The Romantic Landscape: Sunset and the Sublime By Annie Payne

The Romantic movement in the nineteenth century was an intellectual and artistic rejection of rationalism, an ideal upheld in the Enlightenment. Enlightenment thinkers believed that the world was a carefully organized machine, therefore beauty was defined as anything logical and orderly. Romantics supplanted logic with emotion: they believed that true beauty evoked the sublime--the peak of human ecstasy. This shift occurred partially because of the longing to return to man’s primitive “original” state when he was free from societal convention and legal restraint, and therefore happy. Original man only relied upon his instincts, and only when he bent his will to institutional society did he lose a critical part of his humanity. The Romantics then regarded the natural world as the most authentic and beautiful because it did not obey trivial human rules, but grew and flourished without it. The art reflected the philosophy of this time and landscape paintings became a prominent subject in art when before the landscape was only seen in backgrounds of historical paintings. One aspect of the landscape that Romantic artists were attracted to was the sunset. Whether gentle or violent, calm or moody, the transient experience of a sunset caught the Romantic’s attention and its ability to capture the sublime.

Theodore Gericault, Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct, 1818, Oil on canvas, 98.5” x 86.5”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art At the beginning of the Romantic movement, Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct still exhibits classical formal qualities. The aqueduct and the surrounding architecture have romanesque arches. The figures at the bottom of the painting also are depicted with muscular classical bodies. However, the buildings seem to blend in with the blocky precipices and civilization succumbs to the rolling landscape. The figures playing in the water seem carefree, as if they are living in a paradisiacal world. The asymmetrical composition draws the viewer’s eyes to the sunset which emanates from a window. The contrast of light and shadow create contrast and assurance that this moment is a fleeting brilliance.

Johan Christian Dahl, Two Men before a Waterfall at Sunset, 1823, Oil on canvas, 15” x 14” The Metropolitan Museum of Art As Romanticism progresses, the artist has moved completely out of civilization and is in the wilderness. The two figures are dwarfed by the gargantuan trees and waterfall which expresses a terrific sublime. These elements are balanced by the sunset and its gentle reflection on the rocky cliff. The light orange and purple sky helps define the dark, and otherwise barely perceptible, foreground. The figures are reminiscent of Casper David Friedrich’s Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. The fact that they are belittled by the landscape makes their hike even more impressive which shows the Romantic values of the human struggle and achievement.

Johan Thomas Lundbye, An Evening beside Lake Arreso, 1837, Oil on canvas, 9”x11.75” The Metropolitan Museum of Art The subtle elegance of the color transitions demonstrate the lapse of time; despite how calm this painting is, it doesn’t seem still. The lone figure also heralds back to Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, and the slow tramping walk of the man seems small compared to the vast marsh behind him. The mood of the painting does not try to ascertain a dramatic reaction, but rather soothes the viewer. Johan Thomas Lundbye once expressed that his greatest wish was to paint “dear Denmark.” He tried to evoke the sublime not through metaphysical metaphors but patriotism and nostalgia.

Jules Breton, The Weeders, 1868, Oil on canvas, 28.125” x 50.25” The Metropolitan Museum of Art The mid-nineteenth century was the peak of Romanticism before it declined. Here the composition has a balance between the figures and the sunset which makes the type of painting ambiguous: is it a genre painting or a landscape painting? The light of the red sun barely glances off of the weeder’s working hands, and the moon is distinctly rising to the left. Only one woman out of all the workers is enraptured in the view; all the others are diligently working. Her gaze draws the eyes to the sun and then back down to the other women. The sun’s lingering rays illuminate the women and their hard work. There is an interplay between earth and the humans.

Camille Corot, The Gypsies, 1872, Oil on canvas, 21.75” x 31.5” The Metropolitan Museum of Art One of the reasons that the Romantics admired the idea of “original man” was his ability to detach himself from the world and be free. The rustic aesthetic of the gypsies probably appealed to the artist. The evanescent light weakly shines through the dark and gnarly trees. The pale light contrasted against the ominous wilderness produces a mysterious sublime. The wildness of the gypsies are reflected by the land around them.