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by John Bendall |
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(Not the) Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Chopin Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) |
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Our previous artist, Goya, might be regarded as one of the early exponents of what came
to be called Romanticism. Look the word up in a dictionary and you might find
Romanticism described as follows: a movement in the arts and literature originating in
the late 18th century as a reaction against the order and restraint of classicism and
neoclassicism, and was a rejection of the rationalism which characterised the
Enlightenment. In their place were inspiration, irrationality, subjectivity and the
primacy of the individual. Among romantic painters are such stylistically diverse artists
as William Blake, Turner, Delacroix and Goya. Some might suggest that, in its implicit
idea of the artist as an isolated, misunderstood genius, the movement has not yet ended! Our next artist, Eugene Delacroix was certainly in the thick of Romanticism and, indeed, may be regarded as the leading painter of the French romantic movement, known, as he was, for his experimental and sometimes exotic or macabre approach. His subject here, Frédéric François Chopin (1810-1849) - his father was French and his mother Polish - was also at the heart of Romanticism, noted as he was for piano music full of poetic intensity, incomparable melodic facility and harmonic perfection. Indeed, a case could be made for regarding Chopin as having brought musical harmony to a kind of necessary conclusion; no further development in harmony was needed - though devotees of Debussy and Ravel, for example, might beg to differ! Sadly he left his native Poland at the age of 19, never to return. Some of us toast his memory every 17th October, the day he died. |
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Tuesdays: 7.00pm for 7.30pm Pembury Village Hall |
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Thursdays: 1.30pm for 2.00pm St. James Church Hall Tunbridge Wells |
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Contact
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Elspeth Fox Email: Pembury Bridge Club Tel: 07813 461371 |