Romantic Words & Images
The Grotesque
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Romantic Words & ImagesThe Grotesque |
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Introduction to Romanticism
‘A movement in the arts and literature originating in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual. A reaction to the order and restraint of Classicism & Neo-Classicism, a rejection of the rationalism which characterised the Enlightenment.’ – New Oxford Dictionary of English (2001).
Romanticism first began in the 1770s in England
and Germany. Romanticism favours imagination over reason, intuition over facts.
It was a movement juxtaposing Nature and Civilisation. There was a strong accent
on mystery and on strange and fantastic aspects of human experience and human
nature.
The German poet, Heinrich Heine stated that, 'the chief aspect of German Romanticism in calling it the revival of medievalism in art, letters and life.' (Holman and Harmon)
The definition of grotesque has altered over time. Originating from the Renaissance word "grottesco", it was then described as "something playfully gay and carelessly fantastic, but also something ominous and sinister in the face of a world totally different from the familiar one – a world in which the realm of inanimate things is no longer separated from those of plants, animals, and human beings, and where the laws of statics, symmetry, and proportion are no longer valid." (Kayser 19.. p.21)
However over the centuries, the focus of the definition has turned to the more negative and horrible aspects of the word. The first usage of the word "grotesque" as an adjective was in the German language, which "refers to monstrous fusion of human and nonhuman elements as the most typical feature of the grotesque style." (Kayser 19 p.24)
In 1771 the Dictionnaire universel de la langue française it stated "grotesque means odd, unnatural, bizarre, strange, funny, ridiculous, caricatural." Today, the meaning is very much the same stating the grotesque is something, "comically or repulsively distorted, monstrous, unnatural; a decorative form of interweaving human and animal features." (Concise Oxford Dictionary, 8th Ed. 1990)
Although the sinister and monstrous aspects of the grotesque are prominent in romantic art and literature, there are also the more subtle wild imaginations and supernatural elements. After looking at the works of various grotesque writers and artists, we believe the following 4 elements are the motivations behind/ key features of the grotesque:
We approached this project by initially selecting an aspect of Romantic art and literature that interested us, as a group, the most. We chose the grotesque to explore the darker side of Romanticism! After some background research into the definition of the grotesque and Romanticism, we narrowed our research down to key individuals who were all well known for their grotesque style. The individuals we eventually decided upon are all characters whose work we all personally liked. We then did our own research on the eight characters whilst having regular meetings to discuss common themes. After writing up our findings on each of the characters’ lives and works and how they related to the grotesque, we went about designing this website, which consists of a biography of each of the eight individuals and a look at certain aspects of their work.
This website will portray four artists and four writers who all portray the grotesque in their work under the above-mentioned influences. We have purposely picked varying examples to cover a wide spectrum including one example of modern art with the work of Otto Dix. The site will look at the influences and motivations of each figure and why they used the grotesque style to create their images. Hopefully by doing this, we will be able to help you explore the both shocking and fascinating world of the grotesque.
