In emphasizing emotion and imagination, romantic art shifted away from the restraint of classicism and neoclassicism that had dominated art in Europe since the Renaissance. Romanticism achieved its greatest popularity in art, literature, music and philosophy between 1780 and 1830, although its expression of individual experiences ranging from awe to passion informed culture in the decades after.
Landscape painting was especially popular during the romantic period, as were nature studies of wild animals and fantasies of exotic lands. Romanticism varied across Europe as it reacted to the rise of industrialization, a more personal relationship with faith that was distanced from the church and the rationalist thinking of the Enlightenment.
British painters such as John Constable and J.M.W. Turner responded dramatically to the light and atmosphere of the natural world, while William Blake conveyed humanity’s connection to the divine in his visionary art. In Germany, the late-18th-century Sturm und Drang, or Storm and Drive, movement, with its probing of the unconscious, inspired a sense of mystery in work by romantic artists such as Caspar David Friedrich and Philipp Otto Runge. In France, where the French Revolution had turned tradition upside down, Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix used lush brushwork to paint monumental canvases with tumultuous scenes of nature and history.
The romantic movement and its subject matter were a significant influence on the Pre-Raphaelites, Symbolists and the American painters of the Hudson River School, as well as on other cultural movements in the 19th and 20th centuries that saw artists build on this perspective in which art was guided by emotion rather than reason.
Find a collection of romantic paintings, sculptures, prints and multiples and more art on 1stDibs.
$39,600
"Rebirth" Oil Painting of Ophelia with angels, Figurative, Signed, Contemporary
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
"Rebirth" is an oil painting by Daniela Astone (b. 1980 Pisa, Italy) depicting three figures amongst a background of deep teal green and blue. The first figure, represents "Ophelia"...
Oil, Canvas
Gustave de Jonghe, "An Afternoon Visit, " original oil painting
Located in Chatsworth, CA
Gustave de Jonghe An Afternoon Visit Oil on panel Image Size: 32.8 x 25 inches Framed Dimensions: 41.7 x 33.5 Hand signed in lower left corner
Oil
Along the River “La Meuse” by Martinus Kuytenbrouwer, 1821 – 1897, Signed
Located in Knokke, BE
Martinus Kuytenbrouwer Amersfoort, The Netherlands 1821 – 1897 Paris, France Dutch Painter Along the River “La Meuse” Signature: signed lower right 'Martinus' Medium: oil on canvas...
Canvas, Oil
$3,487
The Glow of the Past: Lundström’s Stockholm with a Touch of Mystery
Located in Stockholm, SE
We are pleased to present this painting by Ernst Lundström, dedicated to the esteemed sculptor Per Hasselberg. The dedication on the front of the painting makes this piece particular...
Canvas, Oil
1960s Framed Romantic Oil Painting of the Flower Market and Theatre de Cherbourg
Located in Cotignac, FR
French mid century oil on board painting of a colourful flower market in the square of the Grand Theatre in Cherbourg, northern France by J Lietard. The painting is signed bottom rig...
Oil, Board
$2,785Sale Price|20% Off
French Romantic School, 19th Century, Manly head of bearded man, oil on canvas
Located in Paris, FR
French Romantic School 19th Century Manly head of bearded man oil on canvas 46 x 37.8 cm In fairly good condition, some inpaintings visible under UV light, mainly in the backgrounds ...
Canvas, Oil
Rocky Landscape at Sunset, Oil on Canvas, Signed, Circa 1900
Located in Stockholm, SE
This sunset landscape by Hans Agersnap presents a quiet and ccontemplative view of the Danish countryside at the close of day. The composition is dominated by undulating hills, bathe...
Canvas, Oil
Study of the Biedermeier Style Genre Painting The Attic Room by Carl Spitzweg
Located in Soquel, CA
Study of the Biedermeier Style Painting The Attic Room by Carl Spitzweg This painting is a study after The Attic Room by Carl Spitzweg signed "Perez" and executed in homage to Spitz...
Linen, Oil, Stretcher Bars
Alfred Friedländer (1860–1933), Genre Scene with elegant company&Fortune Teller
Located in DEVENTER, NL
Finely executed oil painting on panel by the Austrian artist Alfred (Ritter von Malheim) Friedländer (Vienna, 1860 – 1933). The work depicts an elegant company that has paused alon...
