Module 20, Lesson 4

Revolutions in the Arts

● First half of 1800s-artists focused on ideas of rights of freedom, rights of
individuals, and idealism-similar to the enlightenment ideas
● After revolutions of 1848-a shift in political focus shifted to realpolitik; similarly,
a shift in the arts turned to an expression of a realistic view of the world
○ Rich vs ordinary people who struggled
● Photography invented
○ Became a way to show the struggles of the ordinary people
○ Also became a tool for scientific investigation
Romanticism
● reflected deep interest both in nature and in the thoughts and feelings of the individual
● End of 18th Century
● Romantic thinkers and writers reacted against enlightenment ideas and turned from reason and society to
emotions and nature
● Nationalism fired the romantic imagination
● Romantic thinkers and artists:
○ emphasized inner feelings, emotions, and imagination
○ focused on the mysterious, the supernatural, and the exotic, grotesque, or horrifying
○ loved the beauties of untamed nature
○ idealized the past as a simpler and nobler time
○ glorified heroes and heroic actions
○ cherished folk traditions, music, and stories
○ valued the common people and the individual
○ promoted radical change and democracy
Romanticism in Literature
● Poetry, music, and painting were most influential arts because they could
capture the emotions of romanticism
● poetry=highest form of expression
● Poets honored nature as a source of truth and beauty and celebrated rebellious
heroes, passionate love, and the mystery and beauty of nature
● Many poets lived hard lives and died young
● Germany writers (Johann Wolfgang Von Goeth and Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm were
quite famous and wrote novels and fairy tales, respectively
● Victor Hugo-Les Miserables and Hunchback of Notre Dame showed the struggles of
individuals against a hostile society
Romanticism in Literature Continued
● Gothic novels became popular
○ Filled with fearful, violent, sometimes supernatural events
○ Often took place in medieval gothic castles
○ Frankenstein
Romanticism and Music
● Composers emphasized emotions
● Moved away from tightly controlled formal compositions of the enlightenment
period and moved to a celebration of heroism and national pride through
expression
● Ludvig Van Beethoven
○ Work evolved from the classical compositions of the enlightenment period into romantic
compositions
○ His Ninth Symphony soars, celebrating freedom, dignity, and the triumph of the human spirit
○ Deaf
● Some romantic composers drew on literature for inspiration
● European opera also reached a high point
Romanticism shifts to Realism in the arts
● 19th Century industrialization deeply affected everyday life, making the
dreams of romantics seem pointless
● In the arts, realism tried to show life as it was, not as it should be
● Paintings and novels showed the importance and suffering of the working
class in the 1850s
Photography
● Photographists could capture a specific moment with scientific accuracy
● first practical photographs were called daguerreotypes, named after french inventor
Louis Daguerre
● British inventor William Talbot invented a light-sensitive paper that he used to
produce photographic negatives
○ Many prints could be made from one negative, allowing photos to be
reproduced in books and newspapers
● With its scientific, mechanical, and mass-produced features, photography was the art
of the new industrial age
● Motion studies allowed scientists to better understand motion and time by freezing
the motion of an object at an instant in time
Writers Study Society
● Realism in literature flourished in France
○ The Human Comedy written by Homore de Balzac
■ 100 novels describing the brutal struggles for wealth and power among all levels of
society
○ Emile Zola wrote novels exposing the miseries of workers in small shops, factories, and coal
mines
■ Spurred reform of labor laws and working conditions in France
● Charles Dickens wrote of characters and scenes describing London’s working
poor
Impressionists React Against Realism
● A new group of painters in Paris reacted against Realism with the idea of
impressionism
○ Rather than showing life as it actually was, impressionists tried to show their impression of a
subject or a moment in time
● Impressionist artist are fascinated by light; they use pure, shimmering colors
to capture a moment seen at a glance
Life in the moment
● Opposite of realists
● Show a more positive view of the new urban society in Europe
● Glorified the delights of the rising middle class
○ Shopkeepers enjoying coffee
○ Performers in theaters and circuses
● Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre August Renoir were leaders in this
movement
● Composers also created impressions of mood and atmosphere by using
different combinations of instruments, tone patterns, and musical structure.
They were able to create mental pictures.
○ Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy were popular musical artists in this movement
Impression movement and Religion
● Realism often involved a rejection of both non-Christian religions and dogmatic
Christianity
● Many realists believed in the idea of “natural religion”-deism
● Deism-a belief that everyone was born with religious, ethical, and moral impulses
○ Often rejected the beliefs of any one church