The Nature of the Sublime

The origins of the Sublime are traced from Longinus to Kant, and the principles they set forth are applied to art from the late eighteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. With the Sublime defined as the emotional evocation of profound awe, delight and terror, the catalogue and comparative illustrations are employed to address the questions "What is Sublime?" and "What makes art Sublime?" The relationship of art from Turner, Blake, Friedrich and Cole to the Sublime is examined within the framework of religion, nature and the human element. The use of the landscape as a means to the Sublime is highlit for all four artists. The effects of the Romantic Period on the twentieth century Abstract Expressionists is discussed through Newman and Rothko