Oil, Wood Panel
$9,600Sale Price|20% Off
“Lady of the Lake”
Located in Southampton, NY
Oil on canvas. Condition is very good. Signed lower left. Inscribed Paris and dated 1904. Overall with gold leaf over wood frame frame 28 1/2 x 34 1/2 inches. There is a second f...
Canvas, Oil
$10,821
Sheltering from the storm / - Romantic landscape illuminated by lightning bolt -
Located in Berlin, DE
George Morland (1763 London - 1804 Brighton). Sheltering from the Storm. Oil on canvas, relined, 37.5 x 29.5 cm (visible size), 53.5 x 45.5 cm (...
Oil
Pair of Oil on Canvas Early 19th Century Portraits of a Man and Woman
Located in Palm Beach, FL
A pair of early 19th century French oil on canvas paintings of a man and woman, probably husband and wife. Neoclassical and Napoleonic in style, these paintings are very well execute...
Oil
$1,390Sale Price|20% Off
Painting of a Mountain in Lake District England by 20th Century British Artist
By James Wright
Located in Preston, GB
Painting of a Mountain in Lake District England by 20th Century British Landscape Artist, James Wright. Signed, Original, Oil on Canvas, housed in a beautiful ornate gold frame. Prov...
Canvas, Oil
$13,760
Late 18th Or Early 19th Century Portrait Of La Gamine With Androgynous Charm
By Pierre-Paul Prud'hon
Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset
Late 18th Or Early 19th Century European Tradition. La Gamine. Androgynous Charm. Framed Oil On Canvas. Unsigned. Image size 15.6 inches x 11.6 inches ( 39.5cm x 29.5cm ). Frame size...
Canvas, Oil
Portrait of Nils And Stina Tirén Reading Kring Granen och Brasan
Located in Stockholm, SE
This intimate watercolour depicts the artist’s children, Nils Tirén and Stina Tirén, they reading the Christmas annual Kring granen och brasan. The image served as the original illus...
Watercolor, Board
$1,495
Unique Pair Of Vintage Herbarium Displays. A Botanical Flower Press With Frame
Located in Frederiksberg C, DK
A unique pair of vintage herbarium / botanical displays collected and created by S. Lindwald in June 1946 in Sweden. These botanical specimen are preserved behind glass in a new doub...
Archival Paper
$1,400
Sunset behind the Trees, Romantic 19th Century Oil on Canvas, Framed
Located in Stockholm, SE
Carl Frederik Aagaard, Sunset over Dyrehaven. Signed C.F. Aagaard. Oil on canvas laid on card box panel. 22×32 cm without frame. A tergo written:...
Canvas, Oil
$3,337Sale Price|20% Off
Ondine Oil Painting on Canvas, Romantic Style, 19th Century. Woman artist
Located in GB
Irma Martin (1814–1876): A Woman Painter in the 19th Century Irma Martin, born Anne Pierrette Marie Martin on September 3, 1814, in Lyon, emerged as a professional painter in a time...
Canvas, Oil
$960Sale Price|20% Off
Fur Trapper in Winter - Portrait in Oil on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
Fur Trapper in Winter - Portrait in Oil on Canvas Majestic full length portrait of a fur trapper standing in the snow by John Pieron. A man stands an...
Canvas, Oil
Late XIX Century Italian Signed Landscape Painting
Located in Roma, IT
Late XIX Century Italian Signed Landscape Painting A beautiful mountain painting by the great Italian artist Celestino Ghione, who speciali...
Oil
1920s Italian Signed Landscape Oil on Canvas Painting
Located in Roma, IT
Emilio Borsa Monza countryside Countryside landscape of Monza park, with a bare willow tree in the foreground. In the background, a glimpse of the stone bridge over the Lambro River,...
Oil, Canvas
Portrait Alfred de MUSSET cigar French Romantic Painting 19th POTTIN
Located in PARIS, FR
Henri POTTIN Paris, 1820 - Paris, 1864 Presumed Portrait of Alfred de Musset Oil on canvas 33 x 25 cm (45 x 36 cm with frame) Signed and dated lower left "h. Pxxxin / 1844" Inscri...
