Through the Romanticist’s Eyes

Although Romanticism was a movement coloured by its mutiny against the Enlightenment, I felt a cloudburst that submerged me with its enchanting blend of light, landscapes, mariners and nocturnes at the 'M Museum' in Leuven. This lovely exhibition ‘Through the Romanticist’s Eyes' once even housed in the treasure chamber of art, the 'Hermitage museum' in St. Petersburg. A collection of romantic paintings from Belgium and The Netherlands inhabit this museum full of notable art.

Romanticism was an illustration of people's insatiable desire to highlight their identity. Artists commenced to show more emotions in their works by using bright colours for example. In most of the works concerning family and social life I've noticed that magenta, coral, violet and other tones of red are often used as basic magic. This could perhaps symbolise the love and bondage of those days among the villagers, though this was often a hypocrite image of society.

The portrayal of emotions also meant that the artist could break free from the boundaries of traditional classicism and could create masterpieces by following his own perspective. This built roads towards new genres like nocturnes and sea views which are marked by the personal perception of details like moonlights and skies in the distance. A perfect representation of reality was no longer an undertaking.

In my eyes the most touching part of the collection was that of the landscapes.

Romanticists had a close relationship with nature and even exoticism. This passion is delicately illustrated in the paintings of idyllic woods and vivid seasons. Remarkable is the use of vanilla skies in almost each of them. It certainly gives the set a dreamy, fragile feeling that lifts you up into a metaphysical conception of the world, just like the the romantic period aimed to achieve.

Obviously there is so much more to see in the museum besides the romantic collection. Portraits of the 19^th century bourgeoisie in Flanders, social realism sculptures on the life of mine workers and fishermen and impressionistic landscapes reminding of Monet are just sparks of the entire museum. I include some of the pearls I stumbled upon.

List of artists from top to bottom:
Louis Meijer
Basile Deloose
Willem Bodeman
Cornelis Lieste
Johann Bernhard Klomeeck
Pieter Kluyver
Johannes Gijsbertuszoon
Henri Adolphe Schaep & my hand putting the sun to sleep in the dreamy cloud