Romanticism and realism
Romanticism
Romanticism gained fame and momentum as a movement of art in the early 19th century and flourished till the 1850s. It was popular in France and Britain. Romanticism, which emerged as a reaction to the disillusionment with enlightenment involving order and reason after the 1789 French revolution, stressed on emotion and imagination. In romantic art, nature provided an appropriate alternative to the thoughts of enlightenment. In this case, nature was considered as unpredictable, had a great potential for extreme disasters and had uncontrollable power. The terrifying and violent images of nature invented by artists during the romantic period recalled the 18th century aesthetics. In British and French paintings of the early eighteenth century, the presentation of the struggle of man against the power of nature highlights this sensibility. Romanticism, which cannot be expressed using a single technique, attitude or style, is characterized by a highly subjective approach, such as visionary quality and emotional intensity (Tekiner, 2000).
The context of romanticism can be equated to a reaction against the enlightenment age. It is believed that there is a big relationship between Romanticism and the French revolution that started in 1789. It can be said that most romantics were basically progressive in their opinions although others had conservative views because nationalism in many countries was associated with Romanticism (Noon, 2003).

Realism
Realism in literature and visual arts tries to depict subjects as they exist in the third person reality. The presentation of objective reality is in accord with empirical, secular rules and does not depend on interpretations. The approach adopted in realism implies the belief that presentation of artwork is ontologically, independent of linguistic practice, conceptual schemes and the beliefs of man. It can thus be stated that there is a faithful representation of reality (Morris, 2003).
Realism as an artistic movement started in the 1850s in France after the 1848 revolution. The proponents of realism were opposed to romanticism, an art genre that dominated France between 1800 and 1850. They preferred an artwork that was undistorted by personal bias and believed in the ideology of objective reality thus revolting against the notion of emotionalism that was center stage of romanticism. Accuracy, fairness and truth became the central themes of realists. Many paintings during this period portrayed people working, highlighting the changes that were brought on by commercial and industrial revolutions. The popularity that accompanies realistic works further grew with the introduction of photography, which was a new visual source that developed the quest for people to portray artistic representation that looked objectively real (Morris, 2003).
Comparison between romanticism and realism
Differences between romanticism and realism
Romanticism, which cannot be identified with a sole technique, attitude or style, is basically characterized by a highly subjective and imaginative approach, which consisted of visionary quality and emotional intensity. Romantic art typically seeks to express by the state of feelings, suggestion, elusive or mystical. Realism, on the other hand, seeks to describe the surroundings or human behaviors or to represent objects or figures exactly as they appear in real life situations. Attempts to achieve realism have been made constantly throughout the history of art and literature. However, the term realism is generally limited to the art movement that started in mid-19th century, which was a reaction to the romantic approach that was highly subjective. The works of Honoré Daumier and John Constable show the great differences in realistic and romantic characteristics of artworks, both in the style and the subjects that they included in their paintings (Tekiner, 2000).
John Constable, who was an English painter, was famous for his romantic style of landscape paintings. John was a leader in portraying his idealized image of nature and rural life. He imparted quiet English landscapes with intense feelings. ”The Hay Wain” is Constable’s countryside landscape. It assisted in adding features to Romantic motifs such as farmland scenes, country cottages and streams. When looking at the picture, one could almost hear the sound of running water and feel the wind blowing through the trees. The dreamlike or visionary quality is depicted in his painting with the application of natural lighting and coloring. He was famous for his emphasis on intangible qualities such as the condition of the atmosphere, the sky and lighting, other than the real aspects of the scene. He managed to attain the freshness of a vision by using bold, thick brushwork and luminous colors. With the application of personal imagination, he managed to give the expression of mood and emotion that are important aspects of romanticism (Noon, 2003).
Honoré Daumier, a renowned French painter emphasized on the real aspects of everyday lives of people. Opposed to the themes adopted in romanticism such as those highlighted in Constable’s painting, Daumier sought to be realistic and paint themes that applied in everyday events that involved common people. “The Third Class Carriage”, one of his superb paintings, portrays the everyday middle class peasant travelling by train. Although he does not give each characteristic of the individual, he uses stereotypes to present his themes. He uses muted, dark colors instead of luminous colors like in Constable’s work. His free brushwork offers the painted work an almost unfinished quality. He also decides to emphasize on the separateness of the individual traveler even though the travelers are very close to each other in a small train enclosure. There is no application of imagination in his work as he strictly concentrates on presenting paintings that portray the daily lives of people (Morris, 2003).
Realism and Romanticism are completely different from one another. Romanticism shows imagination at work while realism concentrates on the harsh reality of the everyday life or the actual representation of objects. Duamier and Constable utilize two distinct methods of painting. Constable uses bold brushwork and luminous color to present his painting whereas Daumier uses free brushwork and dark colors to separate objects in his paintings (Noon, 2003).
Similarities between realism and Romanticism
While the two separate movements have deep differences, Romanticism and Realism have been found to share several similarities. Both movements provide a basic view of humanity and life and present the natural or real outlook of artwork. Both works were established in the 19th century, a period that was characterized by many turmoil’s and trials in people’s lives. The two art genres do not highlight the presence of any deity, unlike other periods such as baroque where religion was a central theme in paintings, Romanticism and realism focused on the real world. Realism and romanticism works are devoid of deities such as God (Tekiner, 2000).

References
Morris, P. (2003). Realism. London: Routledge.
Noon, P. (2003).Crossing the Channel, British and French Painting in the Age of Romanticism. New York: Tate Publishing.
Tekiner, D. (2000). Modern Art and the Romantic Vision. Boston: University Press of America.