The Angel of the Bizarre. Dark Romanticism from Füssli to Max Ernst, exhibition

The shadowy side of Romanticism.

In the 1930s, writer and Italian art historian Mario Praz (1896-1982) highlighted for the first time the dark side of Romanticism, thus describing a wide spectrum of artistic creation, from 1760-1770. These works explore the dark side, excess and irrationality that lies behind the apparent triumph of the light of reason.

This genre appeared at the end of the eighteenth century in England, through Gothic novels, literature which captivated audiences with a taste for mystery and the macabre. The arts quickly followed suit: the terrible and grotesque world of many painters, printmakers and sculptors from all over Europe rivalled the works by authors: Goya and Géricault confronted the absurd atrocities of war and the shipwrecks of their time, while Delacroix and Füssli brought ghosts to life...