Romanticism began in the late 18th century and continued into the 19th century. Romanticism was a reaction against Rationalism and the Industrial Revolution, where science and logical thought had taken precedence over emotion and intuition. The power and grandeur of nature was embraced in the immense American landscape paintings of 19th century Romanticists Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Cole and Frederic Edwin Church. The Romanticists used color to evoke mood and emotion, and they often depicted nature as triumphing over the creation of man by including ancient ruins, fires and decay in their compositions.
Perhaps the most famous of all 19th century artistic movements is Impressionism. Characteristics of Impressionistic artwork include an emphasis on light and the perception of color, movement and vibrancy; everyday subject matter and landscapes; and short, strong brushstrokes. Color took precedence over the line in Impressionism and over the precise monochrome images produced via photography. Impressionist artists worked outdoors instead of in the studio to capture natural light and nature as realistically as possible. Famous Impressionist artists of the 19th century include Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Mary Cassatt.
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood consisted of seven 19th century English artists, banded together to reject the styles and theories of art embraced since 16th century Mannerism. Mannerism followed from the work of Renaissance artists Raphael and Michelangelo, and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood believed that the classical poses and precise compositions of their works had corrupted the fine arts ever since. The Pre-Raphaelites instead embraced vibrant color, elaborate detail and highly complex compositions reminiscent of 14th century Italian and Flemish artwork. The founders of the Pre-Raphaelites were William Holman Hunt, Sir John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
Post-Impressionism defines the development of French art after the work of Edouard Manet. While these late 19th century artists continued to embrace certain aspects of impressionistic painting such as vivid colors and paint applied in thick, active brushstrokes, they also used geometric forms and distorted images for artistic effect. Post-Impressionists sometimes used unnatural color instead of trying to accurately reproduce the colors of nature. Georges Seurat took a scientific approach to Impressionism called Pointillism, applying color in precisely sized dots of paint. Paul Gauguin led the way for later Primitivism and pastoral artwork with his lush paintings of tropical island life. Vincent van Gogh used color and brushstrokes to convey emotion, and created some of the most recognizable artwork.