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.
$19,361
A preparatory drawing by Eugène Delacroix on the back of one of his prints
Located in PARIS, FR
Rapidly executed with the tip of a brush, this wash bordering on abstraction seduced us with its great spontaneity. This (unsigned) study is a first thought for a small licentious ca...
Paper, Ink, Pencil
Female Nude Drawing in Romantic Style, Chalk on Paper, Circa 1844
By Thomas Couture
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Study of a female nude for The Love of Gold Black chalk heightened with white on green grey wove paper c. 1844 Signed with the artist’s initials “TC” lower left Condition: Excellent ...
Chalk
$615Sale Price|25% Off
H 6.11 in W 8.47 in
France 19th century, The Bohème artist in his workshop, watercolor
Located in Paris, FR
France circa 1850 The Bohème artist in his workshop Watercolor on paper 15.5 x 21.5 cm In good condition except a small tear (visible on the photographs) on the upper right border. I...
Watercolor
$8,826
H 39.38 in W 27.56 in D 1.97 in
Scilla, 21-st Century Italian Charcoal Drawing of a nude woman by Daniela Astone
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
This Charcoal drawing is made on toned paper with charcoal and chalk. The drawing is framed in a wooden gold frame with passe partout behind Clarity museum glass. The Italian artist Daniela Astone...
Paper, Chalk, Charcoal
Reclining Nude
Located in London, GB
Pastel and chalk on paper 57cm × 83cm (58cm × 85cm framed) Cayford was a graphic designer and illustrator who worked in London during the post-war period. After graduating from the ...
Pastel, Chalk, Paper
Resting Nude (Back View)
Located in London, GB
Pastel and chalk on paper Initialed (lower right) 42cm × 59cm (44cm × 61cm framed) Cayford was a graphic designer and illustrator who worked in London during the post-war period. Af...
Pastel, Chalk, Paper
The Dethroning / Italian School, 18th Century
Located in Middletown, NY
Graphite and grayish ink wash on bluish wove paper, 7 x 10 1/2 inches (177 x 265 mm) (matrix). Scattered surface soiling, adhesive residue, dog-eared corners, and scattered edge tears along left margin, outside of image area. Paper is braced on the verso with two pages from a mid 19th century book with illustrations by C.Perrin. One image depicts a scene of a group of soldiers representing the Holy Roman Empire...
Ink, Handmade Paper, Graphite
Reclining Model
Located in London, GB
Pastel and chalk on blue paper 84cm × 60cm (86cm × 61cm framed) Cayford was a graphic designer and illustrator who worked in London during the post-war period. After graduating from...
Pastel, Chalk, Paper
$22,500
H 20.5 in W 14.5 in
'Scrovegni Chapel', Giotto, Arena Chapel, Padua, Leipzig Academy
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left 'C. Werner' for Carl Frederich Heinrich Werner (German, 1808-1894) and dated 1855. Watercolorist Carl Werner studied first with Veit Hanns Schnorr von Carolsfeld ...
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
$12,527
H 17.92 in W 12.21 in
Attributed to Domenico Maria Canuti, Study of a Seated Male Nude, c. 1665
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
Attributed to Domenico Maria Canuti (Bologna, 1625 – 1684) Study of a Seated Male Nude, possibly a Satyr Red chalk on paper Bears inscription Carracci lower left; bears the collect...
Chalk
Figure Study
By Paul Cadmus
Located in London, GB
Black and white chalk on paper Signed (upper right) 29cm × 24cm (45cm × 40cm framed) Cadmus was an American artist known for his satirical paintings, drawings, and prints of America...
Paper, Chalk
Male Torso
By John Koch
Located in London, GB
Pencil, coloured pencil and chalk on paper, titled (lower left), signed (lower right), 31cm x 46cm, (51cm x 68cm framed). John Koch was an American painter and teacher, and an impo...
Paper, Chalk, Pencil, Color Pencil
$11,331
H 19.3 in W 13.19 in
Antonio Canova, Monumental Male Nude Study, Late 18th Century
By Antonio Canova
Located in Paris, Île-de-France
A striking and unusually large-scale study of a male nude by Antonio Canova, embodying the sculptural clarity and restrained power of European Neoclassicism. Executed in pen, ink an...
Chalk, Ink, Laid Paper
Belgian Pencil Sketch - Bourgeois Salon
Located in Houston, TX
Pencil sketch of a theater set designed to depict an elegant nineteenth century sitting room, circa 1950. Original artwork on paper displayed on a whi...
Paper, Pencil
Belgian Pencil Sketch - Rustic Tavern
Located in Houston, TX
Detailed pencil sketch of a theater set depicting an old and rustic tavern, circa 1950. Original artwork on paper displayed on a white mat with a gol...
Paper, Pencil
Le Malade
By René Genis
Located in Berlin, MD
Rene Genis (French 1922-2004) Le Malade : The Sick. A sick patent in bed. Pencil on paper laid down on matt board. Signed in pencil lower right. Image size 8 1/4” x 10 1/2”, matt ...
Laid Paper, Graphite
$2,250
H 14.5 in W 19 in
'Reclining Nude', Paris, Salon d'Automne, New York, ASL, Brooklyn Museum. AIC
By Jack Sparrow
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Painted by Jack Sparrow (American, 1993-1961) with the artist estate information verso and stamped with certification of authenticity verso. Unsigned and painted circa 1945. Provenan...
Paper, Watercolor
La Dormeuse, Large French Mid Century Female Nude
Located in Cotignac, FR
Large Mid Century French female nude by Launay. Signed bottom right, presented in carved wood and gilt frame with mirror inserts under glass. A won...
Paper, Crayon, Pastel, Pencil
Sold
H 16.54 in W 10.63 in
Danish Golden Age, first half of the 19th century, A male academy nude, pencil
Located in Paris, FR
Danish Golden Age painter, first half of the 19th century A male academy nude. Unsigned. Pencil on paper. 42 x 27 cm. Condition : Uneven edges. One corner cropped. (see photographs please) In a very simple frame with some damages : 45.5 x 31 cm on the reverse of the frame the mention "akademie tekening, 1825" (academy drawing, 1825) Provenance: Private collection, Copenhagen, Denmark The technical quality and the characteristic line of our drawing place it quite precisely in the so-called Danish Golden Age. The Danish Golden Age (Danish: Den danske guldalder) covers a period of exceptional intellectual and artistic creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the nineteenth century. Although Copenhagen suffered from fires, bombings and national bankruptcy, the arts experienced a new period of creativity under the influence of German Romanticism. The movement spread to painting, sculpture, architecture, music, literature and science. For painting and drawing the movement was started by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg and spread through his pupils, among them Wilhelm Ferdinand Bendz, Christen Købke, Albert Küchler, Constantin Hansen...
Pencil
Sold
H 8.5 in W 7.25 in D 0.6 in
Diana the Huntress With Cupid looking On, Neo Classical Drawing
By Jacques-Louis David
Located in Cotignac, FR
An early 19th Century pencil/crayon Neo Classical drawing of Diana reposing against a classical column, semi naked, a heart in her hand, a pair of turtle doves to her left, Cupid loo...
Paper, Ink, Crayon, Color Pencil
Mid Century Ink Drawing on Paper of a Female nude.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid-century ink drawing on paper of a female nude, signed Devine bottom right, in plain wood frame under glass. A beautiful light touch and economy of line are what makes this drawing so alluring. It follows a long tradition of 'encre de chine' and sanguine drawing where one simple brushstroke or line can speak volumes. The likes of Da Vinci, Picasso and Matisse were all able to create amazing images using very few marks to the paper making...
Paper, Ink