The Rise of Sentimentality: Are We Entering a New Romantic Period in Art?

A noticeable shift in artistic trends in recent years has revealed a renewed focus on human feeling. Fueled, perhaps, by a sense of “digital fatigue” or the isolation felt worldwide in the wake of the pandemic, many artists are exploring universal themes like memory, nostalgia, and the warmth of human exchange. Could this mark the rise of a “New Romantic” era?

In this article we’ll examine this trend by first investigating the origins of Romantic art and contextualizing how these themes might be particularly relevant for artists and collectors today. We’ll also showcase several artists whose works illustrate the power of sentiment and peek at the market for these artists to map where this “New Romantic” era might head.

Echoes of the Past: Romantic Origins

Though much has changed since the 18th and 19th centuries, today’s renewed interest in Romantic ideals may echo the very impulses that first inspired the movement in Europe. Europe of the time was experiencing significant societal change: new technologies brought an increasing number of modern conveniences to daily life, but some of these same advances yielded workforce shifts, environmental impacts, and more. By the 19th century, industrialization was changing the way the world lived and looked, and artists responded to these shifts by looking back in time for their inspiration.

The era’s so-called Romantic painters, for example, turned everything from genre scenes to sweeping landscapes into emotionally evocative images. Casper David Friedrich, for example, channeled the power of nature and the element of the sublime in his awe-inspiring landscape scenes like Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog (c. 1818) to remind the viewer of the eternal splendors of the natural world. Other artists, such as those of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood looked back in history with an air of nostalgia to revive touching stories from the medieval world. Such can be seen in Dante Gabriele Rossetti‘s The Salutation of Beatrice, wherein he conjures author Dante Alighieri’s unrequited love from The Divine Comedy. This network of artists was also seeking a return to artistic traditions they felt had been lost over history.

Why Be Romantic Now? Contemporary Societal Catalysts

If Friedrich’s mountain scenes remind you of a travel photo that made you pause on Instagram, or if Rossetti’s paintings feel like they capture the timeless pain of lost love, then it’s easy to see how today’s artistic trends echo the spirit of earlier Romantic movements. Why specifically now, though, is this interest taking hold? Several factors may be at play, including:

Digital Overload

So much of our modern experience is tied to the digital realm that it is only natural we reach our saturation point. Rather than isolate in these online realms, more of us are seeking connections with real people and communities.

Pandemic Push

Few events in human history have imposed isolation as profoundly as the COVID pandemic and many have emerged with a greater need for human contact and appreciation for our memories.

Worrisome World

From political turmoil to environmental challenges reshaping our shared global landscapes, we are in a precarious moment. 

And for some, the salve for these ailments is art that offers these means of connection and, perhaps more importantly, inspires hope for humanity in the generations to come.

Today’s “Romantics”

While many artists have turned to these emotional resonant themes in their work, several have championed the field and demonstrate the potential that a New Romantic movement might offer across artistic genres from portraiture to urban and domestic landscapes. Let’s take a closer look at some of these artists:

Salman Toor, b. 1983

Renowned for his lush palette and evocative compositions, Salman Toor focuses many of his paintings on themes relating to queer bodies of colour and their navigation of today’s world. Set in intimate domestic spaces, such as Bedroom Boy, or in community locales, such as The Bar on East 13th Street (2019) or The Rooftop Singer (2017), Toor’s paintings are simultaneously documentary and nostalgic as they chronicle aspects of modern urban daily living while also enlivening them with vivid color as if illuminated with memory. For example, in Poor Hobo Ghosts, Toor sets a rainbow-like palette for his figures and Arabic accents against a black backdrop to heighten the ethereal nature of these figures. 

Lisa Yuskavage, b.1962

Celebrated for her renewal of the figure painting tradition, Lisa Yuskavage has reframed the exoticised nudes characteristic of the Romantic era to instead conjure female bodies that challenge the gaze and demand deeper contemplation. In so doing, Yuskavage creates space for introspection, as her subjects convey a sense of psychological depth. Such is the case in Night (1999-2000), which on preliminary glance seems akin to a pin-up poster but actually offers a metaphor on the role of being seen, not just in terms of the viewer’s gaze but also of the woman’s contemplation of her own features.

Louis Fratino, b.1993

Intimacy is key to the work of Louis Fratino, a painter whose works pull on themes from lived experience, reflections on memory, and amorous affection. Some of these works are more blatant, for example cozy compositions featuring close cropped images of lovers; others, like Nasturtiums, however, depict seemingly auto-biographical scenes for which the viewer is still treated to an intimate perspective. Fratino lets the viewer in, in other words, to bring his memory back with vivid colour and, although his style is more akin to Francis Picabia than Jean-Antoine Fragonard, the evocativeness is the same.

Other “New Romantics” to Watch

Similarly invested in feeling-focused works, the following are just some of the artists who join the ranks of Toor and Fratino.

Chantal Joffe, b. 1969

Transforming the genre of mother and child portraits by creating them on a colossal scale, Chantal Joffe disrupts expectations to encourage viewers to embrace the tensions and implications of these relationships in more depth.

Jordan Casteel, b. 1989

Channeling the colouristic vibrancy she remembers from her youth, Jordan Casteel creates paintings that explore aspects of Black identity, humanity and sexuality.  

Hilary Pecis, b. 1979

Hilary Pecis updates traditional still lifes and landscapes with a bright palette with slightly abstracted style. Eclectic and engaging, Pecis’ paintings also draw from modern artists like Henri Matisse in the pastiche-like feel many of her paintings convey.

Genieve Figgis, b.1972

Genieve Figgis’ paintings could be described as the dark side of Romantic excesses, as many of her works capture themes reminiscent of Romantic painting yet tinged with distortion or decay. Eerie yet engaging, Figgis’ work almost seems to converse with her Romantic progenitors across time.

What all these artists showcase is the emotional potential in painting while at the same time transforming these moving works into messages relating to our modern world. In other words, feeling their works means being engaged and present in the moment, a skill we have begun to lose in our digitally focused age.

Sentimentality Here to Stay? 

Artistic movements often emerge concurrently across the globe, but it’s not always immediately clear how they’ll be defined but evidence is mounting to suggest we will indeed one day look back on this era as a form of New Romanticism. In addition to art that reveals the presence of the artist’s hand, collectors seem to be gravitating toward figurative and narrative works in lieu of digital works or wholly abstract compositions. It would seem, then, that we are at the very least looking for ways to reconnect with art and its makers in emotionally rich ways. Fortunately, these New Romantics are here to give us this psychological and creative depth we seek.