German romanticism - Dr. Luxenberg PDF

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GERMAN ROMANTICISM Week2

Art in Theory Reading o Historical Background - The Battle of Waterloo (1815) brought an end to the long period of conflict in Europe which had been precipitated by the French Revolution. - Principle leaders met at the Congress of Vienna to re-establish the boundaries of continental Europe and to propose forms of international cooperation based on a new alliance of imperial regimes. - In 1818, France was included in the new “Congress System” under the restored Bourbon monarchy of Louis XVIII. - Of the major powers, Britain alone had survived the wars without occupation or serious military defeat. Still had control over colonies, and industrial and commercial base was welldeveloped. - The ideas which had driven the French and American revolutions continued to exercise a vital force and, once established, the fundamental principles of liberty, equality and citizenship continued to challenge the legitimacy of government based upon aristocratic and feudal privilege. - In Germany, Napoleon’s victory at the Battle of Jena and the establishment of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806) had brought to an end the old order and with it the Holy Roman Empire. - It can be seen that the extraordinarily rich development of Romantic and Idealist though in Germany is linked to the restriction of possibilities for real social change. - The priority accorded to art was respectively challenged and affirmed in two major contributions to aesthetic theory: (1) that art was one of the forms in which “divine nature” and the “deepest interests of humanity” are revealed and, (2) through art alone, was it possible to achieve release from the endless cycle of desire and suffering constitutive of the human condition. - The artist as “genius” is accorded a privileged position by virtue of his capacity to see beyond the limitations of striving and reasoning humanity. - Genius came to be associated less with formulation of shared beliefs and more with originality and individuality. - The Romantic tendency was to conceive of the poetic and the artistic as the positive other of the rational and as opening up new dimensions of feeling and experience. - There was also an increasing tendency to for artists to be validated for their individual responses to nature. This tendency gathered momentum from the reciprocal effects of increasing urbanization and of widespread exploration. o Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) “Observations on Viewing a Collection of Paintings Largely by Living or Recently Deceased Artists” - The most important German landscape artists of the early 19th century. - Born in Greifswald near the Baltic coast, trained in Copenhagen and spent his entire working life in Dresden, one of the principle centers of German Romanticism. - Emphasized the importance of feeling and the individual’s response to nature over acquired skill or technique. Also strongly critical of artists such as the Nazarenes who sought to base their work on the art of an early period, insisting that artists must not only be true to themselves, but to the times in which they live. - “The artist’s feeling is his law. Pure sensibility can never be contrary to nature but is always in accord with it.” - Man is the most sublime product of the whole creation, but also the disfiguring stain in the created world. Art occupies the role of mediator between nature and man.

