Romanticism

What happened

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Romantic artists rebelled against the cool order of Neoclassicism, exalting emotion, imagination, and the sublime power of nature. Painters such as Turner, Delacroix, and Friedrich sought to stir feeling and awe rather than to instruct.

Why it matters

Romanticism placed the individual artist's emotion and vision at the centre of art, a shift that helped open the way to modern art's freedom of expression.

Sources

• Tate. Romanticism · Reputable source