Romanticism

Romanticism arose as a passionate reaction against Neoclassical rationalism and the dehumanizing forces of industrialization. Where Neoclassicism valued reason, order, and classical models, Romanticism celebrated emotion, imagination, and the sublime power of untamed nature. Turner dissolved the visible world into veils of light and color; Friedrich placed solitary figures before vast, overwhelming landscapes; Delacroix painted scenes of violent passion and exotic splendor.

Goya, who bridges Neoclassicism and Romanticism, created the most psychologically extreme images of the era, from the savage Disasters of War to the nightmarish Black Paintings. Constable's revolutionary plein-air landscapes influenced the entire subsequent development of French painting. The Romantic movement established the modern idea of the artist as a visionary outsider, creating from personal inspiration rather than academic convention. It is an idea that still shapes our understanding of artistic creation.