Romantic Era

Romanticism

 The Titan's Goblet by Thomas Cole, 1833, Oil On Canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Thomas Cole was born February 1, 1801 in Lancashire England but his family later immigrated to the United States (Encyclopedia Britannica). Cole painted this near the end of the Romantic Era. The romantic era artists wanted to elicit emotions steered away from Realism and painted exotic landscapes, magical scenes, and fantasies. Cole used light from the sunset to create a feeling of serenity while bringing us into a mythical scene where a Titan goblet is left to be grown over on earth. The goblet has an array of textures from the soft moss, to the smooth wood, and calm misting water which work together to bring the viewer into a moment in time. The size of the goblet in comparison to the landscape shows how large these Titans must have been and the mountains are pointing upwards as if drawing the eye up towards the light. The bottom on the painting is darker though, the edges of the mountains more rigid and rocky. It makes me curious as to what Cole intended for this painting to mean, perhaps the passage of time from something great to something smaller and darker.

The Third of May 1808, Francisco Goya, 1814, Oil on Canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid

Goya was born in Spain on March 30, 1746 and by the 1780's was a leading painter in Spain for religious works and portraits. His art changed after 1792 when Francisco contracted an illness that left him deaf and his art work changed dramatically (Harris-Frankfort). Zappella explains that there was a rebellion in Spain against the leader of the country on May 2, 1808 and on May 3, 1808 the French retaliated against the rebel and slaughtered them. Goya captures a moment in time during the executions of the rebels, the moment is dark and dreadful. Romantism was about eliciting the feeling of a moment and Goya used a dark background of night sky to convey a depressing and grim environment. He contrasts that darkness by clothing one main rebel in a light white shirt, to perhaps represent purity and believing in good over evil, and gold pants. The facial features of the rebels are sad, pleading, and scared. Goya didn't paint every facial feature and structure like artist that came before, it was just enough expression brought to the face to portray an emotion. The lantern set on the ground is also an interesting perception for the lighting of the scene. It would be illuminating the faces of the French that were killing, but it also illuminates our contrasting rebel. The light seems to spotlight on him from the lantern while he is posed like Christ on the cross. Francisco was underling the righteousness of the rebels combining the lighting and posing of the main rebel.

Photography

Georgia O'Keeffe Neck by Alfred Stieglitz, 1921, Palladium Print, Photograph

Alfres Stieglitz was born on January 1, 1834 in Hoboken, New Jersey and was an influential photographer for his time (Szarkowski). In 1921, photography was coming out of it's introductory phase and stepping into an artistic explosion. Stieglitz used photography to capture the neck of Georgia O'Keefe in such beautiful and telling way. The lines her body makes going up her neck as her head is turning contrast the horizontal lines of her collar bones. These are give me a sense of strength and stability. However, Alfred also included the curving feminine lines of her fingers in the photograph really giving us a more rounded sense of Georgia as a person. Stieglitz used photography to capture a moment in time so well, that the shadows from the curves in her body give depth to the photograph, it brings the viewer into the intimate scene.

Sadie Pfiefer, a Cotton Mill Spinner by Lewis Hine 1908, Gelatin Silver Print, Photography

Lewis Hine was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1874 and went on to document the arrival of immigrants at Ellis Island in 1904 (International Center of Photography). In 1906, the National Labor committee hired Hine to document child labor. He traveled to a Cotton Mill in 1908 in South Carolina and it was here he found the subject of the photo, Sadie Pfiefer (Art Institute of Chicago). Hine uses his knowledge of photography to evoke a deep sense of injustice for Sadie. He uses angles to create the perspective of being right next to the machinery, as if the viewer is at work along side Sadie. The light in the photograph is coming in from the windows and illuminates the complexity of the machines and the small stature of the little girl working the machines. The light enough to see the look on concentration on Sadie's face as she is adjusting the machine. In this photo, there are not many soft curved lines to comfort the viewer, everything is very rigid and muted. Hines was able to create change in the world through his photography by being able to capture the reality of a scene, the emotions, and the atmosphere.

Works Cited

“Alfred Stieglitz: Georgia O’Keeffe - Neck.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/271615. Accessed 13 July 2023.

Harris-Frankfort, Enriqueta. “Francisco Goya.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 June 2023, www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-Goya.

“Lewis Wickes Hine.” International Center of Photography, 20 Sept. 2019, www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/lewis-wickes-hine?all%2Fall%2Fall%2Fall%2F0.

“Sadie Pfeifer, a Cotton Mill Spinner, Lancaster, South Carolina, Lewis Hine.” The Art Institute of Chicago, www.artic.edu/artworks/23336/sadie-pfeifer-a-cotton-mill-spinner-lancaster-south-carolina. Accessed 13 July 2023.

Swarkowski, John. “Alfred Stieglitz.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 July 2023, www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Stieglitz.

“Thomas Cole.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Mar. 2023, www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Cole.

“The Titan’s Goblet.” The History of Art, www.thehistoryofart.org/thomas-cole/titans-goblet/. Accessed 13 July 2023.

Zappella, Christine. “Francisco Goya, The Third of May, 1808.” Smarthistory, 9 Aug. 2015, smarthistory.org/goya-third-of-may-1808/#:~:text=A%20powerful%20anti%2Dwar%20statement,feet%20away%20from%20one%20another.