Culture

Dark Romanticism

Theater of emotion

Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin created a number of versions of "Villa by the Sea" (1871–1874). The macabre painting depicts a dark, isolated female figure set in an Arcadian landscape looking out to sea. It belongs to the Weltschmerz tradition, expressing sentimental pessimism. Böcklin wanted viewers to immerse themselves in his paintings, so that one "is startled when a knock comes at the door."

Dark Romanticism

End of the world

The title of Samuel Colman's painting "The Edge of Doom - The End of All Things and the Immortality of Shakespeare" (1836–1838) says it all. The apocalyptic scene shows various works of art and architecture chaotically crumbling around a statue of Shakespeare. The British artist was inspired by a quote from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" which is inscribed on a plinth below the painting.

Dark Romanticism

The surreal subconscious

German Dadaist and Surrealist Max Ernst painted "Vision Induced by the Nocturnal Aspect of the Porte St. Denis" in 1927. The exhibition in Frankfurt identifies Surrealism as the successor of Romanticism in its preoccupation with the subconscious and celebration of fantasy over the factual world. Ernst himself called for "the borders between the so-called inner and outer world" to be blurred.

Dark Romanticism

Morbid fascination

Caspar David Friedrich regularly painted graveyards, abandoned ruins, shipwrecks and open graves. "Kügelgen's Tomb" (1821/22) is one example of the omnipresence of the themes of death and mourning in his work. It depicts the grave of Friedrich's friend, painter Gerhard von Kügelgen, who was beaten to death by a soldier in a violent robbery on his way from his atelier to Dresden.

Dark Romanticism

Subversive etchings

Francisco de Goya's "Flying Folly" (posthumously printed between 1846-1863) is from a series of etchings titled "Follies." A chronicler of history with an ever-present subversive element in his art and a predilection for the macabre, Goya is considered by many to be the first "modern" artist. His infamous print series "The Disasters of War" is an unflinching exposé of the atrocities of war.

Dark Romanticism

The dark side

The "Dark Romanticism" exhibition presents Romanticism not as an art movement specific to a particular epoch, but rather as a mindset that remained influential beyond the 19th century. Surrealist artist René Magritte is not usually associated with Romanticism, but his "Sentimental Conversation" (1945) echoes the sinister, darker elements of Romanticist thinking.

Dark Romanticism

Love hurts

Best-known for his painting "The Scream," Edvard Munch's "Vampire" (1916–18) is a similarly dark and dramatic painting of which he produced 12 different versions. The image of a naked woman bent over the neck of a man dressed in black was originally titled "Love and Pain." Art "is the pictorial form created by the human nerves - the heart - the brain - the eye," Munch wrote.

Dark Romanticism

Horror classics

The exhibition in Frankfurt also includes film clips from film classics such as "Dracula" (1931), "Vampyr" (1931/32) and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's "Faust" (1926) in which the Romanticists' penchant for horror, doom and gloom found a home. Murnau's dark and moody silent film starring Gösta Ekman tells Goethe's dramatic tale of Faust's deal with the devil.

Dark Romanticism

The vampiric touch

Murnau's "Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror" (1922) is classic of the German Expressionist horror film genre. Max Schreck stars as Count Orlok. The film is loosely based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula," telling the tale of the murderous, blood-sucking Count Orlok who turns out to be Nosferatu, the "Bird of Death." The early horror classic has achieved cult status among film fans.

Dark Romanticism

'It's alive!'

James Whale's movie adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" was made by Universal Pictures in 1931. Boris Karloff famously plays Frankenstein's malevolent, square-headed monster in the film which reflects the Romanticist dark fascination with the thrill of fear. "Dark Romanticism: From Goya to Max Ernst" runs through January 20, 2013.

Author: Helen Whittle | Editor : Kate Bowen