Exploring the Romantic Era

 Romantic Era

    What makes art so unique is how everyone has different thoughts and ideas on what art is to them and what they enjoy. Exploring art is a very personal activity as your perception of a piece and the emotions you get from it are very different than what any other individual will experience. Since exploring paintings from the romantic era it was obvious to me that the romantic style was something which I gravitated towards. The backgrounds of these paintings often being scenic outdoor settings appeal to my likes in an art piece.

  Hudson River School

        The Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century American art movement that often displayed landscaped style paintings based off of the aesthetic vision from the romantic era. 

    The first piece displayed was created by Frederic Edwin Church in the year 1856. Church first sketch out this painting during an adventure through South America which saw him sketch many different pieces in his book. It wasn't until later in his New York studio where he put his sketch onto a larger scale composition. This piece has such a southing setting which is obvious from the colors used to the natural elements displayed. The initial emotion I get from this painting is a calming sense of vacation. This piece brings me back to when I was a young boy and went on vacation to Hawaii with my family where we took many hikes and saw many landscaped views. This piece reminds me of the times where I would be at the top of a mountain looking out on the rest of the land. The painting itself displayed many forms of natural beauty from the light sky, to the waterfall going through the rainforest, all the way to the palm trees which come through the painting's center. Church was able to use lines to create a sense of creating which often goes unnoticed by the viewer. For example, the lines at the beginning of the mountain show us how the mountain is in the distance far beyond the forest. 

    The second piece from the Hudson River School is a painting by the artist named Alber Bierstadt in the year 1863. It was during his trip to Wyoming where the artist got the inspiration for the piece but it wasn't until his return to New York where the painting came to life. It was later purchased in 1865 for the price of $25,000. This painting intrigues me because of the obvious difference in temperature displayed in the setting. In the front of the painting, we see a setting that is warm including wildlife and waterfalls. In this painting, I really appreciate the contrast in colors as it shows the obvious split between the two temperatures. The warmer settings show darker shades of greens and yellow which can be associated with fall colors, whereas the cold temperatures shown at the top are light shades of white and blue where often these colors are associated with the winter months. In contrast to this setting, we see snow-covered rocky mountains at the top of the mountains which show how the two extreme temperatures are displayed in the painting. Both of these settings are examples of how beauty can be seen in the Hudson River School paintings as landscaped pieces are what makes these paintings special. 

Realist Style

    Previously we looked at romanticism which is based on emotions and imagination whereas in these next paintings we will take a deeper look into the realistic style. This style is often described as more true to life events and present real events. In my taste in art, I prefer the romanticism view since I believe the beauty of art is using your imagination and taking your own perspective from a piece. 

    This painting by Gustave Courbert was created in 1854 and the painting is referred to as "The Wheat Sifters". It was first exhibited in Paris but nowadays the painting can be found in the art museums of Nantes. We can already see the difference in style as the subject matter in this painting is very dark and show a different perspective of which many people face. In the previous pieces, we saw the beauties of the earth through beautiful landscapes but in this piece, we see the everyday struggles which some people face with hunger and struggling to eat meals. In the painting, we see two women who look defeated in looking for food. We also see a young boy opening the cupboards helping his mother look for any sight of nutrients to help out. From this painting, I see the struggles that single mothers face while trying to provide for their families. In this painting, I am impressed how the artist has been able to show emotion by expressing the poor body language of the women. 

    In this last painting, we see "Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette" which was created by Vincent van Gogh. This was created between the years 1885-1886 and created while studying at the Academy of Antwerp. In this piece, we see the transparent reality of what we look like while smoking a cigarette. In this painting we see a much deeper meeting than just a skeleton smoking a cigarette but rather the message of how smoking is a deadly habit that takes many lives every year. What impresses me most about this piece was how precise the artist's brushes were to create shades and detail within the skeleton itself. The use of different shades and the light brushwork on the skull show exactly how detailed and impressive the painting really is. 

Sources: 

Church, Frederic Edwin. “South American Landscape.” Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/church-frederic-edwin/south-american-landscape.

Metmuseum.org, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10154.

Posted by The Artist Editorial, and The Artist Editorial. “25 Most Famous Realism Paintings and Artworks.” Popxartist, 9 May 2020, https://www.theartist.me/art-inspiration/25-most-famous-realism-paintings/.