Art encompasses a human beings expression through a visual, spatial, tactile and aura lens. The result of this is that artwork is created for other people to interpret, analyze and experience. There are various forms of art such as theatre, prose, poetry, music dance, performance art, photography, sculpting, painting, and drawing. Over the years, art has undergone various stages, and at each stage, art has evolved. In this essay, it will compare and contrast one form of art, painting through two periods; Romanticism and Realism. The discussion will also focus on the works of artists such Eugene Delacroix from the romanticism era and Gustave Courbet from the realism period.
In the case of romanticism artists such as Delacroix, other subjects were based on supernatural events. The people and situations were excellent and did not seem as being from this world. In most cases, these romanticism artists did not base the subjects of their works on what is seen in the real world but rather on their emotions and imaginations. According to Stokstad (2009), romanticism was in the majority of instances regarded as being a reaction against the focus on rationality. As evidenced by Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People (1830) that was based on true-historic events related to the ending of Louis Phillippe’s regime downfall brought about by a revolt. In his painting, one can see people of various ages charging across a canvas littered with dead bodies and with a bare-breasted female holding a French flag and pistol. In this painting, he uses symbolism to show the French revolution rather than actual images and scenes.
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Compared to realism painters such as Courbet, it as a period that followed romanticism and was one based on using real subjects whose settings and characters were inspired by actual events. Realism painters represented life’s real truths without adding any form of glamour or color. A considerable number of the works from this era did not cover up events deemed as being gory or ugly using embellishments (Stokstad, 2009). According to realism painters, they wanted to show exactly what the artists saw and show it regardless of the levels of social acceptance (Stokstad, 2009). As evidenced by one of Courbet’s paintings A Burial at Ornans (1855), he does not idealize the funeral in any other manner. His painting does not show any afterlife or clouds opening up, and the person who died among them as most paintings did in the romanticism era. In his painting, Courbet has put his expressions in the people as seen from their sad faces and the sky is morbid grey to show the somber mood. This is what happens in most real-life funerals. As such, the major difference between Delacroix’s and Courbet’s paintings results from how they are depicted. In the case of Courbet’s, it shows the images of real life people instead of the actual events that have highly been characterized in the case of Delacroix’s. It is indeed true that there was a revolution in the case of Delacroix’s picture. Nonetheless, the nature of the subjects used is far more exaggerated. In case of Courbet, instead of romanticized mages of a funeral, one can see almost what we see if we were standing at a real funeral.
Additionally, in most of the romanticism paintings, they dealt with a metaphorical approach in bringing forth their intended message (Stokstad & Cothren, 2012). When one looks at Delacroix’s image, it is vague, and in order to fully understand its message, one will be forced to delve within its depths in order to understand what it means. Therefore, the symbolism was the center stage for a considerable number of these painters as they wanted the viewers of their images to find the hidden message on their own. Nonetheless, a look at realism paintings as evidenced by Courbet, the pictures are obvious and not metaphorical (Stokstad & Cothren, 2012). Everything that Courbet wanted to show in his A Burial at Ornans (1855) is evident by its very nature. One can see from the emotions of the people that indeed they are mourning and the mood is tense. Additionally, there is also clergy who is officiating the entire process.
Nonetheless, despite being different, Romanticism and Realism painters still had various similarities. The two art period evolved from political revolutions. During the Romanticism Era, a majority of the canvases were used to represent heroic subjects and influential people in society. This is evidenced by Delacroix’s painting Liberty Leading the People (1830) that depicts heroes after the French Revolution. However, after the political revolutions that occurred after 1848, most of the paints were used to represent struggles of an ordinary people which was a result of the current political regimes as witnessed from Courbet’s A Burial at Ornans (1855), (Stokstad,2009). This is an indication that despite having different techniques, the two periods were indicative of political change.
Additionally, Delacroix and Courbet used the observable world as their subjects (Kleiner, 2015). This was different as compared to the neo-classical and classical artists who used mythological and past historical themes for their paintings. In both of the artists’ pictures, one can see that the images used are from a real-world context that people can relate with. The images also represent occurrences that happen in a real world as seen from Courbet’s painting that depicts earth and Delacroix’s that shows celebrations after way and the negative impacts of war as seen from the dead people. Furthermore, most of the scenes used in both paints do not focus much on urban area settings but rather in rural areas. As seen from Courbet’s and Delacroix’s paintings, they are not in anyway related to an urban setting. The intentions of the two arts from different time periods came up with the paintings with the aim of delivering a particular message to their intended audience (Stokstad & Cothren, 2012). As earlier indicated, most artists have a reason for coming up with any form of artwork. Therefore, romanticism and realism painters did not just paint the images for their gain but rather for the society.
It is evident that the Romanticism and Realism Painters had different techniques when coming up with their artwork. As seen from the case of Delacroix a Romanticism painter and Courbet a Realism painter, they had different motivations in their paintings Liberty Leading the People and A Burial at Ornans respectively. In case of Delacroix, his painting is one based on historical vents but highly characterized by emotions and imaginations. This s different from Courbet’s that is marked by real-life events. As a result of this, romanticism painting had a hidden message, and one had to think deeper before fully understanding the painter’s intentions, unlike the realism painting that displays its message in an obvious manner. Nevertheless, the two painting periods have some similarities such as being indicative of political changes. A substantial number of the Romanticism paintings were used to represent heroes and influential people in society as a result of the political regimes at the time. However, after political revolutions occurred in 1848, the painters adopted a Realism style of painting, and this was mainly used to depict the ordinary people in society. Furthermore, the two painting periods used real-world subjects unlike mythical creatures used during the neo-classical period.
References
Kleiner, F. S. (2015). Gardner s Art through the ages: Backpack edition, book e: modern Europe and America . Nelson Education.
Stokstad, M. (2009). Art history: Portable edition . Brantford, Ont: W. Ross MacDonald School Resource Services Library.
Stokstad, M., & Cothren, M. W. (2012). Art: A brief history . Boston: Pearson
