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Romantic Art

ROMANTIC STYLE

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.

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Style: Romantic
Artist: J.M.W. Turner
"Beauport" Manor in Sussex: An Aquatint Engraving After a J.M.W. Turner Painting
By J.M.W. Turner
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a colored aquatint after a drawing and a watercolor landscape by Joseph Mallord William (J. M. W.) Turner (1775–1851) entitled Beauport. The engraving was created by Joseph C...
Category

Early 19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Aquatint

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'In Memory of William W. Peabody' original hand-colored lithograph by N. Currier
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present hand-colored lithograph was produced as part of the funeral and mourning culture in the United States during the 19th century. Images like this were popular as ways of remembering loved ones, an alternative to portraiture of the deceased. This lithograph shows a man, woman and child in morning clothes next to an urn-topped stone monument. Behind are additional putto-topped headstones beneath weeping willows, with a steepled church beyond. The monument contains a space where a family could inscribe the name and death dates of a deceased loved one. In this case, it has been inscribed to a young Civil War soldier: William W. Peabody Died at Fairfax Seminary, VA December 18th, 1864 Aged 18 years The young Mr. Peabody probably died in service for the Union during the American Civil War. Farifax Seminary was a Union hospital and military headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. The hospital served nearly two thousand soldiers during the war time. Five hundred were also buried on the Seminary's grounds. 13.75 x 9.5 inches, artwork 23 x 19 inches, frame Published before 1864 Inscribed bottom center "Lith. & Pub. by N. Currier. 2 Spruce St. N.Y." Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting and TruVue Conservation Clear glass, housed in a gold gilded moulding. Nathaniel Currier was a tall introspective man with a melancholy nature. He could captivate people with his piercing stare or charm them with his sparkling blue eyes. Nathaniel was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on March 27th, 1813, the second of four children. His parents, Nathaniel and Hannah Currier, were distant cousins who lived a humble yet spartan life. When Nathaniel was eight years old, tragedy struck. Nathaniel’s father unexpectedly passed away leaving Nathaniel and his eleven-year-old brother Lorenzo to provide for the family. In addition to their mother, Nathaniel and Lorenzo had to care for six-year-old sister Elizabeth and two-year-old brother Charles. Nathaniel worked a series of odd jobs to support the family, and at fifteen, he started what would become a life-long career when he apprenticed in the Boston lithography shop of William and John Pendleton. A Bavarian gentleman named Alois Senefelder invented lithography just 30 years prior to young Nat Currier’s apprenticeship. While under the employ of the brothers Pendleton, Nat was taught the art of lithography by the firm’s chief printer, a French national named Dubois, who brought the lithography trade to America. Lithography involves grinding a piece of limestone flat and smooth then drawing in mirror image on the stone with a special grease pencil. After the image is completed, the stone is etched with a solution of aqua fortis leaving the greased areas in slight relief. Water is then used to wet the stone and greased-ink is rolled onto the raised areas. Since grease and water do not mix, the greased-ink is repelled by the moisture on the stone and clings to the original grease pencil lines. The stone is then placed in a press and used as a printing block to impart black on white images to paper. In 1833, now twenty-years old and an accomplished lithographer, Nat Currier left Boston and moved to Philadelphia to do contract work for M.E.D. Brown, a noted engraver and printer. With the promise of good money, Currier hired on to help Brown prepare lithographic stones of scientific images for the American Journal of Sciences and Arts. When Nat completed the contract work in 1834, he traveled to New York City to work once again for his mentor John Pendleton, who was now operating his own shop located at 137 Broadway. Soon after the reunion, Pendleton expressed an interest in returning to Boston and offered to sell his print shop to Currier. Young Nat did not have the financial resources to buy the shop, but being the resourceful type he found another local printer by the name of Stodart. Together they bought Pendleton’s business. The firm ‘Currier & Stodart’ specialized in "job" printing. They produced many different types of printed items, most notably music manuscripts for local publishers. By 1835, Stodart was frustrated that the business was not making enough money and he ended the partnership, taking his investment with him. With little more than some lithographic stones, and a talent for his trade, twenty-two year old Nat Currier set up shop in a temporary office at 1 Wall Street in New York City. He named his new enterprise ‘N. Currier, Lithographer’ Nathaniel continued as a job printer and duplicated everything from music sheets to architectural plans. He experimented with portraits, disaster scenes and memorial prints, and any thing that he could sell to the public from tables in front of his shop. During 1835 he produced a disaster print Ruins of the Planter's Hotel, New Orleans, which fell at two O’clock on the Morning of the 15th of May 1835, burying 50 persons, 40 of whom Escaped with their Lives. The public had a thirst for newsworthy events, and newspapers of the day did not include pictures. By producing this print, Nat gave the public a new way to “see” the news. The print sold reasonably well, an important fact that was not lost on Currier. Nat met and married Eliza Farnsworth in 1840. He also produced a print that same year titled Awful Conflagration of the Steamboat Lexington in Long Island Sound on Monday Evening, January 