that rebelled against industrialization in favor of nature and the Sublime. The arts and crafts movement, although occurring in the mid-19th c., was also a product of rebellion against the Industrial Revolution - albeit one that occurred more through an object-focused / process-focused lens than the Romantic movement. As I understood it, the arts & crafts movement was focused more on the individuality of the maker (political), while the Romantic movement was more about aesthetics. Maybe the general idea you describe - rising interest in artistic integrity - is simply integral within both movements? Would love to learn more about the differences & why you highlighted Romanticism vs. Arts & Crafts! Thanks very much.
Great question! There is indeed some overlap! Like you, I would make the distinction on the basis that Arts and Crafts (19th C) was more about material and societal reform, while Romanticism was more about philosophy, emotion, and the individual artist’s vision (18th C). I’ve included texts that span both, simply because there is so much commonality between them.
I'll absolutely do Blake. The idea of "the sublime" had been abandoned since the Ancient times. It was the Romantics who brought it back, even if with a slightly different perspective.
Yes that is so true! Enjoy Blake <3
Thanks for this reading list. I'm especially looking forward to the Fuseli. As for the New Romanticism as a reaction against AI: AI may have some small influence on the burgeoning neo-romanticism, but NR has been building for a lot longer than AI has been available. The new Romanticism is a way of reconnecting us to life away from digitalization/mechanization, and possibly also a natural reaction to dramatic physical threats to our environment. New Romanticism builds on a nostalgia for the old Romanticism,. The old Romanticism, at least in Germany, was very much a real movement--not of painters (Friedrich was an outlier) but of thinkers and poets. Goethe was a fence-rider between Classicism and Romanticism. He admired many of the young Jena thinkers (and probably wished he was young enough to join them). But he missed the point of Monk by the Sea completely--giving away his age and true 'colors'.
You are right that the transitions between 'Neoclassicism' and 'Romanticism' are not so clear-cut. In fact, it's hard to properly define what Romanticism even is...! In this article I'm mainly interested in art writing, and I think Goethe's affective and intuitive reading of colours fit nicely into that frame. However, I totally get your point. Thanks so much for reading <3
I'm glad you included Theory of Colours. According to Johann Eckermann in his 'Conversations with Goethe', that was the work that Goethe felt most sensitive about when it came to criticism. Eckermann questioned one aspect of the theory--and caused a temporary rift in their friendship. Goethe couldn't care less if one criticised Faust, for instance, but Theory of Colours was another story.
Sorry I spelled your name wrongly in my re-stack. Will try harder next time. Great essay.
I didn’t even notice!! Thanks for reading 🥰
I’m a bit dyslexic - putting that down to my creative side. But I’ve never admitted to it - even when I did my English MA - it seemed weakness to ask for the free extra editing. But what my word blindness means is that I read very quickly - recognising the pattern of the whole word, as an Egyptian might recognise a complex hieroglyph, rather than spelling it out c-a-t like. Most genetic anomalies have positive and negative effects.
These days I don’t let fear of misspelling stop me!
I’m totally seeing the parallels, Rebecca. Thank you for the links, looking forward to exploring them!💕
Caspar David Friedrich, that’s the epitome of Romanticism to me. Human vs world. Sailing on a sea of fog…
You might like some of Ted Gioia’s writing, he’s been saying the same things about Romanticism. Also has a lot of solid reading picks. 🙏