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Romantic Art

ROMANTIC STYLE

In emphasizing emotion and imagination, romantic art shifted away from the restraint of classicism and neoclassicism that had dominated art in Europe since the Renaissance. Romanticism achieved its greatest popularity in art, literature, music and philosophy between 1780 and 1830, although its expression of individual experiences ranging from awe to passion informed culture in the decades after.

Landscape painting was especially popular during the romantic period, as were nature studies of wild animals and fantasies of exotic lands. Romanticism varied across Europe as it reacted to the rise of industrialization, a more personal relationship with faith that was distanced from the church and the rationalist thinking of the Enlightenment.

British painters such as John Constable and J.M.W. Turner responded dramatically to the light and atmosphere of the natural world, while William Blake conveyed humanity’s connection to the divine in his visionary art. In Germany, the late-18th-century Sturm und Drang, or Storm and Drive, movement, with its probing of the unconscious, inspired a sense of mystery in work by romantic artists such as Caspar David Friedrich and Philipp Otto Runge. In France, where the French Revolution had turned tradition upside down, Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix used lush brushwork to paint monumental canvases with tumultuous scenes of nature and history.

The romantic movement and its subject matter were a significant influence on the Pre-Raphaelites, Symbolists and the American painters of the Hudson River School, as well as on other cultural movements in the 19th and 20th centuries that saw artists build on this perspective in which art was guided by emotion rather than reason.

Find a collection of romantic paintings, sculptures, prints and multiples and more art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Romantic
'Mother and Child' by Edward Portielje (1861 – Antwerp – 1949) Dutch-Belgian
'Mother and Child' by Edward Portielje (1861 – Antwerp – 1949) Dutch-Belgian

'Mother and Child' by Edward Portielje (1861 – Antwerp – 1949) Dutch-Belgian

Located in Knokke, BE

Edward Portielje 1861 – Antwerp – 1949 Dutch-Belgian Painter 'Mother and Child' Signature: signed lower left 'Edward Portielje' Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: image size 65,5 x 51 cm; frame size 79 x 64,5 cm Biography: Edward Portielje – Belgian genre painter from an Antwerp artist family. Edward Portielje was born in Antwerp on February 8, 1861, and passed away there on December 18, 1949. He came from a distinctly artistic family that had been involved in painting for multiple generations. His works are now held in public collections and museums in Antwerp, Chicago, Melbourne, Sydney, and Bordeaux. The Portielje family had its roots in the Netherlands. Edward’s grandfather owned a bookstore in Amsterdam specializing in luxury engravings. His father, Jan Portielje, however, chose a career in painting and studied at the Antwerp Academy. From the 1850s, Jan gained recognition for his refined portraits of the affluent bourgeoisie: barons, baronesses, and elegant ladies, often with a Spanish or Oriental touch. He even painted a portrait of King Leopold II. After marrying the Antwerp native Eulalia Lemaire, he settled permanently in Antwerp. The couple had five children, including Gerard...

Category

19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Classical Garden with Fountain, Romantic European Park Scene
Classical Garden with Fountain, Romantic European Park Scene

Classical Garden with Fountain, Romantic European Park Scene

Located in Genève, GE

Dimensions with frame: 46 x 55,5 x 5 cm. Signed "J. Babel" in the lower right corner. A refined and atmospheric landscape depicting an elegant classical garden framed by luxuriant t...

Category

Mid-19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Roman Facade, Italy (Exquisite 19th-c. Original Watercolor, Signed)
Roman Facade, Italy (Exquisite 19th-c. Original Watercolor, Signed)

Roman Facade, Italy (Exquisite 19th-c. Original Watercolor, Signed)

Located in New Orleans, LA

Sorry for the reflections on the glass, but I didn't want to take this lovely frame apart. The close-ups are much better. This is a highly accomplished, superbly detailed watercolor of a the facade of a building in Rome, depicting Corinthian columns, a frieze and a free-standing tributary sculpture above. Image area itself is 10.5" x 6.25", framed size is 19.5" x 14". Matted and presented in a pretty antique wood frame that has some flaws from an apparently long history but is perfectly serviceable, as you can see. Exquisite detail, so hard to accomplish with watercolor. Came from august Houston...

