What is the Sublime in art?

The sublime is an aesthetic concept describing experiences of overwhelming awe, often mixed with terror, typically inspired by nature’s vastness or power. Developed by philosophers like Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant in the 18th century, the sublime influenced Romantic art depicting mountains, storms, and cosmic vastness. Burke distinguished the sublime (which overwhelms and terrifies) from the beautiful (which pleases and soothes). Surrealists engaged with the sublime through dreamscapes and impossible visions that evoke wonder and unease, translating natural grandeur into psychological territory. The vast, empty landscapes of Yves Tanguy and the cosmic scale of some Visionary Art evoke sublime experience. Contemporary artists continue exploring the sublime through both traditional and digital means.