Just as only a pure, unmarked mirror can return a pure reflection, so a true work of art can only come forth from a pure soul. - What pleases us most in the pictures of the Old Masters is their pious simplicity. But instead of trying to mimic their simplicity, artists should just be pious and imitate their virtues, not their art. - The ability to express one’s feelings and responses through shape and color is something which can neither be learnt nor acquired through mere dexterity of the hand. - The artists should not only paint what he sees before him, but also what he sees within him. o Carl Gustav Carus (1789-1869) from Nine Letters on Landscape Painting - Born in the year of the French Revolution (1789), Carus belongs to the later generation of German Romantics. - Trained and practiced as a doctor and in 1814 was appointed Director of the new Academy for Surgery and Medicine in Dresden. Published two textbooks on animal anatomy and gynecology, illustrated with his own engravings. Also wrote on art, psychology, and philosophy of nature. - His work as a painter was strongly influenced by his friendship with Caspar David Friedrich, whom he met in 1817. - Carus’ Nine Letters on Landscape Painting set out to show that reflection upon art is not necessarily opposed to artistic creativity and that thought and feeling complement each other. He claims that landscape painting should be a mere imitation of nature as we see it, but is itself the product of the human mind and spirit. - This ultimate dimension of unity is revealed to us inwardly as Reason and outwardly as Nature, but we also feel ourselves to be a part of this revelation, as creatures of reason and nature ourselves, and to that degree we also partake of the divine. - Knowing gives rise to science as an organized body of knowledge, doing or making gives rise to art. In science, man feels himself to be in God, in art he feels God to be in himself. - The presentation of science can never succeed without art (without the skillful organization of thoughts and words) and the production of art will equally remain impossible without science (as skill without knowledge). - Man must utterly relinquish the egotistic tendency to relate the entirety of nature to himself alone, and must rather open himself to the pure intuition of the beauty of the world as a whole. It is only from this attitude that the art of landscape can arise. Chu Reading and Lecture Notes o The Beginnings of Romanticism in the German-Speaking World - Germany as a political entity did not exist – the country was divided into hundreds of principalities and so-called free cities that were part of the Holy Roman Empire. This loose federation was nominally presided over by the Austrian emperors, who belonged to the powerful Habsburg dynasty. - With the exception of the kingdom of Prussia, ruled by the Hohenzollern family (the Habsburg’s only rivals), most German principalities were small. - Paradoxically, it was Napoleon’s conquest of the German principalities that advanced German unity. At the famous Congress of Vienna, organized after Napoleon’s fall in 18141815, Germany’s 300-odd states were reorganized in the new “German Confederation,” comprising some 30 sovereign states and four free cities. This eventually led to the formal consecration of the German Empire in 1871. - Although politically divided and economically weak, the German-speaking world excelled in music, philosophy, and literature (Mozart, Beethoven, Goethe, Hegel). - Romanticism was not merely a literary or artistic movement, but a state of mind, a new attitude to the world that differed radically from Enlightenment rationalism. Romantics favored emotion, faith, and spirituality (not necessarily religious) over intellect and reason. -

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The preferred spontaneity to calculation, individuality to conformity, and the freedom of nature to the constraints of culture. - It did not need to have a specific style, like Neoclassicism, but was to embrace any form of expression and to engage with contemporary society, and be relevant to it. - Romanticism was more of a movement, rather than a style. - The sublime and extreme emotion were ideas Neoclassical artists avoided; not antitheses, just did not pursue the same things. Philip Otto Runge (1777-1810) - Born in Wolgast, a small town on the Baltic sea, he was trained at the Academy of Copenhagen. Settled in Dresden in 1801, the center of young, vibrant artistic and literary community. - Became acquainted with early Romantic writers, Friedrich von Schlegel and Ludwig Tieck. Tieck introduced him to the writings of Böhme, which shaped his belief that the highest expression of the divine in art is achieved not in history paintings or sculptures of religious subjects but in the painting of nature. Looked to nature for “new art.” - Created the movement known as Storm and Stress (Sturm und Drang) that starkly contrasted Neoclassicism/Classicism, which was about unity, harmony, and idealism. Instead, Storm and Stress was created in reaction to their societal conditions – a precursor to Romanticism. - Runge’s book on color theory (publ. 1810) reiterated his belief that color was linked to spiritual elements. - Nature Mysticism – suggests that God can be seen everywhere, especially in nature. - Died young of consumption. The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1805-1806) // Runge - An early example of a work in which Runge attempted to express the essence of Christianity by means of landscape. - By establishing a direct connection between the infancy of Christ and the beginning of a new day, Runge helps the viewer to read the dawn symbolically as the beginning of a new era, the world of the New Testament. - The flowering tulip tree calls to mind the tree of knowledge in Paradise. In this tree, however, there is no snake, but two little angels (putti). One holds a lily, the traditional symbol of the Madonna and therefore of purity and the absence of sin. - Figures seated directly on the ground signifies being closest to the earth and being humble. - This painting introduces something new – the endowment of natural phenomena and forms with spiritual meaning. - The landscape was highlighted to express its spiritual significance. Runge also felt that it was important to accentuate color, flora, and fauna to elevate his art, because landscape was not seen as “high art.” - While Böhme claimed that salt, mercury, and Sulphur reflect the Trinity, Runge allied the primary colors – blue, red, and yellow – with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, respectively. - It was also seen as unconventional for Joseph to appear un-idealized and ungraceful. - Unfinished painting Portrait of the Hülsenbeck Children (1805-1806) // Runge - Group portrait of middle class children, not of genteel family. Depicted as monumental, not delicate or miniature (mini adults). Probably outside of their home, wearing normal attire. - Runge viewed childhood as an ideal state and a state when one can achieve greater things. To go back was to move forward. This is in contrast to the Enlightenment ideal of progress. - Forms are not as tightly painted as David’s, but still has three-dimensionality to create volume and depth. Willful distortion of form and perspective makes the children appear very