Category

19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Watercolor

French Romantic School, 19th Century, Portrait of a man, oil on paper
French Romantic School, 19th Century, Portrait of a man, oil on paper

French Romantic School, 19th Century, Portrait of a man, oil on paper

Located in Paris, FR

French Romantic School, 19th Century Portrait of a man, a selfportrait ? oil on paper 17.5 x 12 cm oval Framed under glass : 43 x 34.5 cm This rather mysterious portrait is perhaps a self-portrait of the artist who painted it. This is suggested by the three-quarter pose and the gaze fixed on the viewer. What this man seems to be staring at is himself. Similarly, the model's appearance is reminiscent of the image of the romantic, bohemian, tortured artist. It's also very interesting that he used a range of dark colours to reinforce this idea of melancholy. It has been suggested that this small oil on paper is close to the art of François Bonvin (1817-1887) and Théodule Ribot...

Category

1860s Romantic Art

Materials

Oil

Antique Bronze Miniature Barnyard with a Bull, Sheep & Goat circa 1860, France
Antique Bronze Miniature Barnyard with a Bull, Sheep & Goat circa 1860, France

Antique Bronze Miniature Barnyard with a Bull, Sheep & Goat circa 1860, France

By Christophe Fratin

Located in SANTA FE, NM

Antique Bronze Miniature Barnyard Scene (Cow, Sheep & Goat) Christophe Fratin (France, 1801-1864) Sand cast bronze 5 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches Highly refined and sensitively modeled miniature bronze representing a small herd of cattle, sheep and cattle on the terrace. Despite its small size, this bronze offers a complete view of a small herd of livestock: a bull is lying in a landscape near a sheep and a goat climbing a tree above a rocky mound. Here we find the skillful hand of the animalier sculptor Christophe Fratin (French, 1801-1864), immensely famous in the 19th century for his thoughtfully crafted animal...

Category

1840s Romantic Art

Materials

Bronze

Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (1848–1934), Henri Rochefort for a duel, drawing
Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (1848–1934), Henri Rochefort for a duel, drawing

Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (1848–1934), Henri Rochefort for a duel, drawing

By Pierre Georges Jeanniot

Located in Paris, FR

Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (1848–1934) Portrait of Henri Rochefort ready for a duel, Pencil on paper Signed and titled lower left 28 x 21 cm In good condition : the left and right borders irregularly cut In a modern cardboard mount : 45.5 x 35 cm The subject of this drawing is, in a way, almost as interesting as the artist who portrayed him in this duel pose. As a reminder, Henri Rochefort, whose full name was Victor Henri de Rochefort-Luçay, was born in Paris on January 31, 1831, and died in Aix-les-Bains on July 1, 1913. He was a French journalist, playwright, and politician. A great polemicist in the pages of his newspapers (La Lanterne, La Marseillaise, L'Intransigeant), he defended radical, even extremist political views (anticlerical, nationalist, pro-Commune, Boulangist, socialist, and anti-Dreyfusard), which earned him the nickname “the man of twenty duels and thirty trials” and convictions, notably to the prison in Nouméa, from which he managed to escape in 1874, a unique feat.. Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (1848–1934) was a Swiss-French Impressionist painter, designer, watercolorist, and engraver who was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and died in France. His work often depicts the modern life in Paris. He started out pursuing a military career, as an infantry officer (1866–1881). He was a lieutenant with the Twenty-third Infantry from 1868 to 1870. He fought in the Franco-Prussian War, was wounded at Rezonville, and was awarded the Légion d'Honneur. He subsequently served with the Ninety-fourth Infantry and the Seventy-third Infantry. At the time he left the army he held the rank of major, with the Chasseurs à Pieds. He never ceased drawing. He was known for the first time in 1872 at the art exhibition Salon de Paris, where he presented a watercolor painting called Intérieur de forêt. The next year he presented the painting Le Vernan à Nass-sous-Sainte-Anne. From then on he was a regular contributor to the Salon de Paris, where he presented new works with views of Toulouse, Paris, Troyes, the edges of the Seine, and some portraits. In 1881, after the army offered him the rank of commandant, he resigned to devote himself exclusively to painting. He took up residence in Paris. His works from this period represent mainly scenes of military life that allowed him to forge a reputation. Jeanniot established himself permanently in 1882 and obtained his first award the following year (medal third class of the Salon de Paris) with his les Flanqueurs (1883, Musée du Luxembourg). In 1886, La ligne de feu, souvenirs de la bataille de Rezonville, remembering the Battle of Mars-La-Tour (Museum of Pau), assured his notoriety. From then on, he started to show a certain artistic independence. He then mostly portrayed Parisian women during the "Belle Epoque", women in bathing suits...

