In order to begin this wander through the artistic movements of the 19th century I think it is necessary to say that the actions and counter actions to the Age of Enlightenment and Industrialisation against the political norms and scientific rationalization have been to our benefit . It is us , the beholders of the movements who can reap the benefits, wallow in the beauty, feelings, smells, textures, colours and symbols put across by the tormented , deepfeeling artists of the era . The choice of artists below is very limited and far from satisfactory, of that I am well aware . If you have any better suggestions yourselves please don't hestitate to let me know so that I can add them to my meagre suggestions .
To begin with I would like to start with Romanticism , that complex artistic, literary and intellectual movement which originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution . It was partly a revolt against aristocratic and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature , and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music and literature .
Let us consider the work of J.M.W. Turner as seen through Simon Schama's eyes on a BBC programme . There are seven parts on YouTube . Here is the address for the first one . I wouldadvise you to watch as many parts as possible . You will see that John Milord William Turner's life was not at all boring and monotonous and that is perhaps why his paintings are of such a high quality ! He used his fingers and finger nails to help create texture and the like in his paintings , how very unBritish ! It was perhaps this perpetual need , on his part, to be different and extraordinary that brought about his fame .
After Turner there is no getting around viewing some of Constable's work ,yet another British artist of this period and movement .
Watch the film below by David Dimbleby and judgee for yourself as to the artist's talent and merit .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZzbcwMJWGE&feature=relate
After the sun comes the rain ! And whether you like it or not that's exactly what happened in the art movements . To counter-balance the Romantics, who according to some were moving too far away from what was going on in the world, the art movement of Realism came to the fore .
In class we looked at the Portrait of D.M.Hall from the Museum of Philadelphia . So sad we don't know who painted it . Although we acknowledged the craft and talent of the artist none of us really liked this painting, finding a male portrait of someone we don't know rather boring !
However the Whistler painting Brown and Silver Old Battersea Bridge seemed to move us a bit more .
And rightly so ! This American born artist settled in the Old Country is said to have 'done better than attract a few followers and imitators; he influenced the whole world of art . Consciously or unconsciously, his presence is felt in countless studios , his genious permeates modern artistic thought . ' Charles Choffin, art critic , 1907 .
You should Google Whistler James Abbot McNeill and you will find out a lot more about him . I myself believe he was not only a Realist painter . He believed in art for art's sake took the realistic and gave it a life of its own ! What talent !!!!!!
Another American, and one whom Whistler considered as superior as far as portraits were concerned
, was John Singer Sargent . 
His work itself testifies this very thought . However when we look at more of his paintings we realise that this artist changed , his style evolved , due to influences of other artistic movements and meetings .
, was John Singer Sargent . 
His work itself testifies this very thought . However when we look at more of his paintings we realise that this artist changed , his style evolved , due to influences of other artistic movements and meetings .
Do the above paintings not remind you of the Impressionists?
As far as I'm concerned there is nothing ' Realist' about them .
So we can quite clearly say that Sargent's style changed throughout his career . The painting above on 
the left is even of Monet ,Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of the Wood , one of the founders of Impressionist paintings . He was himself a prolific practitioner of the movements philosophyof expressing ones perceptions before nature . The term Impressionism derived from the title of his painting Impression Sunrise 1920-25 .
the left is even of Monet ,Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of the Wood , one of the founders of Impressionist paintings . He was himself a prolific practitioner of the movements philosophyof expressing ones perceptions before nature . The term Impressionism derived from the title of his painting Impression Sunrise 1920-25 .If you look closely at the paintings you will see that the essence rather than the details are expressed through short, thick strokes .
Colours are placed side by side and the optical mixing occurs in the eye of the beholder . There is little black in these paintings , all dark shades are formed by mixing complementary colours . The paintings possess softer edges , wet paints are spread on wet so things blur or run into eachother. They were often painted outdoors or in the evening to obtain the 'evening effect' or that of shadows .
Colours are placed side by side and the optical mixing occurs in the eye of the beholder . There is little black in these paintings , all dark shades are formed by mixing complementary colours . The paintings possess softer edges , wet paints are spread on wet so things blur or run into eachother. They were often painted outdoors or in the evening to obtain the 'evening effect' or that of shadows .
If you are interested in this artistic movement you have a great variety of museums to visit in Paris . Go to the Orangerie in the Tuileries gardens and you will b
e able to see some of the most beautiful works of art ever produced !
e able to see some of the most beautiful works of art ever produced ! Water Lilies by Monet
Do look out for them, wont you ? Anyway let's get back to our stroll through the artistic movements of the 19th century, the next one on the agenda being Symbolism .
Symbolism in art represents an outgrowth of the darker gothic side of Romanticism but where Romanticism was impetuous and rebellious Symbolist art was static and hieratic .
The Symbolist painters mined mythology and dream imagery for a visual language of the soul, seeking evocative paintings that brought to mind a static world of silence. The symbols used in Symbolism are not the familiar emblems of mainstream iconography but intensely personal, private, obscure and ambiguous references. More a philosophy than an actual style of art, the
Symbolist painters influenced the contemporary Art Nouveau movement .
