sharp outlines, cool colours, armour, spears and sandals.
Romanticism
Romanticism is assumed to be in opposition to Neoclassicism, and the term used to refer loosely to a trend in art of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It was characterized by the avoidance of classical forms and rules, emphasis on the emotional and spiritual, nostalgia for the grace of past ages, and a fondness for exotic themes.
What to look for: complex compositions, intense colour, soft outlines and heroic or scantly clad subjects.
Realism (1850 – 1880)
Realism came about in France during the Industrial Revolution. Realist Artists attempted to create objective, accurate, detailed, and unembellished representations of the external world based on the impartial observation of contemporary life. The name Realist refers to their subject matter; humble citizens doing everyday work and previously considered unworthy of representation in high art, rather than mythical heroes, Biblical or classical subjects, and portraits of the rich.
What to look for: paintings of poor people working.
Pre-Raphaelites (1848)
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were a group of young English artists who rebelled against the style of the day that was being taught at the Royal Academy and other art schools. They felt the art was dark and muddy in colour, and the subject matter artificial. They admired the work of the artists of the fifteenth century, and their name, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, honoured the depiction of nature in Italian art before “Raphael”. Pre-Raphaelite artists believed