Session II: Representing the passions: Romanticism as the first avant-garde

The French Revolution brought about a radical shift in political, economic and social models, as well as a wave of reaction against the Enlightenment and Neoclassicism in Europe. It challenged the blind faith in reason and the value of established norms, seeking new ways of understanding knowledge and art. Freedom and rebellion, the exaltation of feelings and trust in intuition, and the primacy of the individual and their spontaneity and subjectivity were some of its principal values. Artists found new spaces and themes for their compositions in nature, exoticism and mystery, but also in folk art, the charm of the everyday and the sublime beauty of transience. 

The impact of this new gaze transformed Romanticism into an early avant-garde movement that redefined the role of art and the artist, paving the way for later movements such as Realism and Impressionism. Its influence is evident in the works of Turner, Thomas Cole, Sargent, Corot, Courbet and Manet.

Course leader: María Martín.