Il romanticismo

by Hugh Honour, Fernando Mazzocca (Contributor), Clara Zanon (Translator)

Da Turner a Constable, da Delacroix a Géricault, da Goya a Hayez a Friedrich, negli anni che vanno dalla Rivoluzione francese alla metà dell'Ottocento, l'Europa assiste a una vera e propria esplosione artistica, a livello sia di temi, sia di stili, sia di implicazioni storico-sociali. I dettami del neoclassicismo, e cioè di un'arte universale, valida per ogni epoca, vengono sconvolti dall'affermarsi impetuoso della soggettività dell'artista, della sua nuova sensibilità e creatività: l'artista diventa cosí un protagonista e un demiurgo, esaltando il primato assoluto dell'autenticità delle emozioni. L'insistenza dei romantici sull'individualità e l'originalità precluse l'affermarsi di un unico stile romantico, conferendo all'arte occidentale un nuovo, inquieto dinamismo. Come ebbe a notare Baudelaire, «il romanticismo non consiste nella scelta di un determinato soggetto né nella sua rappresentazione fedele, ma in un modo di essere».

Genres: Art, Romanticism, History, Nonfiction, Art History, School

456 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

A self-taught English art historian.

Reviews

[Mattia Colombi]

Opera senza tempo e saggio obbligatorio per chiunque voglia studiare o approcciarsi all’arte del XIX secolo.

Ps: Einaudi ristampa il libro, per favore.

[Carol]

Romanticism in art from late 1790s to the middle of the 19th century. "The shock of the intellectual and political upheaveals of the late 18th century was felt throughout the civilized world from the US to the Russian Empire. No artist was immune to it." Works by Friedrich ( The Wanderer above the Mists), Turner (The Slave Ship), Gericault (Raft of the Medusa), Goya (The Third of May), Ingres, Delacroix (The 28th July: Liberty Leading the People), Cole (A Scene from Byron's Manfred), Gainsborough, Constable (Stonehenge), W. Holman Hunt (Rienzi Vowing to Obtain Justice), Daumier (Don Quixote and Sancho Panza), and last but certainly not least -- Blake (the book of Job).

[Michael]

The rare original-topping sequel. This ups it a notch from Honour's also-great but not as ambitious "Neoclassicism." Honour is delightful company. Especially recommended for literature people like myself interested in expanding their understanding of painting, sculpture, and architecture in the period.

[Thorolf van Walsum]

As someone with little experience in art history, I positively flew through this book in amazement, revelation and delight. I earnestly believe my conception of history began with the reading of this book.

[Ander]

Clásico, pero merece la pena volver a él.

[Benito]

Una de las primeras obras académicas que me hizo pensar seriamente en la creación del concepto de arte y artista como lo concebimos hoy (o quizá ya no). Además de penetrar en uno de los momentos claves de la estructuración del alma occidental y nudo intelectual que explica buena parte del S.XX y su tragedia. Todo ello mientras se describe y documenta meticulosamente la corriente artística y filosófica marginal para sus contemporáneos que centró el siglo XIX.

[Adam]

Romanticism feels like it can't make up its mind who its audience is. Honour follows the style of Landscape and Memory and In Ruins, building thematic arguments with a series of anecdotes about painters, writers, and critics. But he is trying to cover far more ground, and perhaps feels the need to be more inclusive. He provides much less context for his anecdotes, and while a reader familiar with the artists he mentions might find his arguments interesting, it was really hard for me to keep up with his ideas while also orienting myself in the artistic and political milieus he moves between. It is, in short, not the adult-textbook sort of introduction to Romanticism I was looking for. It also does that obnoxious thing where any French quote shorter than two sentences isn't translated. If you didn't expect us to understand it, why did you include it???