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Sharon Tong
Professor Range
ENC 1102
21 March 2014
Romantic Influence in the Development of Modern Art
Modern art, also known as 20th century art, was shaped by a number of movements and
artists who made pioneering innovations; Romanticism was one of these movements whose
artists had a profound influence on its development.
Romanticism, unlike any other art movement preceding it, was characterized by
creativity, exaggeration, and more importantly, emotional intensity. Its artists rejected
Enlightenment principles of reason and logic and favored the exotic and irrational. Harnessing
the power of imagination to escape from the norm was especially important to Romanticists.
Common themes that can be found in their artworks included self-glorification of the individual
and the struggle of the individual against the power of nature (Galitz). Because nature was a
reoccurring subject, color was primarily used to convey emotion and detailed brushstrokes were
used for clarifying the artists message to the viewer.
One of the most influential artists of the Romantic era was Francisco de Goya (1746-
1828), a former court painter to the Spanish Crown whose style was characterized by its
imaginative and morbid subject matter
1
(Hughs). He was the last of the Old Masters
2
and the first
of the moderns. He strongly believed that the artist's vision was far more important than that of
the patron; he felt that his imagination and expression were restrained by the dictation of others,

1
In 1792, Goya fell into an illness that cost him his mental health and hearing for the rest of his
life. He became isolated and had visions and nightmares of demons and supernatural figures that
he decided to paint in order to control them (Hughs).
2
Old Master: a European painter of skill who worked before the 19th century (Dictionary.com).
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so he was the first to break away from that convention by concealing some of his own beliefs
into his artworks (Verd). These beliefsoften times revolutionarywere greatly influenced by
how he viewed the society he lived in and the people that lived within it: a dark sphere where
terrible, unimaginable things occurred (Hughs).

Francisco de Goya, A Pilgrimage to San Isidro, 1819-23. Oil on plaster mounted on canvas, 55.1 x
172.4 inches, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Many of Goyas artworks were reactions to contemporary life, which sets him apart from
other Romantic artists. His Caprices are excellent examples of this. They were experimental
prints that condemned the foolishness, mistakes, superstitions, and prejudices that can be found
in any civilized society (Hughs). The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters is the most iconic of
these prints. It portrays Goya himself, asleep on his workbench amidst his drawing tools, while
creatures that prowl in the dark surround him. What is fascinating about this subject is that not
only does Goya express his disdain for corrupt societies, but he forces the viewer to share his
nightmare as well; all the creatures in the image can be seen facing him, whereas one of them is
facing the audience from the center. This decision on Goyas part allows him to further connect
with his audience and promote enlightened ideas without straying too far from Romantic ones
(Schaefer). He was certainly a master of subversion: undermining the conventions of his society
without direct opposition.
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Francisco de Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, 1799. Etching, aquatint, drypoint, and
burin, 8.4 x 5.9 inches, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

On that note, he also became the first war reporter in art during the Napoleonic Wars, in
which the French Emperor forcefully seized the capital of Spain and provoked intense rebellions
from its inhabitants (Hughs). During this time of political upheaval, Goya worked on a
monumental series of etchings entitled The Disasters of War. They complemented and concluded
his work on the Caprices (Verd). He wanted these etchings to exhibit the illusion of being an
eyewitness to horrific events and expose the truth of war, whether the public liked it or not; this
was long before the camera was invented, so this meant that he was the first to innovate pictorial
journalism and was a father figure to war photographers (Hughs).

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Francisco de Goya, The Third of May, 1808. Oil on canvas, 105 x 160 inches, Museo del Prado,
Madrid.

The Third of May is acclaimed as one of the greatest paintings of all time, and has even
been called the worlds first modern painting (Zappella). It depicts a group of Madrid rebels
surrounded by armed French soldiers. In the center of the conflict, a man in white can be seen
with his arms spread protectively in front of his fellow citizens. The composition of the painting
consists of a distinct lighting that is primarily focused on the group of rebels, leaving the soldiers
bathed in the darkness of the landscape. The focus of the lighting also aids in creating a spiritual
effect as well given the stance of the man in white. As a result, this man is often interpreted as a
Christ-figure by many art critics when taking the context of the painting into consideration as
well as the color of his shirt, the size of his figure, and the lighting erd. Unlike the typical
Romantic portrayal of heroism, the man in this painting is not sacrificing his life for heroics, but
rather for his people and his country as can be deciphered by the sadness in his expression. The
landscape is also indistinguishable and its natural power reduced, therefore marking a timeless
message to viewers that violence born from human brutality can exist at any given setting
(Zappella).
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Goya was certainly an artist ahead of his time. He spread the Romantic ideals of
freedom, individuality, and imagination across various audiences. Some of these audience
members further embraced the Romantic Movement, whereas others opposed it, forming what
eventually became known as Realism. In contrast to ideal portrayals of people and places,
Realism sought to convey a truthful and objective vision of contemporary life (Finocchio). It
was essentially a reaction to Romanticism. douard Manet was one of the leading artists of this
movement, but it cannot be denied that he was influenced by Goya and his innovations. In the
mid-1800s, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria (also known as the Emperor of Mexico) was
executed by a rebel firing squad, Manet, in reaction to this tragedy, commemorated the event in a
manner strikingly similar to that of Goya: a group of victims on the left and wrongdoers on the
right with an indistinct background. One critic wrote, "We are constantly reminded of the
Spanish master, Goya, and in nothing more than in the little group of children, daubed in, we
might say, but in a most effective manner Brennecke).