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large in comparison to their surroundings (children vs. height of fence). Fence receding back is very abrupt, fleeing away from them. - The toddler is depicted clutching onto the sunflower plant. Sunflowers were seen to have faces that turn to the sun; associated with human life. This suggests the closeness of children with nature, rather than adults who are often distracted by the world. - Unlike Neoclassical portraits of children, Romantics were actually interested in the different stages of childhood. Didn’t just see it as a phase and something to rush through to achieve adulthood. - Landscape also plays an important role in this portrait – the lush meadow in the background and the verdant tree on the right = health and well-being of children; little village in background = simple, uncomplicated lifestyle that characterizes the wholesome upbringing of the children. Morning (1808) // Runge A preliminary sketch for the first of a series of four large paintings representing the times of day (morning, noon, evening, night). He intended the paintings to be seen inside a Gothicstyle room, especially constructed for the purpose, to the accompaniment of music and poetry readings. - While there are figures, the landscape is still accentuated. - Border and interior scene vie for our attention. The border, though, reminds us that we are looking at a two-dimensional surface. - Runge appears to have been influenced by Böhme, in whose writings flowers serve as symbols of states of awareness. - Religious message is further enhanced by the elaborate frame – the sun rises at the bottom behind an earth blackened by sin, from it emerge two putti who reach out to two other beings trapped in the darkness of the earth by the roots of the amaryllis bulb, these appear to be angels or divine spirits who are coming to the rescue of earthly sinners. On the two sides of the frame, blond putti arise from the amaryllis flowers, they may represent the souls, redeemed from sin by the Passion of Christ (symbolized by the intense red color of the flowers). The white lilies that rise behind their heads may represent their newfound purity. Two winged putti kneel inside the opened blossoms and bow to God, represented by a blue heaven filled with little angel heads. The frame thus reinforces the cyclical nature of life, from birth through life to death and resurrection – a cycle that represents the times of the day. - Symmetrical border, but male vs. female, suggesting the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden. - Runge appears to have derived elements of his composition and his vision of love, life, and purity from Raphael’s Sistine Madonna (located in Dresden). - Gesamkunstwerk: total work of art; one that combines different art forms and/or media. Sometimes using classical forms, but in a new way; style is not the most important factor, but more of composition, forms, etc. - Heavy emphasis on outline, but subtle thicknesses of line (for the sketch). - “Morning is the boundless illumination of the universe.” - Multiples were made and sold all over Europe. Cross in the Mountains/ Tetschen Altarpiece (1807-1808) // Friedrich - Friedrich, like Runge, studied in Copenhagen and lived in Dresden. Also believed that landscape painting was spiritual and divine. - This painting was meant for the Swedish king, but sold to a count in Tetschen (present-day Czech Republic). - Largest landscape he painted thus far and the frame was also designed by himself, which was very unusual.