18, 1840, by which melancholy occurrence over One Hundred Persons Perished. This print sold out very quickly, and Currier was approached by an enterprising publication who contracted him to print a single sheet addition of their paper, the New York Sun. This single page paper is presumed to be the first illustrated newspaper ever published. The success of the Lexington print launched his career nationally and put him in a position to finally lift his family up. In 1841, Nat and Eliza had their first child, a son they named Edward West Currier. That same year Nat hired his twenty-one year old brother Charles and taught him the lithography trade, he also hired his artistically inclined brother Lorenzo to travel out west and make sketches of the new frontier as material for future prints. Charles worked for the firm on and off over the years, and invented a new type of lithographic crayon which he patented and named the Crayola. Lorenzo continued selling sketches to Nat for the next few years. In 1843, Nat and Eliza had a daughter, Eliza West Currier, but tragedy struck in early 1847 when their young daughter died from a prolonged illness. Nat and Eliza were grief stricken, and Eliza, driven by despair, gave up on life and passed away just four months after her daughter’s death. The subject of Nat Currier’s artwork changed following the death of his wife and daughter, and he produced many memorial prints and sentimental prints during the late 1840s. The memorial prints generally depicted grief stricken families posed by gravestones (the stones were left blank so the purchasers could fill in the names of the dearly departed). The sentimental prints usually depicted idealized portraits of women and children, titled with popular Christian names of the day. Late in 1847, Nat Currier married Lura Ormsbee, a friend of the family. Lura was a self-sufficient woman, and she immediately set out to help Nat raise six-year-old Edward and get their house in order. In 1849, Lura delivered a son, Walter Black Currier, but fate dealt them a blow when young Walter died one year later. While Nat and Lura were grieving the loss of their new son, word came from San Francisco that Nat’s brother Lorenzo had also passed away from a brief illness. Nat sank deeper into his natural quiet melancholy. Friends stopped by to console the couple, and Lura began to set an extra place at their table for these unexpected guests. She continued this tradition throughout their lives. In 1852, Charles introduced a friend, James Merritt Ives, to Nat and suggested he hire him as a bookkeeper. Jim Ives was a native New Yorker born in 1824 and raised on the grounds of Bellevue Hospital where his father was employed as superintendent. Jim was a self-trained artist and professional bookkeeper. He was also a plump and jovial man, presenting the exact opposite image of his new boss. Jim Ives met Charles Currier through Caroline Clark, the object of Jim’s affection. Caroline’s sister Elizabeth was married to Charles, and Caroline was a close friend of the Currier family. Jim eventually proposed marriage to Caroline and solicited an introduction to Nat Currier, through Charles, in hopes of securing a more stable income to support his future wife. Ives quickly set out to improve and modernize his new employer’s bookkeeping methods. He reorganized the firm’s sizable inventory, and used his artistic skills to streamline the firm’s production methods. By 1857, Nathaniel had become so dependent on Jims’ skills and initiative that he offered him a full partnership in the firm and appointed him general manager. The two men chose the name ‘Currier & Ives’ for the new partnership, and became close friends. Currier & Ives produced their prints in a building at 33 Spruce Street where they occupied the third, fourth and fifth floors. The third floor was devoted to the hand operated printing presses that were built by Nat's cousin, Cyrus Currier, at his shop Cyrus Currier & Sons in Newark, NJ. The fourth floor found the artists, lithographers and the stone grinders at work. The fifth floor housed the coloring department, and was one of the earliest production lines in the country. The colorists were generally immigrant girls, mostly German, who came to America with some formal artistic training. Each colorist was responsible for adding a single color to a print. As a colorist finished applying their color, the print was passed down the line to the next colorist to add their color. The colorists worked from a master print displayed above their table, which showed where the proper colors were to be placed. At the end of the table was a touch up artist who checked the prints for quality, touching-in areas that may have been missed as it passed down the line. During the Civil War, demand for prints became so great that coloring stencils were developed to speed up production. Although most Currier & Ives prints were colored in house, some were sent out to contract artists. The rate Currier & Ives paid these artists for coloring work was one dollar per one hundred small folios (a penny a print) and one dollar per one dozen large folios. Currier & Ives also offered uncolored prints to dealers, with instructions (included on the price list) on how to 'prepare the prints for coloring.' In addition, schools could order uncolored prints from the firm’s catalogue to use in their painting classes. Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives attracted a wide circle of friends during their years in business. Some of their more famous acquaintances included Horace Greeley, Phineas T. Barnum, and the outspoken abolitionists Rev. Henry Ward, and John Greenleaf Whittier (the latter being a cousin of Mr. Currier). Nat Currier and Jim Ives described their business as "Publishers of Cheap and Popular Pictures" and produced many categories of prints. These included Disaster Scenes, Sentimental Images, Sports, Humor, Hunting Scenes, Politics, Religion, City and Rural Scenes, Trains, Ships, Fire Fighters, Famous Race Horses, Historical Portraits, and just about any other topic that satisfied the general public's taste. 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Mid-19th Century Romantic Art

