Artistic style and the art of romanticism. Romanticism in Russian painting of the 19th century

At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the ideas of classicism and the Enlightenment lost their attractiveness and relevance. The new which, in response to the canonical methods of classicism and the moral social theories of the Enlightenment, turned to man, his inner world, gained strength and took possession of the minds. Romanticism is very widespread in all areas of cultural life and philosophy. Musicians, artists and writers in their works tried to show the high destiny of man, his rich spiritual world, the depth of feelings and experiences. From now on, man with his inner struggle, spiritual searches and experiences, and not "blurry" ideas of general welfare and prosperity, have become the dominant theme in works of art.

Romanticism in painting

The painters convey the depth of ideas and their personal experiences through the created with the help of composition, color, accents. Different European countries had their own peculiarities in the interpretation of romantic images. This is due to philosophical trends, as well as the socio-political situation, to which art was a living response. Painting was no exception. Fragmented into small principalities and duchies, Germany did not experience serious social upheavals, artists did not create monumental canvases depicting heroes-titans, here the deep spiritual world of man, his beauty and greatness, moral quest aroused interest. Therefore, romanticism in German painting is most fully represented in portraits and landscapes. Otto Runge's works are classic examples of this genre. In the portraits made by the painter, through the subtle elaboration of facial features, eyes, through the contrast of light and shadow, the artist's desire to show the contradictory nature of the personality, its power and depth of feeling is conveyed. Through the landscape, a slightly fantastic, exaggerated image of trees, flowers and birds, the artist also tried to discover the diversity of the human personality, its similarity with nature, diverse and unknown. A striking representative of romanticism in painting was the landscape painter KD Friedrich, who emphasized the strength and power of nature, mountain, seascapes, consonant with man.

Romanticism in French painting developed according to different principles. Revolutionary upheavals, stormy social life manifested in painting by the artists' gravitation towards depicting historical and fantastic subjects, with pathos and "nervous" excitement, which was achieved by bright color contrast, expression of movements, some chaos, spontaneity of composition. The most fully and vividly romantic ideas are presented in the works of T. Gericault, E. Delacroix. Artists skillfully used color and light, creating a pulsating depth of feelings, a sublime impulse for struggle and freedom.

Romanticism in Russian painting

Russian social thought responded very vividly to new trends and trends emerging in Europe. and then the war with Napoleon - those significant historical events that most seriously influenced the philosophical and culturological searches of the Russian intelligentsia. Romanticism in Russian painting was represented in three main landscapes, monumental art, where the influence of classicism was very strong, and romantic ideas were closely intertwined with academic canons.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, more and more attention was paid to the depiction of the creative intelligentsia, poets and artists of Russia, as well as ordinary people and peasants. Kiprensky, Tropinin, Bryullov with great love tried to show all the depth and beauty of a person's personality, through a glance, a turn of the head, details of a costume to convey the spiritual quest, the freedom-loving nature of their "models". Great interest in the personality of a person, its central place in art contributed to the flourishing of the genre of self-portrait. Moreover, the artists did not paint self-portraits to order, it was a creative impulse, a kind of self-report to contemporaries.

Landscapes in the works of romantics were also distinguished by their originality. Romanticism in painting reflected and conveyed the mood of a person, the landscape had to be in tune with him. That is why the artists tried to display the rebellious nature of nature, its power and spontaneity. Orlovsky, Shchedrin, depicting the sea element, mighty trees, mountain ranges, on the one hand, conveyed the beauty and multicolor of real landscapes, on the other, they created a certain emotional mood.

Romanticism in painting is a philosophical and cultural trend in the art of Europe and America of the late 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. Sentimentalism in the literature of Germany, the birthplace of romanticism, served as the basis for the development of the style. The direction developed in Russia, France, England, Spain and other European countries.