Category

1870s Romantic Art

Materials

Carbon Pencil

Children Flying Kites
Children Flying Kites

Children Flying Kites

Located in San Francisco, CA

This artwork titled "Children Flying Kites" 1963, is an oil painting on hardboard by noted Haitian artist Bourmont Byron, 1920-2004. It is signed and dated at the lower right corner ...

Category

Mid-20th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Oil

Making Hay - Russian School Mid Century Figurative Landscape
Making Hay - Russian School Mid Century Figurative Landscape

Making Hay - Russian School Mid Century Figurative Landscape

Located in Soquel, CA

Making Hay - Russian School Mid Century Figurative Landscape Mid Century figurative landscape of old-fashioned hay making in the countryside by Russian artist Volodymyr Erlich (Russ...

Category

1960s Romantic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Romantic French painting Italy Como lake monks Mid 19th
Romantic French painting Italy Como lake monks Mid 19th

Romantic French painting Italy Como lake monks Mid 19th

Located in PARIS, FR

Jules SANSON Active in the 1830s and 1840s The arrival of the young girl at the monastery on the shores of Lake Como Oil on canvas 27 x 35.5 cm (31.5 x 39.5 cm with the frame) Signed...

Category

1840s Romantic Art

Materials

Oil

Entwined

Entwined

By Sal Taylor Kydd

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Edition of 10 Maine-based photographic artist and writer Sal Taylor Kydd uses various photographic media in a personal narrative that explores themes around memory and belonging; co...

Category

2010s Romantic Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

I Ask You For A Caress And You Only Tickle Me 1860s Romantic French Oil Painting
I Ask You For A Caress And You Only Tickle Me 1860s Romantic French Oil Painting

I Ask You For A Caress And You Only Tickle Me 1860s Romantic French Oil Painting

By Charles Zacharie Landelle

Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset

Charles Zacharie Landelle. French ( b.1821 - d.1908 ). “Je Te Demande Une Caresse Et Tu Me Chatouilles”. (“I Ask You For A Caress And You Only Tickle Me”). Oil On Panel. Signed Lower...

Category

Mid-19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Landscape
Landscape

Landscape

By Giovanni (Nino) Costa

Located in Roma, IT

Drawing on paper, XIX century. Provenance: Nino Costa’s successors. Liberio Merolli, Rome. Private Collection. This fascinating drawing was realized by Nino Costa, an Italian landsca...

Category

19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Paper

Ionic Column Capital
Ionic Column Capital

Ionic Column Capital

Located in Fairlawn, OH

Ionic Column Capital Graphite, wash, gouache and gum arabic, 4 Fev 57 (Feb 4 1857) Signed and dated lower right (see photo) Ionic columns are a classical architectural style characte...

Category

1850s Romantic Art

Materials

Gouache

Follower of Francis Wheatley, 19th century portrait of young maiden with flowers
Follower of Francis Wheatley, 19th century portrait of young maiden with flowers

Follower of Francis Wheatley, 19th century portrait of young maiden with flowers

By Francis Wheatley

Located in Harkstead, GB

A really charming, early 19th century portrait of a young maiden carrying a basket of flowers. The face is beautifully painted with a slight blush to her cheeks and striking touches ...

