Edgar Allen Poe, a master of Romanticism, wrote: “no such combination of scenery exists in nature as the painter of genius may produce.” Early Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and fantasy, especially being in nature. For example, artists like Waterhouse had a passion for a natural setting and love of strong and beautiful figures. While some artists portrayed humans at one with and a part of nature, others drew nature's power, evoking a feeling of the sublime - awe mixed with terror. They longed to belong to a society that went back into the mists of time where life seemed so much simpler and far more beautiful.
In today’s society, a new yearning for intimacy and beauty prevails. The flood of bad news and images of terror makes people long for safe places and redeeming perspectives. Neo-romantic artists have clearly taken up a thread of the Romantic spirit. Yet, behind the desire for the paradisiacal, the beautiful, and the magic of fairy-tales, the dark and the eerie are as present as the insight that utopias are doomed to failure.
The Sacrifice 2018
oil and gold leaf on board
500 x 400mm
hand gilded frame
To register your interest in this painting email sherri@coreyhelfordgallery.com