Art In My View: ISN'T IT ROMANTIC?

The artworks that I find instantly romantic were painted by a small group of men in the latter half of the 19th century. In 1848, seven disgruntled English painters formed a group called The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Madonna&Child by Raphael 1505

They felt that the art at that time had become too cold and mechanical, and that it all began with the painter Raphael Sanzio back in the days of the high Renaissance. The Pre-Raphaelites claimed that Raphael had set a style standard that had become so adhered to that most paintings had become soulless. They wanted to see compositions that represented ideas, often with social ramifications, and an aesthetic detail that honored the beauty of nature.

For example, this 1916 painting by John William Waterhouse illustrates the controversial romance of Tristan and Isolde Sharing the Potion.

Well, these artists may have declared these intentions, but what was produced by their brushes was something else. Their paintings did illustrate tales from mythology, history, and famous writers, but the images were primarily filled with beautiful young women, all with long, thick, wavy heads of hair, wearing long sensuous, flowing gowns. They would be posed in very graceful attitudes while they appeared to ponder some great theme.

These painters were expressing erotic fantasies in an era when that was forbidden, and got away with it by placing the figures into mythological, historical, or literary settings. The results were incredibly sensuous and romantic.

Crown of Love by John Everett Millais, 1875