Category

Early 19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Watercolor, Paper, Pencil

PLAINS OF JUPITER Signed Lithograph, 1988, Romantic Landscape 26x29"
PLAINS OF JUPITER Signed Lithograph, 1988, Romantic Landscape 26x29"

PLAINS OF JUPITER Signed Lithograph, 1988, Romantic Landscape 26x29"

By Harold Hitchcock

Located in Union City, NJ

PLAINS OF JUPITER is a hand drawn color lithograph by the British painter Harold Hitchcock printed using hand lithography on archival Arches paper 100% acid free. In the dreamy, roma...

Category

1980s Romantic Art

Materials

Lithograph

Australian Gum Trees Landscape
Australian Gum Trees Landscape

Australian Gum Trees Landscape

By John Sharman (b.1947)

Located in Soquel, CA

Beautiful landscape of gum trees by listed Australian artist John Sharman (Australian, b. 1947), c.1990. These lovely iconic trees appear in the foreground, while the Australian landscape sprawls out into the distance. Signed "John Sharman" lower right. Displayed in a silver tone giltwood frame. Image size, 21"H x 23"L. Born in Sydney in 1947, John Sharman turned to full time professional art practice in 1980. He became part of a group of artists that included Bob Simpson, Doug Sealy, Robert Wilson, Warwick Fuller...

Category

1980s Romantic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Cardboard

"Woman with an umbrella sitting on a bench"
"Woman with an umbrella sitting on a bench"

"Woman with an umbrella sitting on a bench"

By Unidentified

Located in Edinburgh, GB

Unidentified Artist (1929) "Woman with an Umbrella Sitting on a Bench" This elegant 1929 oil painting on canvas presents a refined portrait of a fashionable woman seated on a park be...

Category

20th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique painting, fisherman on the coast, oil on canvas.
Antique painting, fisherman on the coast, oil on canvas.

Antique painting, fisherman on the coast, oil on canvas.

Located in Berlin, DE

Antique painting, fisherman on the coast, oil on canvas. Frame damaged in places. Dimensions with frame.

Category

19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Christ Falls on the Way to Calvary, Dutch-Italianate School, c.18th-19th Cent.
Christ Falls on the Way to Calvary, Dutch-Italianate School, c.18th-19th Cent.

Christ Falls on the Way to Calvary, Dutch-Italianate School, c.18th-19th Cent.

Located in Soquel, CA

Expressive depiction of Christ being aided by Simon of Cyrene by an unknown artist, Italiante School style of 17th-century Northern European painters principally Dutch, c.1700s-1800s. This piece is composed of oil on linen, laid down on fiberboard. Presented in a giltwood frame. Image size: 42"H x 33"W. Italianate painters, group of 17th-century northern European painters, principally Dutch, who traveled in Italy and, consciously adopting the style of landscape painting that they found there, incorporated Italian models and motifs into their own works. Chief among the Italianates were Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Andries and Jan Both, Nicolaes Berchem, and Jan Asselijn...

Category

18th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Linen, Oil, Fiberboard

Romantic painting Portrait woman with flowers French mid 19th
Romantic painting Portrait woman with flowers French mid 19th

Romantic painting Portrait woman with flowers French mid 19th

Located in PARIS, FR

French school around 1850 Oil on oil 41 x 33 cm (54 x 47 cm with frame) Inscription on the back “Lefevre” Based on the model's hairstyle, the portrait can be dated around 1850. The ...

Category

Mid-19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Oil

#1919
#1919

#1919

By Hiro Yokose

Located in Phoenix, AZ

encaustic on canvas Neoromantic painter Hiro Yokose fuses multiple layers of wax and oil paint to create mysterious, veiled landscapes illuminated with flashes of light in the sky a...

Category

1990s Romantic Art

Materials

Canvas, Encaustic

"Landscape Painting"
"Landscape Painting"

"Landscape Painting"

By Unidentified

Located in Edinburgh, GB

19th-Century Landscape Painting – Pastoral River Scene Artist: Unidentified Medium: Oil on Board Dimensions: Framed: 35 x 47 cm Artwork: 25 x 38 cm Style: Romanticism / Pastoral Lan...

