Drawings & Paintings

During the last class we discussed what drawings & painting were; a visual representation of an object or a scene on a flat surface. We briefly went over iconography (picture writing) and style, which is the difference between one picture and another is primarily the technique of execution. Artistic styles were discussed in terms of the different time periods:
-Renaissance (1300-1600AD)
-Baroque (1600-1700 AD)
-Rococo (1700-1750)
-Romanticism (1780-1860)
-Realism (1850-1900)
-Impressionism (1862-1886)
-Post-Impressionism (1880-1905)
-Cubism (1908-1914)
-Surrealism (1920-1940)
-Abstract Expressionism (1946-1955)
-Hard Edge (1958-1970)
-Pop Art (1960-1970)


<http://duckmarx.blogspot.ca/2011/02/art-history-timeline.html>

The goal of this particular post is to discuss an artistic style (time period) that you particularly like and explain what it is that intrigues you about the time period and style. Who is your favorite artist of this time period and why?
I find most interest in the artistic style/time period Romanticism. This style was formed through inspiration from revived interest in medieval tales called romances and nature worship. The subjects were usually that of legends, nature, violence and exotica with the compositional use of diagonals. I find this time period most intriguing because artists attempted to take images and ideas that they had never seen with their own eyes and portray them in a believable and realistic way. The art style resembled that of realism without the painted world being personally experienced and having more unimaginable subjects in the sense they were made through the creativity of the mind rather than the practicality of the eyes.
My favorite artist of this time period would probably be Theodore Gericault simply for his piece "Raft of the Medusa" done in 1819. I love the imagery and emotion shown in this painting, how the pain, suffering and desperation of the men aboard the raft is almost tangible as you look at the work. I also like the way the piece was composed, the use of diagonals and lighting, and how something that Gericault had never seen could be portrayed so realistically.

<http://pictify.com/29900/raft-of-the-medusa-by-theodore-gericault>