Very unconventional work – altarpieces were usually never landscape paintings; northern European landscape looks more realistic, all contrary to altarpieces. - Not depicting the crucifixion of Jesus, but still reminiscent of a Christ-like figure. Literally and figuratively ambiguous subject matter. It’s also hard to tell what time of day it is. - Usually landscapes invite the viewer in, but this image is forbidding with the large mountain blocking us out. - Clear references to religion – sheaf of wheat and branch of grapevine are signifiers of the bread and wine of the Eucharist. The ivy climbing the cross were symbolic of the undying hope of mankind. God’s all-seeing eye set in a triangle = Trinity. - A conservative critic criticized Friedrich for elevating a landscape to the status of religious painting, thus ignoring the hierarchy of genres. Friedrich defended himself by stating that there was not a single absolute ideal of beauty and perfection for all artists. To arrive at the center each artist had to go his or her own way, making the claim for necessity of originality. - Also had the desire to be shown in Gothic architecture because it was associated with being spiritually uplifting. Monk by the Sea (1809-1810) // Friedrich - Sublime landscape – evokes the most powerful emotions, awe-inspiring, lowers horizon line to create vast space that is filled with the sky (infinity). - Figure is very small and powerless in the face of this dominating landscape. No framing elements, gives the idea that it goes on forever – all qualities of sublime. - Friedrich first introduced Rückenfigur: a figure, male or female, seen from the back. Its function was to draw the spectator into the painting by inviting him or her to identify with the figure. Paradoxically, however, it can also keep the viewers outside of the painting as they are always standing behind the figure and thus are one step removed from its visual experience. Woman Before the Setting Sun (1818-1820) // Friedrich - One of the most striking uses of rückenfigur, Friedrich withholds information from the viewer by hiding the woman’s face (which, in the 19th century was seen as the most important part of the painting). - Her position also mimics how the viewer would be positioned – empathizes with the viewer. The ambiguity and mystery of this setting engages the viewer to complete the narrative. - The setting sun can be corresponded to death, and the open-palm position signifies prayer. The combination of the setting sun and this sense of Christian faith, may serve as a demonstration that faith triumphs over death. Chalk Cliffs on Rügen (1818) // Friedrich - Friedrich makes use of framing devices – natural frames with trees, but foreground is dark – very unconventional. Most landscape painters did the opposite, dark background, light foreground. - This use of framing was thought to reflect the inner life as being spiritual and then the outside reality. - Romantic painters were rejecting tradition and exploring other styles. Privileged the inner life and spirituality, but were also interested in doubt, mystery, conflict, ambiguity, and openended/fragmented narratives. This is what set them apart from Neoclassical artists. - German Romanticism was often focused on nature; not interested in telling a story or legibility, often seen in Neoclassicism. Portrait of Franz Pforr (1810) // Overbeck - Romanticism first manifested in the works of the so-called Nazarenes. This group of artists rejected Neoclassicism, aiming instead for an art of medieval or Christian inspiration. -

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A group of 6 German Romantic painters who studied at the Academy of Vienna were becoming disenchanted by the examples promoted by the Academy, like the Primitives in David’s studio. Formed the Lukasbund – “brotherhood of St. Luke.” - After the Batlle of Wagram of 1809, Vienna was occupied by the French, making life in the city difficult for young artists. Italy became a place of asylum for the young artists. Living in a vacant monastery, they let their hair grow long and wore loose robes to look like biblical figures – hence their nickname Nazarenes. Formed this group to support each other because they felt that the art world had become too competitive. - Overbeck shows his friend dressed in medieval attire, with a tall Gothic church in the background. This does not reflect reality. Instead, it represents the Nazarene principle of the morally upright artist. They believed that artists were meant to lead humanity on the path to love and goodness. - They were trying to emulate the old-fashioned German style and trying to create a style that looked more naïve. They were not relying on the sophisticated techniques that they had learned in the Academy. - Northern European townscape, probably German (even though they were in Italy), shows that they are reminiscing on their national past. - Numerous allusions to Christianity – Gothic church, white lily (symbolizing purity), and the grapevine (reference to Eucharist). Pforr’s personal emblem, the skull and cross – symbolic of the triumph of faith over death. - The white lily may symbolize purity, but it is also a clear reference to the Virgin Mary as well as Pforr’s personal desire for a wife like this. - This painting contains numerous symbolic references to Northern European art and seems to possess a similar earnestness and intensity as Dürer’s, Self-Portrait with Thistle. The Entry of Emperor Rudolf into Basel in 1273 (1808-1810) // Pforr - Medieval subject (13th century) of the Habsburg Emperor; connection to German-speaking culture. - Very naïve, awkward (purposeful); rejecting the techniques they very well knew. - Range of all different colors – local color, bounded by outlines; flattens figures. No real interest in depicting texture or light. This is voluntary. - Friedrich’s review – doesn't believe in merely copying nature, but that it should be a response to modern life and a reflection on one’s reaction to nature. This was the Nazarene’s response to modern life. They were disillusioned a...