Oil
Poppy and Anemone Still Life Floral Study in Oil on Linen
Located in Soquel, CA
Delicate and detailed floral still life by Alfred Broge (Danish, 1870-1955). Three white anemones and one pink poppy, all with stems and leaves, sit against a medium grey background...
Linen, Oil, Board
Cormorans au coucher du soleil sur l’Arctique
Located in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, FR
This work by Eduard Hildebrandt stands out for its striking poetic and visual power, fully embodying the spirit of 19th-century Romantic travel painting. It depicts a spectacular Arc...
Oil
A Spring Sunset, Original Oil Painting from 1952
Located in Stockholm, SE
This exquisite painting by the artist Otto Lindberg (1880-1955) is a mesmerizing depiction of a spring sunset. Crafted in 1952, this piece stands as one of Lindberg's final paintings...
Canvas, Oil
$3,281Sale Price|20% Off
Horse Drawn Plough with Two Horses Ploughman and Dog by British Landscape Artist
By James Wright
Located in Preston, GB
Horse Drawn Plough with Two Horses, Ploughman and his Dog. Signed, Oil on Canvas, housed in a gilt frame, by British Landscape Artist, James Wright. Art measures 24 x 16 inches Fram...
Canvas, Oil
$9,378
Hilding Werner (1880-1944) - Moonlight Over Krokvattnet (near Glafsfjorden)
Located in Stockholm, SE
Hilding Werner (1880-1944) was a Swedish artist known for his portraits, romantic landscape paintings of Värmland, and caricature drawings. We are privi...
Canvas, Oil
Female Oil Portrait Delicate Austria Romantic 1800s Vintage Woman Realism Signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Art: 30" x 24" Frame: 36.50" x 30.50" Oil on canvas signed and dated lower right.
Oil, Canvas
Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta Palatial Oil on Canvas Portrait Isabelle McCreery
By Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta
Located in LA, CA
Raimundo De Madrazo y Garreta (Spanish School, 1841-1920) an exceptional and palatial oil on canvas "Portrait of Isabelle McCreery” depic...
Oil
Miniature 19th Century Austrian Pastoral Oil on Wood
Located in Soquel, CA
Original Miniature 19th Century Austrian Pastoral Figurative Oil Painting on Wood Painted in the manner of late Romanticism, this charming miniature pastoral landscape by Edmund Fri...
Gesso, Oil, Board
"Woman with an umbrella sitting on a bench"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Unidentified Artist (1929) "Woman with an Umbrella Sitting on a Bench" This elegant 1929 oil painting on canvas presents a refined portrait of a fashionable woman seated on a park be...
Canvas, Oil
$2,000Sale Price|20% Off
Still Life Bouquet with Calla Lilies and Amaryllis in Chinese Vase
Located in Soquel, CA
Elegant still life with calla lilies and amaryllis by an unknown artist. Completed in a classical style, two calla lilies and two amaryllis flowers sit in a vase with Chinese designs...
Canvas, Oil
"Alpine River Landscape"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
Georg Garbe (19th Century) "Alpine River Landscape" This captivating 19th-century oil painting on canvas by Georg Garbe presents a breathtaking Alpine landscape, featuring a rushing ...
Canvas, Oil
$225,000
Young Girl in Blue, Romantic Oil Painting on Canvas, 19th Century
Located in New York, NY
Signature bottom right Frederick Arthur Bridgman was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, then later moved to Boston and New York. Before long, he had enlisted a group of Brooklyn businessme...
Canvas, Oil
"Alpine Landscape with Mother and Children" Antique Oil Painting Europe Nature
Located in Austin, TX
Oil on canvas Canvas Size: 29 x 44 in. Frame Size: 36 x 51 in. Unsigned A marvelous antique oil on canvas painting, exemplary of Romantic Dutch painting that depicts a sweeping, dra...
Canvas, Oil
$4,713Sale Price|20% Off
Geese in the Marshland, Falsterbo, 1918
Located in Stockholm, SE
This luminous oil painting by William Gislander captures a tranquil evening scene in the coastal wetlands of Falsterbo, southern Sweden. A group of geese gathers at the edge of a mea...