History

Despite the early efforts of the pioneers El Greco, Elsheimer and Claude Lorrain, the style we know as Romanticism did not gain momentum until almost the end of the 18th century, when the heroic element of neoclassicism took a major role in the art of the time. The paintings began to reflect the heroic-romantic ideal based on the novels of the time. This heroic element, combined with revolutionary idealism, emotionality, emerged as a result of the French Revolution as a reaction against the restrained academic art.

After the French Revolution of 1789, significant social changes took place over the course of several years. Europe has been shaken by political crises, revolutions and wars. When the leaders met at the Congress of Vienna to ponder a plan to reorganize European affairs after the Napoleonic Wars, it became clear that the peoples' hopes for freedom and equality were not being realized. Nevertheless, during these 25 years, new ideas were formed that took root in the minds of people in France, Spain, Russia, Germany.

Respect for the individual, which was already a key element in neoclassical painting, developed and took root. The paintings of the artists stood out for their emotionality, sensuality in the transfer of the image of the person. In the early 19th century, various styles began to show traits of romanticism.

Goals

The tenets and goals of Romanticism included:

• A return to nature - an example of which is the emphasis on spontaneity in painting, which the paintings demonstrate;
• Belief in the kindness of humanity and the best qualities of the individual;
• Justice for all - the idea was widespread in Russia, France, Spain, England.

A firm belief in the power of feelings and emotions that dominate mind and intellect.

Peculiarities

Characteristic features of the style:

1. The idealization of the past, the dominance of mythological themes became the leading line in the art of the 19th century.
2. Rejection of rationalism and dogmas of the past.
3. Increased expressiveness through the play of light and color.
4. Pictures conveyed a lyrical vision of the world.
5. Increased interest in ethnic themes.

Romantic painters and sculptors tend to express an emotional response to their personal lives, as opposed to the restraint and universal values ​​promoted by neoclassical art. The 19th century was the beginning of the development of romanticism and architecture, as evidenced by the exquisite Victorian buildings.

Main representatives

Among the greatest romantic painters of the 19th century were such representatives as I. Fussli, Francisco Goya, Caspar David Friedrich, John Constable, Theodore Gericault, Eugene Delacroix. Romantic art did not supplant the neoclassical style, but functioned as a counterbalance to the dogma and rigidity of the latter.

Romanticism in Russian painting is represented by the works of V. Tropinin, I. Aivazovsky, K. Bryullov, O. Kiprensky. Russian painters tried to convey nature as emotionally as possible.
Landscape was the preferred genre among romantics. Nature was seen as a mirror of the soul, in Germany it is also seen as a symbol of freedom and limitlessness. The artists place images of people against the background of the countryside or urban, seascape. In romanticism in Russia, France, Spain, Germany, the image of a person does not dominate, but complements the plot of the picture.

Popular vanitas motifs include dead trees and overgrown ruins, symbolizing the transience and finite nature of life. Similar motifs had taken place earlier in baroque art: artists borrowed work with light and perspective in similar paintings from baroque painters.

Aims of Romanticism: The artist demonstrates a subjective view of the objective world, and shows a picture filtered through his sensuality.

In different countries

19th century German romanticism (1800 - 1850)

In Germany, the younger generation of artists reacted to the changing times with a process of introspection: they retreated into the world of emotions, they were inspired by sentimental aspirations for the ideals of the past, primarily the medieval era, which is now seen as a time in which people lived in harmony with themselves and the world. In this context, Schinkel's paintings, such as Gothic Cathedral on the Water, are representative and characteristic of the period.

In their attraction to the past, romantic artists were very close to neoclassicists, except that their historicism criticized the rationalistic dogmas of neoclassicism. Neoclassical artists set such tasks: they looked into the past in order to justify their irrationality and emotionality, preserved the academic traditions of art in conveying reality.

19th century Spanish romanticism (1810 - 1830)

Francisco de Goya was the undisputed leader of the romantic art movement in Spain, his paintings demonstrate characteristic features: a tendency to irrationality, fantasy, emotionality. By 1789, he became the official painter of the Spanish royal court.

In 1814, to commemorate the Spanish uprising against French forces in Puerta del Sol, Madrid, and the shooting of unarmed Spaniards suspected of complicity, Goya created one of his greatest masterpieces, The Third of May. Notable works: "The Disasters of War", "Caprichos", "Maja Nude".

19th century French romanticism (1815 - 1850)

After the Napoleonic Wars, the French Republic became a monarchy again. This led to a huge boost of Romanticism, which has hitherto been held back by the dominance of the neoclassicists. French painters of the Romantic era did not limit themselves to the landscape genre, they worked in the genre of portrait art. The most prominent representatives of the style are E. Delacroix and T. Gericault.

Romanticism in England (1820 - 1850)

The theorist and the most prominent representative of the style was I. Fusli.
John Constable belonged to the English tradition of romanticism. This tradition has been to find a balance between a deep sensitivity to nature and advances in the science of painting and graphics. The constable abandoned the dogmatic depiction of nature, the paintings are recognizable thanks to the use of color spots to convey reality, which brings Constable's work closer to the art of impressionism.

The paintings of William Turner, one of the greatest English painters of romanticism, reflect the craving for observing nature as one of the elements of creativity. The mood of his paintings is created not only by what he portrayed, but also by the way the artist conveyed color and perspective.

Significance in art

The romantic painting style of the 19th century and its special features stimulated the emergence of numerous schools, such as: the Barbizon School, plein air landscapes, the Norwich School of landscape painters. Romanticism in painting influenced the development of aestheticism and symbolism. The most influential painters created the Pre-Raphaelite movement. In Russia and the countries of Western Europe, romanticism influenced the development of the avant-garde and impressionism.

Romanticism in the visual arts relied heavily on the ideas of philosophers and writers. In painting, as in other forms of art, romantics were attracted by everything unusual, unknown, whether it was distant countries with their exotic customs and costumes (Delacroix), the world of mystical visions (Blake, Friedrich, Pre-Raphaelites) and magical dreams (Runge) or dark depths subconsciousness (Goya, Füsli). The artistic heritage of the past became the source of inspiration for many artists: the Ancient East, the Middle Ages and the Proto-Renaissance (Nazarenes, Pre-Raphaelites).

In contrast to classicism, which exalted the clear power of reason, the romantics sang passionate, stormy feelings that capture the whole person. The earliest responded to new trends are portrait and landscape, which are becoming the favorite genres of romantic painting.

Flourishing portrait genre was associated with the interest of romantics in the bright human individuality, beauty and richness of her spiritual world. The life of the human spirit prevails in a romantic portrait over an interest in physical beauty, in the sensual plasticity of the image.

In a romantic portrait (Delacroix, Gericault, Runge, Goya), the uniqueness of each person is always revealed, dynamics, intense beating of inner life, rebellious passion are conveyed.

The romantics are also interested in the tragedy of a broken soul: the heroes of the works are often mentally ill people (Gericault "Madwoman, suffering from an addiction to gambling", "Thief of children", "Insane, imagining himself a commander").

Scenery thought of by romantics as the embodiment of the soul of the universe; nature, like the human soul, appears in dynamics, constant change. The ordered and refined landscapes characteristic of classicism were replaced by images of a spontaneous, recalcitrant, powerful, ever-changing nature, corresponding to the confusion of the feelings of romantic heroes. Romantics especially loved to write storms, thunderstorms, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, shipwrecks, which can have a strong emotional impact on the viewer (Gericault, Friedrich, Turner).

Poeticization of the night characteristic of romanticism - a strange, surreal world that lives by its own laws - led to the flourishing of the "night genre", which is becoming a favorite in romantic painting, especially among German artists.

One of the first countries in whose visual arts romanticism was formed wasGermany .

Creativity had a noticeable influence on the development of the genre of the romantic landscape.Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). His artistic heritage is dominated by landscapes depicting mountain peaks, forests, the sea, the sea coast, as well as the ruins of old cathedrals, abandoned abbeys, monasteries ("Cross in the mountains", "Cathedral", "Abbey among oak trees"). They usually have a feeling of constant sadness from the consciousness of the tragic loss of a person in the world.

The artist loved those states of nature that most correspond to its romantic perception: early morning, evening sunset, moonrise ("Two contemplating the moon", "Monastery cemetery", "Landscape with a rainbow", "Moonrise over the sea", "Chalk rocks on the island of Rügen "," On a sailboat "," Harbor at night ").

The constant characters in his works are lonely dreamers immersed in the contemplation of nature. Looking into immense distances and endless heights, they join the eternal secrets of the universe, are carried away to the wonderful world of dreams. Frederick conveys this wonderful world with the help of magically shining light- radiant solar or mysterious lunar.

Frederick's work aroused admiration of his contemporaries, including I. W. Goethe and V.A. Zhukovsky, thanks to whom many of his paintings were acquired by Russia.

Painter, graphic artist, poet and art theoristPhilip Otto Runge (1777-1810) mainly devoted himself to the portrait genre. In his works, he poeticized the images of ordinary people, often his loved ones ("We Three" - a self-portrait with a bride and brother, has not survived; "Children of the Hulsenbek family", "Portrait of the artist's parents", "Self-portrait"). Runge's deep religiosity was expressed in such paintings as "Christ on the Shore of Lake Tiberias" and "Rest on the Flight to Egypt" (not finished). The artist summed up his reflections on art in the theoretical treatise "The Color Sphere".

The desire to revive religious and moral foundations in German art is associated with the creative activity of artists Nazarene school (F. Overbeck, von Karlsfeld,L. Vogel, I. Gottinger, J. Zutter,P. von Cornelius). Having united in a kind of religious brotherhood ("Union of St. Luke"), the "Nazarenes" lived in Rome on the model of the monastic community and painted pictures on religious subjects. They considered Italian and German painting as a model for their creative searches.XIV - Xvcenturies (Perugino, early Raphael, A. Durer, H. Holbein the Younger, L.Cranach). In the painting "The Triumph of Religion in Art" Overbeck directly imitates Raphael's "School of Athens", and Cornelius in "Horsemen of the Apocalypse" - the engraving of the same name by Dürer.

Members of the brotherhood considered the main virtues of the artist to be spiritual purity and sincere faith, believing that "only the Bible made Raphael a genius." Leading a secluded life in the cells of an abandoned monastery, they elevated their service to art into the category of spiritual service.

"Nazarene" gravitated towards large monumental forms, tried to embody high ideals with the help of the newly revived fresco technique. Some of the murals were executed by them together.

In the 1820s and 30s, the members of the brotherhood left for Germany, receiving leading positions in various art academies. Only Overbeck lived in Italy until his death, without betraying his artistic principles. The best traditions of the "Nazarenes" were preserved for a long time in historical painting. Their ideological and moral quest influenced the English Pre-Raphaelites, as well as the work of such masters as Schwind and Spitzweg.

Moritz Schwind (1804-1871), Austrian by birth, worked in Munich. In easel works, he mainly depicts the appearance and life of old German provincial cities with their inhabitants. It is done with great poetry and lyricism, with love for its heroes.

Karl Spitzweg (1808-1885) - Munich painter, graphic artist, brilliant draftsman, caricaturist, also not without sentimentality, but with great humor narrates about urban life ("Poor Poet", "Morning Coffee").

Schwind and Spitzweg are usually associated with a cultural trend in Germany known as the Biedermeier.Biedermeier - this is one of the most popular styles of the era (primarily in the field of everyday life, but also in art) ... He brought to the fore the burghers, the average man in the street. The central theme of Biedermeier painting is the everyday life of a person, which is inextricably linked with his home and family. Biedermeier's interest not in the past, but in the present, not in the great, but in the small, contributed to the formation of a realistic trend in painting.

French romantic school

The most consistent school of romanticism in painting has developed in France. It arose as an opposition to classicism, which degenerated into cold, rational academism, and brought forward such great masters who determined the dominant influence of the French school throughout the 19th century.

French romantic painters gravitated towards plots full of drama and pathos, internal tension, far from the "dull everyday life." Embodying them, they reformed pictorial and expressive means:

The first brilliant successes of romanticism in French painting are associated with the nameTheodore Gericault (1791-1824), who, earlier than others, was able to express a purely romantic feeling of the conflict in the world. Already in his first works, one can see the desire to show the dramatic events of our time. For example, the paintings "Officer of Horse Riflemen Going to the Attack" and "Wounded Cuirassier" reflected the romance of the Napoleonic era.

Gericault's painting "The Raft of Medusa", dedicated to a recent event in modern life - the sinking of a passenger ship due to the fault of the shipping company, had a huge resonance ... Gericault created a gigantic canvas 7 × 5 m, on which he depicted the moment when people on the verge of death saw a rescue ship on the horizon. Extreme tension is emphasized by a harsh, gloomy color scheme, a diagonal composition. This painting became a symbol of modern-day Gericault France, which, like people fleeing from a shipwreck, experienced both hope and despair.

The artist found the theme of his last big painting - "Horse Racing at Epsom" in England. Here are depicted horses flying like birds (a favorite image of Gericault, who became an excellent rider as a teenager). The impression of impetuosity is enhanced by a certain technique: horses and jockeys are written very carefully, and the background is wide.

After the death of Gericault (he died tragically, in the prime of his strength and talent), his young friend became the recognized head of the French romanticsEugene Delacroix (1798-1863). Delacroix was comprehensively gifted, possessed musical and literary talent. His diaries, articles about artists are the most interesting documents of the era. His theoretical studies of the laws of color had a tremendous influence on the future impressionists, and especially on V. Van Gogh.

The first picture of Delacroix, which brought him fame, - "Dante and Virgil" ("Dante's boat"), written on the plot of the "Divine Comedy". She amazed her contemporaries with passionate pathos, the power of gloomy color.

The pinnacle of the artist's work was "Freedom on the Barricades" ("Freedom Leading the People"). The reliability of a real fact (the picture was created in the midst of the July Revolution of 1830 in France) merges here with the romantic dream of freedom and the symbolism of images. The beautiful young woman becomes the symbol of revolutionary France.

The earlier picture "The Massacre on Chios", dedicated to the struggle of the Greek people against Turkish rule, was also a response to modern events. .

Having visited Morocco, Delacroix discovered the exotic world of the Arab East, to which he dedicated many paintings and sketches. In "Algerian Women" the world of the Muslim harem first appeared before the European audience.

The artist also created a series of portraits of representatives of the creative intelligentsia, many of whom were his friends (portraits of N. Paganini, F. Chopin, G. Berlioz, etc.)

In the late period of his work, Delacroix gravitated towards historical themes, worked as a monumentalist (paintings in the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate), and as a graphic artist (illustrations for the works of Shakespeare, Goethe, Byron).

The names of the English painters of the Romantic era - R. Benington, J. Constable, W. Ternera - are associated with the landscape genre. In this area, they truly opened a new page: their native nature found in their work such a wide and loving reflection that no other country knew then.

John Constable (1776-1837) was one of the first in the history of European landscape to paint sketches completely from nature, turning to direct observation of nature. His paintings are simple in motives: villages, farms, churches, a strip of a river or a sea beach: "The Hay Cart", Detham Valley "," Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Garden. " Constable's works served as an impetus for the development of a realistic landscape in France.

William Turner (1775-1851) - marine painter ... He was attracted by the stormy sea, showers, thunderstorms, floods, tornadoes: "The last voyage of the ship" Brave "," Thunderstorm over the Piazzetta. " Bold coloristic searches, rare light effects sometimes turn his paintings into shining phantasmagoric spectacles: "The Fire of the London Parliament", "Snowstorm. The steamer leaves the harbor and gives distress signals when it gets into shallow water. " .

Turner owns the first image in painting of a steam locomotive running on rails - a symbol of industrialization. In Rain, Steam and Speed, a steam locomotive rushes along the Thames through foggy rain. All material objects seem to merge into a mirage image that perfectly conveys a sense of speed.

Turner's unique study of light and color effects largely anticipated the discoveries of French Impressionist painters.

In 1848 in England there wasPre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (from Lat. prae - "before" and Raphael), which united artists who do not accept contemporary society and the art of the academic school. They saw their ideal in the art of the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance (hence the name). The main members of the brotherhood areWilliam Holman Hunt, John Everett Milles, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. In their early works, these artists used the abbreviation PB instead of signatures. .

With romantics, the Pre-Raphaelites were related to the love of antiquity. They turned to biblical subjects ("The Light of the World" and "The Unfaithful Shepherd" by W. H. Hunt; "The Childhood of Mary" and "Annunciation" by D. G. Rossetti), scenes from the history of the Middle Ages and plays by W. Shakespeare ("Ophelia" by Milles ).

In order to paint human figures and objects in their life size, the Pre-Raphaelites increased the size of the canvases, and made landscape sketches from nature. The characters in their paintings had prototypes among real people. For example, DG Rossetti in almost all his works portrayed his beloved Elizabeth Siddal, continuing, like a medieval knight, to remain faithful to his beloved even after her untimely death (Blue Silk Dress, 1866).

The ideologist of the Pre-Raphaelites wasJohn Ruskin (1819-1900) - English writer, art critic and art theorist, author of the famous series of books "Contemporary Artists".

The work of the Pre-Raphaelites significantly influenced many artists and became a forerunner of symbolism in literature (W. Pater, O. Wilde) and the visual arts (O. Beardsley, G. Moreau, etc.).

the nickname "Nazarene" may have come from the name of the city of Nazareth in Galilee, where Jesus Christ was born. According to another version, it arose by analogy with the name of the Hebrew religious community of the Nazarenes. It is also possible that the name of the group came from the traditional name of the hairstyle "Alla Nazarena", which was widespread in the Middle Ages and known from A. Dürer's self-portrait: the manner of wearing long hair, separated in the middle by a parting, was reintroduced by Overbeck.

Biedermeier(German "brave Meyer", philistine) is the surname of a fictional character from the poetry collection of the German poet Ludwig Eichrodt. Eichrodt created a parody of a real person - Samuel Friedrich Sauter, an old teacher who wrote naive poetry. Eichrodt in his caricature emphasized the philistine primitiveness of Biedermeier's thinking, which became a kind of parody symbol of the era. sweeping brushstrokes of black, brown and greenish colors convey the fury of the storm. The viewer's gaze seems to be in the center of a whirlpool, the ship seems to be a toy of waves and wind.

Romanticism(Romanticism) is an ideological and artistic trend that arose in European and American culture of the late 18th century - the first half of the 19th century, as a reaction to the aesthetics of classicism. Originally formed (1790s) in philosophy and poetry in Germany, and later (1820s) spread to England, France and other countries. He predetermined the last development of art, even those of its directions that opposed him.

Freedom of self-expression, increased attention to individual, unique human traits, naturalness, sincerity and relaxedness, which replaced the imitation of the classic models of the 18th century, became new criteria in art. Romantics rejected the rationalism and practicality of the Enlightenment as mechanistic, impersonal, and artificial. Instead, they prioritized the emotionality of expression, inspiration.

Feeling free from the declining system of aristocratic government, they strove to express their new views, revealed by them the truth. Their place in society has changed. They found their readers among the growing middle class, ready to emotionally support and even bow to the artist - a genius and a prophet. Restraint and humility were rejected. They were replaced by strong emotions, often reaching extremes.

Young people were especially influenced by romanticism, having received the opportunity to study and read a lot (which is facilitated by the rapid development of printing). She is inspired by the ideas of individual development and self-improvement, the idealization of personal freedom in the worldview, combined with the rejection of rationalism. Personal development was placed above the standards of a vain and already fading aristocratic society. The romanticism of educated youth changed the class society of Europe, marking the beginning of the emergence of an educated "middle class" in Europe. And the picture " Wanderer over the sea of ​​fog"with good reason can be called a symbol of the period of romanticism in Europe.

