Anita Brookner's 'Romanticism and Its Discontents' Revisits French Romanticism Through Academic and Literary Lenses
In her 2003 work 'Romanticism and Its Discontents', Anita Brookner delves into French Romanticism, marking her re-entry into the academic world after a successful career as a novelist. The study spans from Rousseau to the 19th century, spotlighting key figures such as Gros, Musset, Baudelaire, Delacroix, Ingres, the Goncourt brothers, Zola, and Huysmans. A specialist in 18th-century painting, Brookner has previously examined artists like Greuze, David, and Watteau, and wrote 'The Genius of the Future' in 1971. Her acclaimed fiction, including the Booker Prize-winning 'Hotel du Lac', often reflects themes of isolation and unfulfillment. The book critiques nationalistic Romanticism, portraying Gros as a documentarian and highlighting Baudelaire and Delacroix's pessimism, alongside Zola's disenchantment with Impressionism and his bond with Cézanne.
Key facts
- Anita Brookner authored 'Romanticism and Its Discontents', a study of French Romanticism.
- Brookner taught at the Courtauld Institute and was an authority on 18th-century painting.
- She wrote monographs on Greuze, Jacques-Louis David, and Watteau, and 'The Genius of the Future' in 1971.
- Brookner won the Booker Prize for her novel 'Hotel du Lac' and wrote 19 novels total.
- The book includes chapters on Gros, Alfred de Musset, Baudelaire, Delacroix, Ingres, the Brothers Goncourt, Zola, and Huysmans.
- Brookner distinguishes Romanticism as an existential mode, tracing it from Rousseau through the 19th century.
- She links Romanticism to Modernism, noting its legacy of disappointment and risk-taking.
- The publication appeared in 2003, with Brookner having left academia but continued scholarly work.
Entities
Artists
- Anita Brookner
- Isaiah Berlin
- Greuze
- Jacques-Louis David
- Watteau
- Baudelaire
- Delacroix
- Ingres
- Alfred de Musset
- Gros
- Zola
- Huysmans
- William Blake
- Manet
- Cézanne
- Stendhal
- Thore
- Graham Greene
- Morandi
- Griselda Pollock
- Mary Cassatt
- Chateaubriand
- Rousseau
- Wordsworth
- Napoleon
- Brothers Goncourt
- Proust
Institutions
- Courtauld Institute
- Phaidon
- Harvill Press
- E P Dutton
- artcritical
Locations
- Paris
- France
- England
- Germany
- Versailles
- Jaffa