Canvas, Oil
$1,390Sale Price|20% Off
Country Lane with Trees & Birds in English Countryside by 20th Century Artist
By James Wright
Located in Preston, GB
Country Lane with Trees & Birds in English Countryside by 20th Century British Landscape Artist, James Wright Signed, Original, Oil on Canvas, housed in a beautiful ornate gold frame. Provenance: Part of the English Heritage...
Canvas, Oil
Enfants à la plage Oil Painting on Wood Panel, Signed, Circa 1865-1875
Located in Stockholm, SE
Albert Roosenboom was a Belgian genre painter celebrated for his elegant depictions of everyday life in the mid to late 19th century. A pupil of the renowned Constantin Meunier, Roos...
Oil, Wood Panel
The Daily Tasks of Rural Life, c. 1860, Romanticism Oil Painting.
Located in Stockholm, SE
This serene landscape painting is by James Howe Carse, a Scottish-Australian artist whose lineage and mentorship are deeply rooted in the artistic traditions of his time. Carse's wor...
Canvas, Oil
$4,720Sale Price|20% Off
Standing Stones on Machrie Moor, Scotland, Solstice, 19th Century oil on canvas
Located in Hillsborough, NC
Solstice with the famous Celtic Standing Stones over the Moor of Machrie, Scotland, silhouettes rise up over the marsh. Painted in the 1800s by Scottish artist John MacWhirter (1839-...
Canvas, Oil
$1,056Sale Price|20% Off
Winter Landscape Snow Scene in the English Countryside by 20th Century Artist
By James Wright
Located in Preston, GB
Rural Winter Landscape Scene with Snow & Winter Trees in the English Countryside by 20th Century British Artist, James Wright Signed, Original, Oil on Canvas, housed in a beautiful ornate gold frame. Provenance: Part of the English Heritage...
Canvas, Oil
'Cutting the Bread' by Gerard Portielje (Antwerp 1856 – 1929 Remich, Luxembourg)
Located in Knokke, BE
Gerard Portielje Antwerp 1856 – 1929 Remich, Luxembourg Belgian Painter 'Cutting the Bread' Signature: signed lower left 'Gerard Portielje', artist’...
Oil, Panel
$1,335Sale Price|20% Off
Early 1800's Italian Oil Painting Romantic Light Landscape Figure by River
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Riverside Pathway Italian School, early 1800's period oil painting on paper laid on board, unframed size: 12.75 x 17.5 inches condition: overall very good for age, a few very sma...
Oil
$2,640Sale Price|20% Off
Figurative, Horse Painting, Landscape, French Art, Western n°19 by Swan Scalabre
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Swan Scalabre "Western n°17" Oil on Wood 8 x 10 in. 11 x 13 in. Framed Born in the Alpes de Haute Provence region of France in 1977, Swan Scalabre investigates the silent gaze p...
Wood, Oil
Lilies, Orange and Pink Pelargonium, Roses, and other Flowers in a Greek Vase
By Johan Laurentz Jensen
Located in New York, NY
From 1833 to 1835 Johan Laurentz Jensen lived in France and Italy; while in Rome, he was considered the most prominent painter in an extensive colony of Scandinavian artists there. I...
Oil, Panel
$1,668
19th century classic English landscape with Children, cows and cottages.
Located in GB
This painting presents a serene and luminous pastoral landscape, characteristic of 19th-century English rural imagery, where nature and human presence are harmoniously intertwined. T...
Canvas, Oil
Romantic Sunset Desert Dance Oil Painting on Canvas, 19th Century
By Otto Pilny
Located in New York, NY
Otto Pilny was a Swiss Orientalist painter working at the turn of the 20th century. Specializing in exoticized oil paintings of the Middle East, his work often features desert scenes...
Oil, Canvas
$3,552Sale Price|20% Off
La Maja Vestida, Romantic Oil Painting on Canvas, Early 19th Century
Located in New York, NY
Very good copy of "La maja vestida" after Francisco Goya, around 1900.
Canvas, Oil
Children Flying Kites
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Children Flying Kites" 1963, is an oil painting on hardboard by noted Haitian artist Bourmont Byron, 1920-2004. It is signed and dated at the lower right corner ...
