Die Brücke: A Bad Romance?
the first art group to have a manifesto wanted to change the world but may have helped to usher-in a culture of oppression
The movement that exerted the most profound influence on the Modern art, literature, and philosophy, that followed must be the Romantics. Admittedly, this is a sweeping statement, and open to debate, but nearly all aspects of modern life have been affected by either embracing or rejecting the Romantic ideals that have shaped not only aesthetics but politics, education, morality… the course of history itself. Often for better but, sadly, sometimes for worse.
Two novels written by Jean Jacques Rousseau are often cited as sowing the seeds of Romantic thought. They were Julie ou la nouvelle Héloïse (originally, Lettres de Deux Amans, Habitans d’une petite Ville au pied des Alpes) and Emile published in quick succession in 1761 and 1762 respectively. Rousseau was a Swiss philosopher and author who endorsed inspiration over rationalism, and held that natural law is superior to human constructs. He maintained that it was our feelings, not reason, that should form the basis of belief and conduct, and that art should not be judged on a moral basis.
In his novel, La nouvelle Heloise, one of his main themes was the conflict of ‘head and heart’ and he was…