The Symbolist painters mined mythology and dream imagery for a visual language of the soul, seeking evocative paintings that brought to mind a static world of silence. The symbols used in Symbolism are not the familiar emblems of mainstream iconography but intensely personal, private, obscure and ambiguous references. More a philosophy than an actual style of art, the
Symbolist painters influenced the contemporary Art Nouveau movement . Dawn by E Vedder
For most of his career the American painter, Elihu Vedder, lived and worked in Europe, and like Whistler or Sargent he is in many ways as much a European as an American artist. He first visited Italy in 1857, when he was twenty one and studied in Florence under Raffaelle Bonaiuti. In 1866 he returned, married, to settle in Rome and remained based in Ita
ly for the rest of his life, with a house on Capri as well as a home in Rome itself. He became a member of the large international circle of artists living and working in Rome, painting historical and religious subjects
at first, but developing his own distinctive brand of Symbolist allegory.I must insist on including the next group of artists, as insignificant as it might be , namely the Pre- Raphaelites .
ly for the rest of his life, with a house on Capri as well as a home in Rome itself. He became a member of the large international circle of artists living and working in Rome, painting historical and religious subjects at first, but developing his own distinctive brand of Symbolist allegory.I must insist on including the next group of artists, as insignificant as it might be , namely the Pre- Raphaelites .-Raphaelite Brotherhood
(1848 - 1854) The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (also known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets and critics, founded in 1848 by John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt. The group's intention was to reform art by rejecting what they considered to be the mechanistic approach first adopted by the Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. They believed that the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on academic teaching of art. Hence the name "Pre-Raphaelite". In particular they objected to the influence of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the founder of the English Royal Academy of Arts. They called him "Sir Sloshua", believing that his broad technique was a sloppy and formulaic form of academic Mannerism. In contrast they wanted to return to the abundant detail, intense colours, and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian and Flemish art. The Pre-Raphaelites have been considered the first avant-garde movement in art, though they have also been denied that status, because they continued to accept both the concepts of history painting and of mimesis, or imitation of nature, as central to the purpose of art. However, the Pre-Raphaelites undoubtedly defined themselves as a reform movement, created a distinct name for their form of art, and published a periodical, The Germ, to promote their ideas. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was started in 1848 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, as a reaction against what they saw as the stale, formula-driven art produced by the Royal Academy at the time. They aimed to go back to a more genuine art, exemplified as they saw it by the work of the Nazarenes, and rooted in realism and truth to nature. The Prc-Raphaelites adopted a high moral stance that embraced a sometimes unwieldy combination of symbolism and realism. They painted only serious - usually religious or romantic - subjects, and their style was clear and sharply focused. it entailed a unique insistence on painting everything from direct observation. The movement influenced the work of many later British artists well into the twentieth century. The movement was influential on the Arts and Crafts Movement, Symbolism, and the Classicists.
Works by George Frederick Watts and Sandys are clearly part and parcel of the Symbolist 
movement .
movement .
Well , we have almost arrived at the end , for the moment that is ! However our study would not be complete without the Avant-Garde movement
The term was originally used to describe the foremost part of an army advancing into battle (also called the vanguard) and now applied to any group, particularly of artists, that considers itself innovative and ahead of the majority.
The vanguard, a small troop of highly skilled soldiers, explores the terrain ahead of a large advancing army and plots a course for the army to follow. This concept is applied to the work done by small collectives of intellectuals and artists as they open pathways through new cultural or political terrain for society to follow.
The origin of the application of this French term to art is still debated. Some fix it on May 17, 1863, the opening of the Salon des Refusé in Paris, organized by painters whose work was rejected for the annual Paris Salon of officially sanctioned academic art. Salons des Refusés were held in 1863, 1874, 1875, and 1886.
So as you can see this art was against the norm, Capitalism and the violence of Industrialisation . It destroyed and rejected fronteers as well as the idea of representing reality .
Take a look at the examples and you will understand !
Man Ray was an admirer of the paintings of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and made a series of photographs, inspired by Ingres's languorous nudes, of the model Kiki in a turban. Painting the f-holes of a stringed instrument onto the photographic print and then rephotographing the print, Man Ray altered what was originally a classical nude. He also added the title Le Violon d'Ingres, a French idiom that means "hobby." The transformation of Kiki's body into a musical instrument with the crude addition of a few brushstrokes makes this a humorous image, but her armless form is also disturbing to contemplate. The title seems to suggest that, while playing the violin was Ingres's hobby, toying with Kiki was a pastime of Man Ray. The picture maintains a tension between objectification and appreciation of the female form.
Man Ray, born Emmanuel Radnitzky (August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976), was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. Best known in the art world for his avant-garde photography, Man Ray produced major works in a variety of media and considered himself a painter above all. He was also a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. He is noted for his photograms, which he renamed rayographs after himself.
If you are interested in any more examples of Avant-garde artists please look into the work of those quoted below and see if you agree with the criticism made .
The exhibition of ‘English Post Impressionists, Cubists and Others’ held at the Brighton Public Art Galleries between December 1913 and January 1914 brought together a group of artists who collectively represented the first real British avant-garde of the twentieth century. Alongside members of the Bloomsbury group, the show also included a section for the more ‘advanced’ artists such as Nevinson, Wadsworth, Bomberg, Epstein and Wyndham Lewis, the latter whom claimed in the catalogue to have formed a ‘vertiginous but not exotic island in the placid and respectable archipelago of English art’. The group harmony implied by this description was far from the truth. While stylistic similarities were easily noticed, alliances and beliefs were far from homogenous .
