Romanticism
Romanticism was a movement during 18th century. It involved many aspects of live such as art, literature and music. It was strongly related to emotions, feelings and human soul. It was reaction against the established values and the scientific rationalization of nature.
I would like to show you my favourite pictures from the romanticism era. One of them is The Voyage of Life - Old Age. I was painted by American artist, Thomas Cole. He was born in February 1, 1801 and died in February 11, 1848. His paintings represent romanticism and naturalism styles.
The painting was painted in 1842 using oil paints on canvas and is 33.4 × 196.2 cm big. I really like this painting not only because it's been amazingly well painted but also because of its meaning. Thomas Cole painted four pictures showing The Voyage of Life - this one is the last of them. It represents a man at the end of his life passing to another world, probably heaven. He leaves his present life, which is showed in dark colours, guided by an angel to the light. I like to contrast and the colours used by the artist, which really shows the mood of this scene and gives sort of magical feeling.
The other painting I want to share with you is Cloister Graveyard in the Snow by David Friedrich. He was one of the most important painter during the romanticism era. His painting are really appreciated and recognisable.
The reason why I like this picture is really good composition. Also the scene is a little bit scary , sad and mysterious which make it really interesting. Besides it is amazingly painted and is very realistic.
Realism
Realism was an art movement which begun in France during the 1850s. It was a response to Romanticism movement. Realism concentrated on reality, showing everyday life or activities and had nothing to do with emotions or feelings.
During the Realism era photography was introduced, which made painters paint as realistically as possible to achieve similar effect to a photography.
One of the most popular paintings from that era is probably The Stone Breakers, painted by Gustave Courbet in 1849. Gustave Courbet was one of the leading artists during Realism era. He was born in France, 1819 and died in 1877.
Another very famous painting of his is Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet painted in 1855. The painting represents the artist himself meeting probably his friends. The painting was painted very precisely showing all the details.
Even though Realism paintings were painted extremely well with all the details I am not a big fan of them. In my personal opinion they are rather boring. However, I am quite impressed with the painters' skills.
