Narrative Art: A Story for My Own Sake

Abstract

The French, English, and Americans all created narrative art during the Victorian era which did not take influence from another but, instead, each country’s artists, such as Richard and Laurent from France, Frith and Hogarth from England, and Deas and Cole in southern America, arrived at similar conclusions in their arts separately. The French created narrative works during a revival of their nationalism and focused on fairy tales dear to their country. The English created narrative works focused on the Englishness of the works while also influencing their writers. On the other hand, Americans from the south were inspired by their writers, such as Irving, and so made their own narrative works. I look at each of these countries’ works, along with the arguments that are for or against the idea of narrative, and look at what makes a painting a part of narrative art in order to understand how my own pieces work within narrative art. I find that narrativity can exist within paintings and that paintings can further meld with literature to create a more solid connection.