Romantics and Mental Health

The Romantic movement gave us the lasting myth that artistic genius and mental illness are linked — that great art requires great suffering. The idea is factually shaky, yet it still shapes how the West treats its artists and how artists see themselves.

Some Romantic painters did struggle with real psychological illness. Goya's late Black Paintings emerged from a period of severe illness and depression, and his slashing, nightmarish style poured that turmoil straight onto the wall.