Revolutions in the Arts
Ch.8 Sec.4
Romanticism
 Movement that reflected deep
interest both in nature and in the
thoughts and feelings of the
individual.
 Enlightenment idea of reason gave
way to this movement in art and
ideas.
Characteristics
 Emphasized inner feelings, emotions, and
imagination
 Focused on mysterious, supernatural, exotic,
grotesque, or horrifying
 Idealized the past as simpler and nobler time
 Glorified heroes and heroic actions
 Cherished folk traditions, music, and stories
 Valued common people and the individual
 Promoted radical change and democracy
Romanticism Expressions
 Poetry- to romantics poetry was the highest
form of expression
 Writing- novels, fairytales, and gothic novels
 Music- emotion dominated the music
produced by romantic composers.
 Paintings- depicted romanticism ideas
Poetry
 British poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor
Coleridge honored nature as the source of truth and
beauty
 Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote poems
celebrating heroes, love, and the beauty of nature.
“She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.”
-Lord Byron (1788-1824)
Writing- Romantics
 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Wrote The Sorrows of
Young Werther that
detailed a man’s
hopeless love for a
married woman that
leads him to suicide.
 Victor Hugo

Wrote romantic works that
reflected fascination with
history and the individual.
Hunchback of Notre Dameshows the struggles of
individuals against a hostile
and oppressive society
Writing
Fairytales
 Jakob and Wilhelm
Grimm- inspired by
romanticism, they
collected German
fairytales and created a
dictionary.
 Fairytales were not
suitable for children, but
have been changed
over the years


Little Red Riding
Hood
Hansel and Gretel
Writing- Gothic Novels
 Gothic horror stories
that took place in
medieval Gothic
castles.
 Filled with fearful,
violent, and
supernatural events
 Mary Shelley wrote one
of the earliest and most
successful gothic horror
stories......Frankenstein!
Music
 Composers moved away from the tightly controlled,
formal compositions of the Enlightenment period.
 They celebrated heroism and national pride as music
became part of middle-class life


Guiseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner brought
European opera to a dramatic and theatrical high point.
Ludwig van Beethoven
 Went from classical to romantic compositions
 Ninth Symphony soars, celebrating freedom, dignity,
and the triumph of the human spirit.
Paintings
 In their eagerness to
explore emotion,
romantic artists had
certain favorite
subjects: nature, love,
religion, and
nationalism
 Eugene Delacroix
Realism
 Mid 19th century was affected by rapid
industrialization.
 Growing class of industrial workers lived grim
lives in dirty, crowded cities.
 Industrialization made romantic dreams
pointless.
 In literature and visual arts, realism showed
life as it was, not as it should be.
Realism- Photography
 Technological advancements allowed for mass
distribution of photos that gained a wide audience.
Realism-Writing
 Depicted actual events in life that would allow
more details to be revealed.
 Charles Dickens

Described London’s working poor.
 Emile Zola


Novels exposed miseries of French workers in
small shops, factories, and coal mines.
Shock readers and sparked reforms of labor laws
in France
Realism-Paintings
 Painters portrayed everyday life as it was
 Gustave Courbet
 The Stone Breakers
Impressionism
 Beginning in the 1860s, painters in Paris
reacted to the realist style.
 Tried to show their impression of a subject or
moment in time.
 Used pure, shimmering colors to capture a
moment seen at a glance.
Impressionism-Paintings
 Showed a more positive
view of urban society
 Instead of abused
workers, they showed
shop clerks and dock
workers enjoying
themselves

Claude Monet
Impressionism-Music
 Composers used different combinations of
instruments, tone patterns, and music
structures to make listens feel the mood.


Ex: feel a warm summer day, or the sight of the
sea
Composers- Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy