The three works chosen for this project are all from the "Romantic Period," "Neopolitan Fisher Girls, Surprised, Bathing in Moonlight" by J. M. W. Turner, "Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan" by Thomas Gainsborough, and "The Reaper" by Winslow Homer. The Romantic Period had nothing to do with romance in the modern meaning of the word, but was an international artistic and philosophical movement that redefined the fundamental ways in which people in Western civilizations viewed themselves and the
world (Romanticism). It was defined by literature, and extended roughly from 1770 to 1870, but even later for music and painting.
Romanticism was a movement that emphasized emotion, the individual, and freedom from rules about art. The early romantic period is often considered to coincide with what is called the "age of revolution." During this time there was the American Revolution (1676) and the French Revolution (1789), and the Industrial Revolution was just beginning. This revolutionary energy was at the core of Romanticism. Romantic artists gave greater attention to capturing the sensual side of nature, and many Romantic paintings are landscape paintings.
"Neopolitan Fisher Girls, Surprised, Bathing in Moonlight"
Naturalistic and Abstract form and space, muted colors, loose wash
This painting invokes a feeling of what is going on, rather than being able to see the action
This painting plays on the viewers perception and perspective
Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was born in London, England (Turner-factmonster). Turner was the foremost English romantic painter and the most original of English landscape artists. He studied at the Royal Academy of Arts, where he later became a professor and then the President. Turner traveled constantly in England, Scotland, France, Switzerland, and Italy. He began painting watercolors of landscapes and later turned to oil paintings. Turner's works are divide...