Romanticism is the mode of literature that has been interesting to me because of its nature. The elegance of Romanticism is the artist’s emotional reaction to his/her fundamental wisdom. It is a tendency to glorify humanity through imagination.
This assignment is a review of three famous Romanticism paintings. It is a separate study of each three artistic paintings and investigation about the reason for creating this works. Furthermore, it is the analyses of the color and architecture of each painting.
The first painting is from Theodore Geric who was one of the pioneers of Romantic painters. The name of the work is: “The Raft of the Medusa.” Theodore Geric was a Romantic painter who lived in France between 1791 and 1824. The artist painted some of the shipwreck survivors who were surrounded by the waves and were fighting with death. Geric painted this after series of movements and protests that happened in France against drowning the Medusa ship. The painter wanted to show his emotion about this disaster in which more than 140 of the crews were died due to the captain negligence.
This movement, in French history, is the turning point in black people harassment. It is important to know that Geric did not start this painting before doing complete research in hospitals and even morgues. There he got the best idea about the color and consistency of dying. Mr. Geric, in this painting, used the color that are dominantly representing disappointment and death. This is the most important mode of this painting.
The murky and dark color like yellow, red, brown, and grey are dominant color in this painting. The viewer of this painting feels a deep sympathy with the survivors and obviously can sense their torment.
Name of the second painting is The Lady of Shalott. John William Waterhouse is the creator of this Romanticism artwork which is based on the story of a young red-haired woman. It is a famous narration of an innocent spellbound who lives in a castle near Camelot where the capital of King Arthur’s territory is located. Alfred Tennyson who was a British Romanticism poet, composed a lyrical ballad related to the condition of this lady. Tennyson’s poem inspired Many painters like John William Waterhouse to draw a painting about it. The artist’s skill in painting a naturalistic landscape is the most interesting feature of this painting. According to the story, the lady should not see outside directly, but spell let her see around through a mirror. She weaves what she sees through the mirror as a rug. In the painting, the rug is lying on the edge of the boat. The contrast between the colors in this painting is significant. The best example of this contrast is the white color of the lady’s dress and boat black color. When the viewer observes this painting, containing pictorial details, understand that a story should be behind it. It can encourage the viewer to search and realize what the lady of Shalott’s fate was.
We have already become familiar with Theodore Gericault and his Romanticism mode of painting. The third painting is one of his glorious fine art too. The name of this drawing is The Wounded Cuirassier. In this painting, as a Romanticism work, Gericault tries to demonstrate his antiwar emotional reaction. The specific features, showing in this panel, are a powerful horse and a soldier wearing a magnificent uniform. Gericault has painted this in such a way that the viewer quickly can find the signs of fatigue in the soldier and anxiety in the horse’s eye. The viewer also can see that the injured cuirassier and his horse are walking down a heel to leave the battle. This feature is much different from other paintings, at that time, which shows the cuirassiers in the battlefield while they are fighting.