douard Manet, Execution of the Emperor Maximilian, 1867-69. Oil on canvas, 99.2 x 120.1 inches,
Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim.

Besides Manet, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), the most recognized artist of the 20
th
century,
also drew great inspiration from the Romantic master as well. It is clearly evident that Picassos
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painting Massacre in Korea was heavily based on Goyas Third of May. In Picassos version, a
group of pregnant women and a child (on the left) are cornered by mechanical-like armed
soldiers targeting their guns (on the right). This indicates that the soldiers represent the
destruction of humanity, ending the cycle of life. The color scheme of his painting, the black and
white colors coupled with the characters give off a bleak and hopeless atmosphere.

Pablo Picasso, Massacre in Korea, 1951. Oil on plywood, 43.3 x 82.7 inches, Muse National Picasso,
Paris.

Amber Stitt, a Ph.D. candidate of Art History, describes Picassos intentions as both an
artist and a citizen of his country in a way that further reinforces the connections between him
and Goya:
When the decision exists between pleasing his party and creating challenging,
innovative art, Picasso chooses the latter. And when his style grows too
constrained by political agendas, he distances himself from the people who stifle
his creative impulse. Picasso is an artist for whom politics are another temporary
tool of self-discovery - just like his friends, his women, and his environment. He
is not a "political artist," not an illustrator of the ideas of others. He is "God," a
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creator, the artist who uses human struggles and interactions to create a prolific
visual world all of his own.
All three of these paintings may appear different in color and form, and only similar in
composition, but they are united in their purpose and tonality; they were reactions to atrocities
that were committed during their respective times and tell viewers of civilians or specific groups
of people being murdered and oppressed by warlike forces and display the grief that results from
such darkness. At the same time, they were tools used to aid their artists in their own self-
expression, a Romantic quality.
Joseph Mallord William JMW Turner (1775-1851) was another great Romantic artist
who was a pivotal figure in the development of modern art. He was considered as a typical
Romantic much more than Goya was, given his work of trade as a landscape painter. What set
him apart from other landscapists though, was his artistic innovation of light. In the 1810s and
1820s, he produced a series of watercolors by layering blocks of color by contrast (light and
dark) that challenged many assumptions of contemporary color theory. The watercolors' light-
filled, expressionistic appearance reflects this innovative technique. To create details, Turner
scraped, blotted, and wiped the paint while it was still wet and scratched into or drew on dry
surfaces (Barker). His paintings were luminous and atmospheric as a result, focusing more on
lighting than natural details. In addition, he also used color to intensify emotion in portraying the
passing of events (Dorment).
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway, 1844. Oil on
canvas, 91.0 x 121.8 cm, National Gallery, London.

According to Paul Brians, professor of Art History at Washington State University, the
Romantics cultivated sensitivity to nature. It came to be felt that to muse by a stream, to view a
thundering waterfall or even confront a rolling desert could be morally improving. Turners
paintings truly captured the essence of nature by translating contemporary scenes into a light-
filled expression of his own romantic feelings.
Because of his innovation of light, he contributed to the modern movement of
Impressionism, which got its name from the sketch-like appearance of its paintings through
reflective light. They appeared as the impressions (rough drafts) of the artist, indicating what
direction the artist might take a painting. Because the style at the time involved much detail and
form (with the exception of Turner, who moved away from that convention), impressionism was
a revolutionary movement. Popular subjects included images of leisure outside of Paris, as well
as landscapes (Samu). Claude Monet, the famous French Impressionist, was one of those artists
who particularly studied his work. His painting, The House of Parliament, clearly reflects the
drafted appearance of Turners works, along with the use of darker lighting to portray emotion.
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Claude Monet, The House of Parliament, 1903-04. Oil on canvas, 32 x 36.4 inches, Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York.

