Leino on Art

Compare the art of the Romantic period (early 19th century), the Age
of Realism (1850-71), and the pre-WWII period.

Throughout history art has directly mirrored social circumstances, a
trend clearly exhibited in the Romantic period, age of Realism, and in
the time between the two World Wars.

Romanticism

* Swept through Western Europe and the United States in the late 18th
and early 19th centuries.
* Term Romantic is derived from the romantic languages (French,
Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese) and from medieval tales of chivalry and
adventure written in those languages.
* Featured nostalgia for the past displayed in paintings of broken
sculptures and ruined buildings as a way to indicate passage of time.
* Romantics were interested in the mind as the site of mysterious,
unexplained and possibly dangerous phenomena. For the first time dreams
and nightmares were depicted as internal events rather than supernatural.
* There was a strong Christian strain in Romanticism associated with
the longing for a form of religious mysticism.
* Famous artists included Delacroix and Goya.

Realism

* The 19th century was an age of revolution and all the industrial
revolution and economic and social changes were depicted in art.
* Crafts were replaced by manufactured goods, and guilds were no
longer important to an artists training.
* The new social awareness was reflected in this art movement. The
term was coined in 1840 though the style itself appeared earlier.
* The primary concerns of the realist movement in art were direct
observation of society and nature, and political and social satire.
* Paintings often reflected the desire for a simple life but also the
mindless, repetitive character of physical labor born of poverty.
* Key artists were Courbet, Daumier, and Manet

Pre World War II

* This period was comprised of numerous movements including: Dada,
Surrealism, and Abstraction.
* Dada was an international artistic and literary movement that began
during WWI in neutral Switzerland. Dada was a sort of anti-art,
negating previous styles and challenged previous assumptions about art.
* Many members of the Dada movement became enamored by the surrealist
movement. The term surreal connotes a higher reality; a state of being
that is more real than mere appearance.
* Man Ray and Salvatore Dali were two of the biggest surrealists.
* Nearly all abstractionists passed through the surrealist phase and
were interested in the unconscious effects on reality.