The Search for that Utopia

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Romanticism is an artistic, intellectual and literary movement that was born in Europe around the middle of the 18th century. Adherents to the movement believed in the rejection of the political, social and most of all, aristocratic norms prevailing in those days. The romantic were against any form of rationalisation preached by the emerging scientific world. Indeed, nature wasn’t something to be logistically explained, but an entity to be enjoyed and admired, and even adored. Such was the way of thinking of romantics…

Acclaimed by many critics as one of the finest representives of this movement, Casper David Friedrich, a German painter of the 19th Century, showed his complete adherence to this perspective on Arts. His various paintings outline the guidelines of the romantic movements. But, I would restrict myself to give my critical appreciation of one of his most famous piece of work “Wonderer above the Sea of Fog”.

This painting depicts a man(Friedrich himself), dressed in typical 19th century gears, standing atop a high mountain, facing a sea of mist. The summits of other mountains can be seen in the middle ground while in the background, stand high mountain ranges. The painting is chiefly dominated by the vast expanse of sky, tinged a rosy blue.

You’d ask, how this painting is romantic? Well, looking at its composition itself, and even without knowing the painter’s background, we can clearly see the seal of Romanticism. The solitary man standing on a mountain’s summit suggests an idea of complete isolation, of being cut off entirely from civilisation. Well, such a state of mind was one of the center objectives of romantics. Indeed, romantics emphasised the need for man to be confronted with his inner self, alone without the usual surroundings. What better scenery than a mountain peak, completely remote, without any trace of human civilisation? Furthermore the mist the character is facing may represent the uncertainties of life. This is an example of the use of allegory to draw the attention of the viewer to certain aspects of life. Again, such a device is characteristic of Romanticism, the use of allegory to convey to the wide masses the philosophy the movement preached.

Further on, the setting of the painting- a mountainous and deserted place- suggests another important facet of the movement. The man is alone. But not alone among man-made surroundings, but alone in a purely natural setting. This shows the wish for the painter to attain a symbiosis with Mother Nature, the ultimate happiness for such an artist. In fact, Nature is a source of not only inspiration but also a refuge, a long-awaited haven, that provide to the artist a state of pure bliss, untainted by any outside influences, namely the ‘toxic fumes’ of urbanisation and industrialisation. In this light, Friedrich achieves here this communion with Nature.

Let’s not forget the mountain ranges in the distance; the feeling of emptiness, of vastness between the ranges on the fore and middle grounds. The use of perspective here to draw the viewer deeper and deeper in the scenery conveys another allegorical aspect of the painting: man is but a mere speck of dust in front of the wideness of nature. This shows the romantic’s aspirations to experience the purity of the world, to elevate his spirituality. It also depicts the existentialism of the painter. There, cut from everything, he may be questioning his existence, his importance. Again, the painting offers here a deep spiritual and philosophical insight into life. But, only an attentive and passionate viewer could grasp such meanings in the layers of colors.

Last, but indeed not the least of all, the representation of the sky… It takes the major part of the painting as an overall. The painter chose to paint the sky a rosy-blue, suggesting perhaps dawn. Why dawn? An analogy the awakening of the spirituality of the painter perhaps? It seems plausible. This shows a new beginning, as was the birth of the romantic movement. Do anyone need more proof than this to see the romantic streak?

What my objective was in writing such an ‘analysis’ was to make you all discover or rediscover the beauty, the tranquility, the Romantics offered. In such a world as ours, hectic and stress-ridden, taking our time to indulge in the works of such artists is really valuable…

~Sayuka

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Tags: NaBloPoMo, Romanticism, Where the heart lies