Oil
Courtship in the Forest French Romantic School XIX century oil on canvas
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Title: *Courtship in the Forest* Author: French Romantic School Technique: Oil on canvas Support: Canvas mounted on a stretcher Unframed dimensions: 11.4 x 7.9 inches Frame...
Canvas, Oil
$841Sale Price|41% Off
British Romantic painter - 19th century coastal landscape with a fisherman
Located in Varmo, IT
British painter (late 19th century) - Coastal landscape with castle and fisherman. 41 x 66 cm. Oil on canvas, unframed (not signed). The composition depicts a wide coastal view wi...
Canvas, Oil
Kastellet, View of Kastellholmen from Skeppsholmen, Stockholm
Located in Stockholm, SE
signed lower right oil on canvas unframed 37 × 50 cm (14.6 × 19.7 in) framed 51.5 × 63 cm (20.3 × 24.8 in) This painting depicts Kastellholmen as seen from Skeppsholmen, rendered un...
Canvas, Oil
French Mid 19th Century Portrait of an Italian Brigand. Oil on Canvas.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid 19th Century oil on canvas portrait of an Italian brigand, unsigned, in painted wood and gilt frame. The painting is a fine and fascinating rendition with plenty of wonderful character and detail to the costume, accessories, landscape and seascape. Very atmospheric and imposing much like the character it portrays. There is a trade stamp to the back of the canvas for the Paris firm of Susse Freres. The canvas is on a fine quality stretcher with 'keys'. There is an artist's name or title written on the top of the rear stretcher (see photo). Bands of brigands who populated the hills of southern Italy were steady fodder for the Romantic imagination, and their exploits were reported both factually, fancifully and artistically The painting dates from a period when France, under its then leader Napoleon III, was involved in the conflicts in the Italian states and the unification and eventual creation of the nation of Italy. An earlier and similar portrait exists of the infamous brigand Mazzocchi by Achille-Etna Michallony . Léon Cogniet...
Cotton Canvas, Oil
$1,390Sale Price|20% Off
Tree Study & Field in the English Countryside by 20th Century Landscape Artist
By James Wright
Located in Preston, GB
Tree Study & Field in the English Countryside by 20th Century British Landscape Artist, James Wright Signed, Original, Oil on Canvas, housed in a beautiful ornate gold frame. Proven...
Oil, Canvas
Pair of Romantic landscape paintings (pendant), oil on panel, in gilt wood frame
Located in DEVENTER, NL
Pair of Romantic landscape paintings (pendant) with figures, Inspired by 17th century Dutch landscape painting Oil on panel In g...
Oil, Wood Panel
Norwegian Fjord
Located in Sheffield, MA
Adelsteen Normann Norway, 1848–1918 Norwegian Fjord Oil on canvas 31 ¼ by 41 ½ in, w/ frame 37 ⅛ by 47 ⅜ in Signed lower right Inventory Number: 01...
Canvas, Oil
$173Sale Price|20% Off
Christmas Tree In The Snow. Oil on Board.
Located in Cotignac, FR
An oil on panel view of a Christmas tree in a landscape heavy with snow by Boggio. The painting is signed bottom left. A charming view of a snow scene, a Christmas tree its branches...
Oil, Board
$2,404Sale Price|20% Off
BREDOW Snow landscape moonlight night German Russian school romantic 19th
Located in PARIS, FR
Albert BREDOW Germany, 1828 – Moscow, 1899 Oil on canvas Signed lower right "ABredow" 43 cm x 62 cm (67 x 85 cm with frame) Albert Bredow is a German-Russian landscape painter, lit...
Oil
Jean Carzou, original drawing, couple.
By Jean Carzou
Located in La Canada Flintridge, CA
The artwork titled Couple. The artwork size is 9"x11.5", ink on paper and Carzou signed lower right. This expressive drawing captures two elongated figures standing closely togethe...
Ink
$3,366Sale Price|20% Off
Golden Sunrise on the Maas – Arthur J. Meadows’ Tranquil Masterpiece (1884)
Located in Stockholm, SE
A Golden Dawn on the Maas In this refined marine painting, Arthur Joseph Meadows captures a tranquil sunrise on the river Maas just below the historic city of Dordrecht (“Dort”). The...
Canvas, Oil