Definitions

R
 

Romanticism

An artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late eighteenth century and migrating to America in the early nineteenth century. Cole, with his heightened interest in nature, emphasis on dramatic expressions of the imagination, and dissatisfaction with established social and artistic institutions, was the quintessential romantic artist.  In works such as View of the Round-Top in the Catskill Mountains (1855), Cole provided himself and his audience with a romantic escape from the complications of a rapidly industrializing America.