Romanticism in the North: from Friedrich to Turner

Here’s what the Groninger Museum has to say about their exhibit Romanticism in the North: From Friedrich to Turner, the first international survey exhibition of northern European Romantic landscape painting.

“Dramatic scenes of raging seas, imposing mountains and erupting volcanoes alternate with quiet moonlit nights and peaceful fields where lonely figures pause to rest. Come and discover more than 95 magnificent works from the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia and Great Britain!
Landscape painting flowered in the Romantic era (ca. 1800–1850) thanks to artists like J.M.W. Turner in England, Caspar David Friedrich in Germany and Johan Christian Dahl in Norway. Not only does their work still speak to the imagination today, a new sensibility that developed during the period went on to shape modern art. Along with looking carefully at the world around them, painters began turning their gaze inward as well. The landscapes they painted are as varied and changeable as human emotion. Their depictions of nature provide a spiritual as well as a historical experience.”

I visited the exhibition recently and was indeed impressed not only by the talent of the artists but also by the thoughtful assembly of paintings for the exhibit by the curators. The descriptions of the groupings in the individual rooms (in both Dutch and English) led one on a journey through the Romantic landscape era, highlighting the contrasting styles of the various artists and the types of landscapes they portrayed. The exhibit runs until 6 May 2018 and is well worth a visit.

Curated by David Jackson, Ruud Schenk and Andreas Blühm.

http://www.groningermuseum.nl/en/romanticism-north-friedrich-turner