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PAYSAGE D’ ITALIE
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JEAN-BAPTISTE CAMILLE COROT (1876 - 1875) PAYSAGE D’ ITALIE 1866 (Melot 7 iii/iii) Etching, plate 6 ¼ x 9 inches, Third state after the removal of the text but before the random scr...
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'Partridge Shooting' original hand-colored lithograph by Nathaniel Currier
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Category

Mid-19th Century Romantic Art

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'Victor's Camp - Hell Gate Ronde' original John Mix Stanley lithograph
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In the mid-nineteenth century, the United States government set out to survey and document its newly acquired lands and territories west of the Mississippi. The goals of these surveys were manifold: to produce topographical maps, to document flora and fauna, and to document natural resources to build the emerging US economy. These surveys, and the images from them, also functioned to build the new sense of American identity with the landscape, condensing vistas into the 'picturesque' tradition of European image making. Thus, the entire span of US territory could be seen as a single, cohesive whole. This lithograph comes from one of six surveys commissioned by the Army's Topographic Bureau in 1853, which sought to find the best route to construct a transcontinental railroad. The result was a thirteen-volume report including maps, lithographs, and technical data entitled 'Explorations and Surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a Railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific Ocean.' In particular, the print comes from the northern survey, commanded by Isaac Stevens, which explored the regions between the 47th and 49th parallels. Stanley shows here the stop the Stanley Party made at the junction of the Bitterroot and Hell Gate, in present day Montana. While there, the Party met with the Flathead Chief by the name Victor, as is shown in the image. The figures and their encampment are dwarfed by the vast landscape around them, indicating the sublimity of these new American territories. 5.75 x 8.75 inches, image 6.5 x 9.25 inches, stone 17 x 20 inches, frame Artist 'Stanley Del.' lower left Entitled 'Victor's Camp - Hell Gate Ronde' lower center margin Publisher 'Sarony, Major & Knapp. Lith.s 449 Broadway N.Y.' lower right Inscribed 'U.S.P.R.R. EXP. & SURVEYS — 47th & 49th PARALLELS' upper left Inscribed 'GENERAL REPORT — PLATE XXXI' upper right Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting with French accents; glazed with UV5 Plexiglas to inhibit fading; housed in a gold reverse ogee moulding. Print in overall good condition; some localized foxing and discoloration; minor surface abrasions to frame. John Mix Stanley...
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Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Scene on the Wabash, and Potawattamie Indians" is an original hand-colored engraving, executed by Wellstood & Kirk after the original painting by George Winter. The image captures the kind of scene of the American landscape for which Winter is best known: among the lush trees and flowing rivers, Pottawatomi men, women and children relax from their travels, their horses tied...
Category

1860s Romantic Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pigment, Engraving

'Mount Vernon' original hand colored wood engraving George Washington 1850s
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Charles H. Wells (1832–1884), most often known simply by C.H. Wells, was an American artist active in Philadelphia. The publication of this wood engraving made this view of George Wa...
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1850s Romantic Art

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Paper, Pigment, Engraving, Woodcut

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Located in Storrs, CT
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Materials

