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Romanticism
Thursday 29 January 2009 - 8 p.m.
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While our post-industrial society may lead us to believe that we have seen the last of Romanticism, its influence remains with us to this day. The ideas of late 18th and early 19th century Romanticism – including the idealisation of subjectivity, irrationality, imagination and emotions – have become more prominent in the visual arts in the last few years. This is evidenced by the appearance of a new form of aesthetics in which beauty and the sublime occupy a central place. At the same time other forms of Romanticism are at work, focusing on the avant-garde movements of the 20th century. It seems to be this utopian longing, with a strong ideological impetus that inspires contemporary artists and curators. In other words, Romanticism today is equivocal in nature. It moves between opposites, between a withdrawal from society and critical engagement, immersion in the inner self and the quest for a new collective future. How should we interpret this ambiguous attraction to Romanticism today?

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Speakers
Jos de Mul (NL) is professor of Philosophy of Man and Culture at the Faculty of Philosophy, Erasmus University Rotterdam. His publications include Romantic Desire in (Post)Modern Art and Philosophy (1999) and The Tragedy of Finitude: Dilthey’s Hermeneutics of Life (2004).
Jörg Heiser (DE) is an art critic and co-editor of frieze art magazine. Heiser curated the exhibition Romantic Conceptualism (2007) and co-authored the accompanying catalogue. He recently published All of a Sudden: Things that Matter in Contemporary Art.

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Moderator
Thomas Lange (DE) is Assistant Professor in Contemporary Art History at the University of Amsterdam.
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