Many art historians will tell you that Romanticism slips through your fingers when you try to define it. That’s partly because Romantic artists didn’t have one style like the Impressionists or Expressionists. The movement was about intense personal expression, so artists could focus on whatever turned them on. In addition, the movement wasn’t grounded in France or Italy. It spread across most of Europe and later to the United States. Romanticism wasn’t merely a visual-arts movement — it included poetry, fiction, and music. There were even Romantic philosophers! The fact that Romanticism was so widespread and diverse makes it hard to squeeze it into one definition. Romanticism doesn’t mean lying dreamy-eyed on a patch of clover or gazing wistfully into your lover’s eyes. It doesn’t refer to romance at all. It means being a staunch individualist, believing in the rights of other individuals, and expressing deep, intense, and often uplifting emotions