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"Waterloo Volunteers" From the suite "History of England"
Located in San Francisco, CA
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Located in San Francisco, CA
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1920s Romantic Art

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Notre Dame de Paris in Winter
Located in San Francisco, CA
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Materials

Other Medium

Antique Dog Lithograph in the Taste of Alfred De Dreux, France circa 1870
By Alfred de Dreux
Located in SANTA FE, NM
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Previously Available Items
Isis [the great mother goddess of ancient Egypt].
By J.M.W. Turner
Located in Storrs, CT
Isis [the great mother goddess of ancient Egypt]. c. 1810-15. Published Turner, 1 January 1819. Etching and mezzotint. Finberg 68.v/v. Series: Liber Stu...
Category

1810s Romantic Art

Materials

Etching, Mezzotint

Rivaux Abbey, Yorkshire
By J.M.W. Turner
Located in Storrs, CT
Rivaux Abbey, Yorkshire. c. 1806-07. Published by J.M.W. Turner, 23 May 1812. Etching and mezzotint. Finberg catalog 51 state iii/iv. Series: Liber Studiorum. Image: 7 3/16 x 10 1/2;...
Category

Early 1800s Romantic Art

Materials

Etching, Mezzotint

Solitude
By J.M.W. Turner
Located in Storrs, CT
Solitude. 1814. Published by J.M.W. Turner, ?1 January 1816 although dated 12 May 1814. Etching and mezzotint. Finberg 53.ii/vii. Series: Liber Studiorum. Image: 7 x 10 1/4; plate: 8 x 11 3/8; sheet: 10 1/2 x 14 1/2. Drawn and etched by J.M.W Turner. Engraved (mezzotinted) by 'W.Say, Engraver to H.H.H. the Duke of Gloucester' (William Say. 1768 – 1834). With the blindstamp of the 1873 Turner collection sale at Christie's, in the plate just before the text 'Engraved by William Say'. A fine impression printed in sepia ink, on cream wove paper with full margins. Signed with the artists' names in the plate. It is one of eleven published Liber subjects in Turner’s ‘EP’ (‘Elevated Pastoral’ or 'Epic Pastoral') category, as denoted by the letters ‘EP’ above the image. The Tate website comments: "This is one of the published plates of the Liber Studiorum, a series of prints that Turner produced between 1807 and the early 1820s. The image was first etched in outline by Turner himself, and the gradations of light and shade were then introduced in mezzotint, in this case by William Say. The title Solitude is not Turner's own. His only reference to the subject suggests that he may have wanted to link the reclining woman with Mary Magdalene, although he places her not in a Biblical landscape but in an unlikely Arcadian setting...
Category

1810s Romantic Art

Materials

Etching, Mezzotint

The Straw Yard.
By J.M.W. Turner
Located in Storrs, CT
The Straw Yard. 1808. Published by Charles Turner, 20 February, 1808. Etching and mezzotint. Finberg 7.ii/iv. Series: Liber Studiorum. Image: 7 1/4 x 10; plate: 8 1/8 x 11 3/8; sheet...
Category

Early 1800s Romantic Art

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Mezzotint, Etching

The Straw Yard.
The Straw Yard.
H 16 in W 20 in D 0.5 in
The Woman and the Tambourine.
By J.M.W. Turner
Located in Storrs, CT
The Woman and the Tambourine. c. 1806-07. Published J.M.W. Turner,? 11 June 1807. Etching and mezzotint. Finberg 3.iii/iv. Series: Liber Studiorum. 8 1/4 x 11 1/2 (sheet 11 3/4 x 17 ...
Category

Early 1800s Romantic Art

Materials

Etching, Mezzotint

Basle
By J.M.W. Turner
Located in Storrs, CT
Basle. c. 1806-07. Published J.M.W. Turner, ?11 June 1807. Etching and mezzotint. Finberg 5.ii/vi. Series: Liber Studiorum. Image: 7 1/4 x 10 1/4; plate: 8 1/4 x 11 1/4; sheet: 10 3/...
Category

Early 1800s Romantic Art

Materials

Etching, Mezzotint

Romantic art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Romantic art available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Hiro Yokose, Francisco Goya, Leo Primavesi, and Dipen Bose. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Romantic art, so small editions measuring 3 inches across are also available. Prices for art made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $119 and tops out at $1,300,000, while the average work sells for $2,213.

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