Romantic Landscape Painting
In the art of Romanticism, landscapes were among the most important motifs in painting. Throughout the philosophy of this epoch, which spanned roughly from the end of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century, nature played an important role. It was regarded as a source of inspiration and tranquillity but also as a refuge from reality.
This connection to nature was also reflected in romantic landscape painting. Its artists directed all their attention to motifs from nature and architecture. They understood landscapes as completely independent subjects in which people – if at all – played a subordinate role.
However, the artists did not only want to depict the beauty of nature in their works. In the scenes they painted, they also frequently expressed their emotions as well as mystical or spiritual themes. But why were landscapes, in particular, among the preferred picture subjects of this epoch? This question will be explored below on the basis of the characteristics, motifs and key works of Romanticism.
Romantic Landscape Painting and Its Most Important Characteristics
Romanticism can only to a limited extent be described as an independent style in the art-historical sense. The painting of this period developed hardly any innovations of its own in painting technique and composition, such as can be found in other epochs, for example in Impressionism or Expressionism. Accordingly, only a few typical stylistic characteristics of Romantic painting can be named. The similarities in the works of this period lie rather in their thematic orientation and the basic principles of their worldview. Many painters of Romanticism were inspired in their picture design by the spirit of the age and the philosophy of the entire epoch.
The influence of the ideas of Romanticism can be observed in four distinct characteristics of landscape painting:
1. Nature as the home of the soul
Throughout the entire epoch of Romanticism, nature played a special role. Artists were fascinated by its sublimity and beauty and regarded it as a mirror of the soul. In nature, they found peace, but they also regarded it as a place of the supernatural and spirituality. The painters of Romanticism also discovered the potential of landscapes as a picture theme. They did not want simply to depict forests, fields, mountains, sea and lakes realistically. Rather, they recognised the great symbolic power that landscape pictures could contain.
2. Landscape Painting as the Voice of the Individual
A central characteristic of Romanticism was the strong reference to the self. The emphasis on subjective feeling was also reflected in depictions of nature. In the painting of Romanticism, nature and landscapes did not stand only for themselves but had great symbolic power.
In landscape paintings, artists were able to express their inner life and their entire world of feelings. They allowed emotions such as love, fear and longing, through to passion and melancholy, to flow into their works. But they could also articulate their great fascination with the world of the mystical, dreams, the supernatural and spirituality in depictions of nature. In doing so, artists increasingly turned away from the true-to-nature depiction of nature. They chose forms of representation that, in their view, served to convey their feelings and thoughts as intensely as possible.
3. Feelings and Symbolism as Principles of Painting
In order to make the themes of Romanticism tangible in their works, artists used various artistic means. In particular, they discovered light conditions as a way of expressing moods. Thus, they placed their motifs in the light of different times of day and seasons or different weather conditions. They were able to realise this particularly impressively in pictures of sunsets, daybreaks and full-moon nights or of autumnal or winter impressions.
The painters of Romanticism often aimed their picture composition directly at the emotions of the viewers. For example, they wanted wide panoramas to evoke an impression of longing or loneliness. Dark, misty scenes, however, were intended to appear mystical or mysterious and make the audience shudder. With strong light-dark contrasts, the artists also attempted to make their picture scenes appear dramatic.
The use of particularly intense and contrasting colours also contributed to this effect. Even though the artists of Romanticism attached more importance to light and atmosphere in their works, they still placed value on a realistic painting style for the objects in the picture. Some of them devoted themselves meticulously to the details of the picture objects so that hardly any difference between the paintings and reality could still be recognised.
4. The Human Figure as a Background Element
However, the concentration on one's own state of mind did not lead in painting – as might perhaps have been expected – to many people being seen in the works. Rather, in the landscape depictions of Romanticism, the focus lay entirely on nature. The human figure, which for many thousands of years had stood at the centre of painting, lost importance. Romantic landscape painting either dispensed with people entirely or was content to depict a few people relatively small or at the edge and embed them in the landscape scenes.
Romantic Landscape Painting and Its Motifs
Alongside genre scenes and portraits, landscapes were among the most important subjects of Romanticism. Yet, by the middle of the 18th century, landscape painting was still a relatively young genre. For many thousands of years, nature and landscapes had played only a subordinate role in painting. The focus was primarily on people and their actions. The landscape depictions merely served as scenery or background. It was only after the Middle Ages that the depiction of nature became established as an independent motif.
In Romanticism, landscape painting was able to develop significantly once again and acquired many new facets. In the philosophy of the Romantics, nature played an important role. Romantic landscape painting was able to give expression to this fascination with and reverence for nature. The artists did not want simply to depict landscapes in their paintings. Rather, they saw them as surfaces for reflection for their thoughts and emotions.
