Romanticism vs. Friedrich

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Romanticism VS. Friedrich Imagine looking at a piece of artwork that has a beautifully painted scene with an exotic influence, and you can literally feel the artist’s passion and emotion radiating out of the picture just by staring at it. In this case, you’re definitely looking at an example of a Romanticism painting. Towards the end of the 18th century, in reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, the Romantic Movement formed as an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that focused on the beauty of nature, an individual’s expression of emotion and imagination, a hatred towards the attitudes and forms of classicism, and an uprising against established rules and conventions. Though Romanticism heavily influenced music, literature, education, and natural sciences during this time, it’s impact on visual art was extremely important. Romantic art was highly emotional, deeply felt, beautiful, and passionate. It narrowed in on the individual, irrationality, imagination, emotions, and nature. After defining Romanticism and observing the characteristics of Romantic art, it became extremely apparent that the painting “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich is the perfect example of a quintessential Romantic painting. In the Romantic painting “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog”, there is a young man standing upon a huge rock with his back to the viewers staring at a landscape covered completely in a thick sea of fog. In the distance, there are mountains and other rocky cliffs placed sporadically throughout the painting that are covered with the thick fog as well. It appears though that the young man is looking down at this foggy abyss from a higher rock than the others, and is observing what is happening below him. While the description of this painting already highlights some major Romantic qualities, there are many deeper
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