Unifying Qualities in Romantic Art
Romanticism is such complex
and diverse artistic movement that one cannot discern a singular definitive
quality (Viault, 1990). Eric Newton (1962) claimed that critics have been
unable to establish a common factor in Romantic art. To be sure, there was no singular,
universal approach (Linduff, Schultz, and Wilkins, 2005). The range of subjects
was too diverse to be definitive (Galitz, 2004). The artwork itself varied
stylistically and regionally (Wikipedia, 2012). In the lack of one clear common
factor, Romanticism is classified by its ideologies (Galitz, 2004). According
to Linduff, et al. (2005), Romanticism is an attitude of mind. It stressed the
subjective view of the artist (Linduff, et al., 2005), and those artists
rejected the rules placed upon them by previous art movements (Wikipedia, 2012).
With all the complexity and variety in Romantic art, how does one go about classifying that art as such? What is it that brought those artists, independent and rebellious as they were, together under one movement? What were the unifying qualities of Romanticism?