If there was a list ordering artists by their range of influence and contributions, Eugene
Delacroix (1798-1863) would most certainly rank number one. Despite being a latecomer to the
Romantic arts, he quickly made his mark on the art world through his innovation of color. His
early style involved the use of unblended colors that took form from a distance, which later
inspired artists of Pointillism, whose style involve exactly that. Like Turner, Delacroix used
intense colors to portray emotion through expressive brushstrokes; he had an affinity for showing
pain and suffering in his work through the use of bright colors. He prized the emotional impact
color had over the representational accuracy of line and careful design the Realists preferred.
Delacroixs use of expressive brushstrokes and effects of color theory hugely shaped the work of
the Impressionists and other modernist movements that followed soon after.
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Eugene Delacroix, The Lion Hunt, 1854. Oil on canvas, 30.0 x 38.5 in, Muse dOrsay, Paris.

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), highly regarded to be one of the founders of modern art,
might not have been a Romanticist or seen their works, but had greatly admired Delacroix for his
work on color theory and implemented some of his techniques in Starry Night. Although he was
more interested in how Delacroix manipulated colors in his paintings, he was evoked by how
those colors spoke to him with their spiritual intensity and so adopted those techniques. Van
Gogh also focused on working from pure imagination and talked to his colleagues about
developing it in order to aid in the portrayal of nature even though he aimed to capture his
artwork in a realistic manner. This may not have exemplify a return to Romanticism, but the
Romantic influence of imagination, spirituality, and going beyond the realm of reality through
emotion is there, if not directly; Van Gogh used his exaggerated and expressive brushstrokes to
visualize the way he felt and reveal his personal impressions of whatever subject he happened to
paint (Soth 303-307).
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Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night, 1830. Oil on canvas, 102.4 x 128.0 inches, Muse du Louvre, Paris.

Edgar Degas (1834-1917), like Manet, was a prominent Realist. His paintings are well-
known for their depiction of movement, particularly the subject of dance, as well as possessing a
psychological edge of human isolation. While a student of Delacroixs rival, Ingres, Degas was
heavily influenced by Delacroixs use of color and his techniques that suggested motion in his
paintings. He incorporated Delacroixs innovations of movement and color into his own
paintings, which can be seen when viewing his dancers, ballerinas, and horses. The way both
artists portray motion in their paintings shows a great deal of expression and emotion; the viewer
can tell how exhausted or free the dancers are in Degas paintings, and how the characters of
Delacroixs paintings are tormented or saddened just by their gestures or body language.

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Edgar Degas, Waiting, 1880-82. Oil on canvas, 19.0 x 24.0 inches, J. Paul Getty Museum, Pasadena.

It is evident that Degas also took Delacroix as a model for the expressive, coloristic
qualities in his own paintings. According to Theodore Reff, Professor of European Painting and
Sculpture at Columbia University, Delacroixs name was figured prominently among his
imitations of signatures, indicating that he drew inspiration from said artist. Reff also informs the
reader that Degas sought Delacroixs works in many places; he sketched The Entombment and
Ovid in Exile among the Scythians at a Parisian salon and made a copy of The Entry of the
Crusaders into Constantinople at the Palace of Versailles.

Degas, Copy after Delacroixs The Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople (left), 1860. Pencil,
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.

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He also reproduced Christ on the Sea of Galilee, The Combat of the Giaour and the
Pasha, and many other works made by Delacroix. After analyzing Mirabeau Protesting to
Dreux-Breze, Degas wrote, As for the tonality, sober, dramatic in its ceremonial appearance. A
masterpiece! Composition and harmony. Never has this subject been interpreted this way. The
effort he put into studying Delacroixs use of color and composition in depicting dramatic events
coincides with his own artworks (55-62).

Degas, Copy after Delacroixs Mirabeau Protesting to Dreux-Breze (left), 1860. Pencil, Bibliotheque Nationale,
Paris.

Romanticism and its leading artists: Goya, Turner, and Delacroix certainly played a huge
role in the development of modern art as their innovations were passed down throughout the
generations, keeping the spirit of Romanticism alive even today through their successors.

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Sharon Tong
Composition II
5 April 2014
Works Cited
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Brians, Paul. Romanticism. Paul Brians Home Page. Washington State University. Oct. 2004.
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Dorment, Richard. Joseph Mallord William Turner. Philadelphia Museum of Art. 2014. Web.
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Finocchio, Ross. NineteenthCentury French Realism. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
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Schaefer, C. Sarah. Goya's The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. Smarthistory. Khan
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Soth, Lauren. The Circumstantial History of the Starry Night. Van Goghs Agony. 20 Feb.
2014. PDF file.
Stitt, Amber. Dissecting Picassos Political Identity: Three Nude Paintings. Journal of Art
History. University of Tampa. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
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Zappella, Christine. Goyas Third of May, 1808. Smarthistory. Khan Academy. 2005. Web. 3
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