For their paintings, the artists were often inspired by different regions in Europe but they also painted freely invented landscape paintings. Thus, the English painter William Turner often based his work on real landscapes and created pictures of Venice, Calais or Constance.
Caspar David Friedrich's landscape painting was also based on motifs that he had collected on journeys through Germany. However, he later often rearranged his impressions completely anew in the studio and in this way created fictional landscapes. Regardless of whether the picture scenes were real or imaginary, romantic landscape paintings usually show idyllic moments in nature.
The popular motifs of romantic landscape painting included above all:
- Forests, trees and clearings, streams and lakes as well as pictures of mountains and rock formations.
- Individual buildings such as castles, palaces or churches.
- Also other architecture paintings as well as towns and villages.
- Seascapes with harbours, pictures on the open sea or from the beach
- Weather phenomena such as storms or drifting snow
- People or animals, on the other hand, usually did not appear at all or only at the edge.
Regardless of the motifs, in romantic landscape painting, the artists frequently chose representation in a wide panorama. In this way, they could give much space to the sky and the horizon featuring the sun, moon and cloud formations. Here, they also created the moods of light typical of romantic landscape painting.
Example 1: William Turner – "The Fighting Temeraire"
William Turner's painting "The Fighting Temeraire" is considered one of the highlights of romantic landscape painting. Turner (1775–1851) was one of the most important painters of English Romanticism. Like hardly any other painter of his time, he mastered the creation of atmospheric and dramatic motifs without lapsing into pathos.
As one of the first artists, he made the illumination of scenes an independent subject. In doing so, he carried out significant pioneering work for landscape painting as a whole. His painting "The Fighting Temeraire" from the year 1839 stands as an exemplary expression of his visionary visual language.
The seascape has a real historical background. It shows the British gunboat "Temeraire" being towed away to be broken up. The sailing ship had played an important role in the Battle of Trafalgar. Here, however, Turner dispensed with every form of heroisation. Rather, he made this motif a symbol of farewell and transience. The once glorious ship is no longer able to sail by itself and must be pulled by a paddle steamer.
Turner emphasised this memorable moment through a very emotional mood of light. The sun can barely assert itself against the veiled clouds in the sky, so that the entire scene is bathed in a dull, melancholic light.
Example 2: Caspar David Friedrich – "Two Men Contemplating the Moon"
"Two Men Contemplating the Moon" by Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) is one of the best examples of romantic landscape painting. The German painter had developed a very individual interpretation of this genre.
Through his paintings, he expressed various emotions such as longing, passion and melancholy, as well as mysticism and political content. "Two Men Contemplating the Moon" unites various characteristics typical of Romantic painting. Even though the title refers to the two people, they are not the subject of the picture. Rather, the focus is on the landscape and the mysterious mood of the moment.
The nocturnal scene is full of deep symbolism:
- Thus, the moon in Romanticism is regarded as a symbol of longing.
- The large tree, on the other hand, which appears dead and bears hardly any leaves, can be interpreted as a symbol of death.
- Colouring and mood of light also contribute to a mysterious atmosphere.
Another characteristic of romantic landscape painting is the fact that Friedrich shows the men only from the back. In this way, they remain anonymous and do not distract from the landscape as the main motif.
Romantic Landscape Painting Has Lost None of Its Fascination to This Day
Even around 200 years after its heyday, romantic landscape painting still captivates the public with its aesthetics, atmosphere and motifs. Exhibitions featuring works by painters such as William Turner, Caspar David Friedrich, John Constable, Carl Spitzweg or Eugène Delacroix continue to enjoy great popularity even today.
But contemporary painters also continue this tradition-rich genre. One reason for the enduring popularity of the landscape painting of Romanticism could be that this form of painting, with its timeless themes, was then, as now, very close to people. In the painting of this era, the soul, mind and emotions of people find their counterpart. The entire world of feelings, from love and joy to melancholy and grief, is reflected by the art of Romanticism. Thus, people can find themselves in these works in all historical phases.
It may also be that the continued interest in the painting of Romanticism is due to the fact that nature, as its central theme, is once again gaining in importance. Even today, nature is regarded as a symbol of peace and tranquillity. In view of a world developing ever more rapidly, ongoing crises and constant pressure towards (self-)optimisation, existential questions are increasingly pressing for many people. Against this background, quiet and original nature appears as a welcome place of retreat.
Perhaps, however, it is also simply due to the technical perfection of the artists of Romanticism. Romantic landscape painting combines an intense atmosphere with realistic picture details and thus comes very close to reality. Not least for this reason, the imposing impressions of nature created by William Turner or Caspar David Friedrich are still able today to attract the public almost magically.
Would you like to learn more about the subject of landscape painting? Dive deeper into the history of landscape painting with our magazine article "History of Landscape Painting: Nature and Architecture in Focus".
Selected works on romantic landscape painting