Category

19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Oil, Board

L'Hiver, Winter, Bronze Sculpture, Lost Wax Method , Romantic, Florence, Italy
L'Hiver, Winter, Bronze Sculpture, Lost Wax Method , Romantic, Florence, Italy

L'Hiver, Winter, Bronze Sculpture, Lost Wax Method , Romantic, Florence, Italy

By Matthew James Collins

Located in Houston, TX

L'Hiver, which is French for winter. An evocative title which pretty much explains the piece. Number 1 out of a production of Seven. Artist Statement: I am very happy to announce that two of my bronze works are now available in a limited edition of 7. The first one, shown above, is my vision of Eros. He is more popularly known in the Roman interpretation of a chubby baby or young boy with an bow and arrow. I have always been more intrigued with the original Greek embodiment of the this deity as a young man. More than the god of love, Eros was a personification of the power of creation. He was balanced by his antithesis was Thanatos, that of destruction. In fact, Thanatos is currently in the design process. This work will exist in an edition of 7 and 2 artist's proofs. Each piece is hand chased by myself and I apply the patina as well. The sculpture was created using the Lost Wax...

Category

2010s Romantic Art

Materials

Bronze

French school 19th century, An italian bandit, 1864, watercolor
French school 19th century, An italian bandit, 1864, watercolor

French school 19th century, An italian bandit, 1864, watercolor

Located in Paris, FR

French school 19th century, An italian bandit, 1864, watercolor on paper On the reverse of the sheet (now under the back of the frame) an annotation, "Rome 1864" 25,5 x 21.5 cm (v...

Category

1860s Romantic Art

Materials

Watercolor

SERRA AUQUE Portrait spanish girl romantic painter costume 19th
SERRA AUQUE Portrait spanish girl romantic painter costume 19th

SERRA AUQUE Portrait spanish girl romantic painter costume 19th

By Enrique Serra y Auque

Located in PARIS, FR

Enrique SERRA AUQUE Barcelona, 1859 - Rome, 1918 Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower left “ENRIQUE SERRA/ 1892 ” 40 x 33 cm (45 x 38 cm with frame) Nice old frame in wood Enrique S...

Category

Late 19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Oil

"Italian Landshaft"
"Italian Landshaft"

"Italian Landshaft"

Located in Edinburgh, GB

"Italian Landscape at Sunset" Materials & Technique Medium: Oil on canvas Framed Dimensions: 35 x 27 cm Painting Dimensions: 20 x 15 cm Frame: Giltwood with intricate decorative ...

Category

19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

French Romantic School, 19th Century,  Manly head of bearded man, oil on canvas
French Romantic School, 19th Century,  Manly head of bearded man, oil on canvas

French Romantic School, 19th Century, Manly head of bearded man, oil on canvas

Located in Paris, FR

French Romantic School 19th Century Manly head of bearded man oil on canvas 46 x 37.8 cm In fairly good condition, some inpaintings visible under UV light, mainly in the backgrounds ...

Category

1850s Romantic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

‘Cats Playing around a Mirror’ by Joseph Bail (1862 – 1921), French Painter
‘Cats Playing around a Mirror’ by Joseph Bail (1862 – 1921), French Painter

‘Cats Playing around a Mirror’ by Joseph Bail (1862 – 1921), French Painter

By Joseph Bail

Located in Knokke, BE

Joseph Bail Limonest 1862 – 1921 Paris French Painter ‘Cats Playing around a Mirror’ Signature: signed lower right ‘Bail Joseph’
 Medium: oil on canvas
 Dimensions: image size 45,5...

Category

19th Century Romantic Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Romantic art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Romantic art available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add art created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, pink and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Hiro Yokose, Francisco Goya, Leo Primavesi, and Dipen Bose. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Romantic art, so small editions measuring 3 inches across are also available. Prices for art made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $119 and tops out at $1,300,000, while the average work sells for $2,213.