SCULPTURE IN ROMANTICISM: CHARACTERISTICS, WORKS AND AUTHORS - ART - 2024

The sculpture Romanticism was a unique artistic style that clung to the characteristics of the romantic movement of the time, which went against the ideals classicist and neo - classicists of other artistic styles. Romanticism was characterized by giving preference to emotion in its works, as well as individual ideals.

This artistic movement sought to recreate again the art that occurred in the Middle Ages and is seen as a reaction of the artistic field to the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment. Romance sculpture could refer to both the human world and the natural world.

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In both cases, a particular emphasis was placed on expressing new emotions that were not common in other works of art. Among these were surprise, terror, and fear. This movement sought to express the individual achievements of artists and people, through which it sought to improve the quality of society.

characteristics

Nature and emotion

All the sculptures of Romanticism sought to evoke human emotion, through gestures and expressions that were represented by the style of each sculptor. In many cases, the works came to combine elements of nature with human elements to represent ideas in a more concrete way.

Many of the artists of Romanticism based their art purely on ideas from nature. In fact, the most important sculptors of the time came to be known as animallier, which means "sculptor of animals." A large number of sculptures from Romanticism are simply representations of animals.

Although the works of Romanticism that stood out the most were the paintings, the sculpture was guided by the same naturalistic principles inspired by the French Revolution.

Pure ideas

Sculpture from this period expressed the direct ideas of each sculptor. In other words, the creations of each artist arose purely from their personal inspiration, without external interference from other unnatural factors.

The nature that surrounded each artist was one of the factors that most influenced the sculptors of this time. This idea was not directly related to the rise of Romanticism, but it was very common at the time and affected the movement closely.

Using models from other works was thought to negatively influence each sculptor's imagination. This made most of the sculptors of Romanticism use purely the original ideas that came to mind, excluding any external "artificial" stimulus.

Artistic voice

The sculpture of Romanticism, as art used to do, represented what the artist wanted to say, but in a visual way. In other words, each work was a way in which the artist expressed his voice through his works.

The artists of Romanticism did not trust the human world, so they thought that the connection with nature was a fundamental aspect of all their works.

Many of these pieces represented angels or human forms with "wings", which echoed the natural influence in the human world that was sought to express at the time.

Indifference with respect to other currents

The sculpture of Romanticism did not develop to such an extent, as did the painting of the time. This was mainly due to the fact that the most used material for sculptures of the time was marble.

This material does not lend itself to the realization of expressions, as it is not as expansive as other materials (such as clay, for example).

However, the most important works of Romance sculpture emerged in the early 1830s, some 30 years after the rise of Romanticism as an art movement.

Featured Works and Authors

Most of the most prominent sculptors of Romance art were of French origin. In fact, the great sculptures of this period are found within the Gallic country and, particularly, in Paris.

François Rude

Rude is a French sculptor, who was born in Dijon, on January 4, 1784. He studied at the art school in his hometown, until he went to work under the architect Charles Straeten after the second Bourbon intervention in France.

His most important romances were: The Neapolitan fisherman boy playing with a turtle and La Marseillaise, a work found on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, considered one of the most important of Romanticism.

Antoine-Louis Barye

Barye was a famous French sculptor who was noted for his work developing sculptural works of animals. He is considered the father of the animallier school, which encompasses all artists who were dedicated to sculpting animals. He was influenced by the paintings of Géricault, one of the most important Romance painters in France.

Among his most important sculptural works are: Catching a deer and Jaguar Devouring a hare, both belonging to the animallier school of Romance France.

David d'Angers

Pierre-Jean David was the original name of David d'Angers, who dubbed himself in such a way to distinguish himself from his teacher, Jacques-Louis David. He was one of the most important French medalists and sculptors of the Romance period.

He made a large number of sculptures for various tombs in France. In addition, he sculpted Rouget de Lisle, the person in charge of writing La Marseillaise, the French anthem.

Among the most significant contributions that d'Angers made to the sculpture of Romanticism are the Monument to General Gobert and the sculpted pediment of the Parthenon in France, which has a large number of sculptures representing various liberal heroes of France.

Antoine-Augustin Préault

Préault was a sculptor of the Romance movement born in 1809, which allowed him to receive art lessons from David d'Angers himself. Although Préault created a large number of relevant works, his studio came under attack in the mid-19th century and many of his pieces were destroyed as a result.

However, his sculptures perfectly represented the romance of the time. Many artists after him, and even critics of the time, consider him a great influence on the Romance movement in France.

One of his most important works, which is still in good condition today, is Silence. This is a funeral work located in the Pere Lachaise cemetery, in Paris.

References

1. Romanticism, Boston College Database, (nd). Taken from bc.edu
2. Neoclassical and Romantic sculpture, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
3. Antoine-Augustin Préault, Visual Arts Encyclopedia, 2018. Taken from visual-arts-cork.com
4. Romanticism, The Art Story, 2018. Taken from theartstory.org
5. Perre-Jean David d'Angers, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
6. Francois Rude, Wikipedia in English, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
7. Antoine-Louis Barye, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
8. Neoclassical and Romantic Sculpture, Essential Humanities, (nd). Taken from essential-humanities.net