Romanticism, Realism, and Modernism
European ideas and culture expressed a tension between objectivity and scientific realism on one hand, and subjectivity and individual expression on the other.
Romanticism
The early 19th century Romanticism movement, as its name might imply, shifted the focus of the art world from precision and realism to a more expressive, emotional style. Romantic works emphasized concepts like emotion, nature, and spirituality. Some of the most noteworthy Romanticist artists include Francisco Goya, J.M.W. Turner, and Eugène Delacroix while Romanticist composers included Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky. Many Romanticism writers addressed pressing political, economic, and social issues brought on by the industrial revolution. Much of this content was focused on the political revolutions of 1848. A well-known example of this is Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, which is set in early 19th century France up until the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris.
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Realism |
Modernism |
After the settling of the radical passions of the revolutions of 1848, a realist and materialist view of the world began to develop as popular philosophy in Europe. This general philosophy encompassed scientific, political, and artistic views of the latter half of the 19th century. Positivism, the belief that science alone provides knowledge, spread as an emphasis on science and rationalism grew. During this period, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species arose as a controversial claim that evolution was responsible for the development of humans, and Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto used scientific socialism as a criticism of capitalism that would transform Russia into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Writers began to use the emphasis on rationalism to focus works on common people and social issues of the time.
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In yet another shift in popular ideology, a loss of confidence in the sole objectivity of science and knowledge led to a more balanced, modern approach to science and the arts. Philosophy shifted towards an focus on impulse and irrational behavior while Freudian psychology arose during this time period, similarly emphasizing the naturally irrational and impulsive nature of humans. Physical sciences such as quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of relatively undermined Isaac Newton's outdated theories on physics. Art began to take an interesting conceptual turn towards subject matter beyond physical representation and into the abstract realm with styles like Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Cubism.
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