Some romantics turned to mysterious, enigmatic, even terrible, folk beliefs, fairy tales. Romanticism was in part associated with democratic, national and revolutionary movements, although the "classical" culture of the French Revolution actually slowed down the arrival of Romanticism in France. At this time, several literary movements arose, the most important of which were "The Tempest and the Onslaught" in Germany, primitivism in France, headed by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a gothic novel, interest in the sublime, ballads and old romances (from which, in fact, there was the term "Romanticism"). The source of inspiration for German writers, theorists of the Jena school (brothers Schlegel, Novalis and others), who declared themselves romantics, was the transcendental philosophy of Kant and Fichte, which put the creative possibilities of the mind at the forefront. These new ideas, thanks to Coleridge, penetrated England and France, and also determined the development of American transcendentalism.

Thus, Romanticism began as a literary movement, but had a significant impact on music and less on painting. In the visual arts, Romanticism manifested itself most clearly in painting and graphics, less in architecture. In the 18th century, the favorite motives of artists were mountain landscapes and picturesque ruins. Its main features are dynamic composition, volumetric spatiality, rich color, chiaroscuro (for example, the works of Turner, Gericault and Delacroix). Other romantic artists include Fuseli and Martin. The creativity of the Pre-Raphaelites and the neo-Gothic style in architecture can also be seen as a manifestation of Romanticism.

the spiritual life of a person, the image of strong passions, the spiritualization of nature, interest in the national past, the desire for synthetic forms of art are combined with motives of world grief, a desire to explore and recreate the "shadow", "night" side of the human soul, with the famous "romantic irony", which allowed romantics to boldly compare and equalize the high and the low, the tragic and the comic, the real and the fantastic. Developing in many countries, romanticism everywhere acquired a vivid national identity, due to local historical traditions and conditions. The most consistent romantic school took shape in France, where artists, reforming the system of expressive means, dynamized the composition, combined forms with a stormy movement, used a bright saturated color and a wide, generalized style of painting (painting by T. Gericault, E. Delacroix, O. Daumier, plastic P J. David d "Angers, AL Bari, F. Ruda). In Germany and Austria, early romanticism is characterized by close attention to everything acutely individual, melancholy-contemplative tonality of the figurative-emotional structure, mystical-pantheistic moods (portraits and allegorical compositions F.O. Runge, landscapes by K.D. Friedrich and J.A. Koch), the desire to revive the religious spirit of German and Italian painting of the 15th century (the work of the Nazarenes); a kind of fusion of the principles of romanticism and "burgher realism" was the art of Biedermeier (the work of L Richter, K. Spitzweg, M. von Schwind, F.G. Waldmüller). In Great Britain, the romantic freshness of painting marked the landscapes of J. Konst blah and R. Bonington, fantastic images and unusual expressive means - the work of W. Turner, attachment to the culture of the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance - the work of the masters of the late romantic movement of the Pre-Raphaelites Shch.G. Rossetti, E. Burne-Jones, W. Morris and others). In other countries of Europe and America, the romantic movement was represented by landscapes (painting by J. Inness and A.P. Ryder in the USA), compositions on the themes of folk life and history (the work of L. Halle in Belgium, J. Manes in the Czech Republic, V. Madaras in Hungary, P. Michalovsky and J. Matejko in Poland, etc.). The historical fate of romanticism was complex and ambiguous. One or another romantic tendencies marked the work of major European masters of the 19th century - artists of the Barbizon school, C. Corot, G. Courbet, J.F. Millet, E. Manet in France, A. von Menzel in Germany and others. At the same time, complex allegorism, elements of mysticism and fantasy, sometimes inherent in romanticism, found continuity in symbolism, partly in the art of post-impressionism and modern style.