Realism was an artistic movement through which artists and authors tried to convey honest, objective, and authentic representations of the world. In contrast to its predecessor, romanticism, which emphasized emotion and imagination, realism stressed empirical reality. There was a belief among realists that science was the solution to the problems of everyday life, so many realist paintings depicted day-to-day life.
Many painters of this art movement also shared a sympathy for the poor and common people, and therefore often sharply criticized contemporary society. Because of this as well as its emergence soon after the 1848 revolutions, it was considered a new medium of revolutionary fervor. Although it is true that many of its supporters were radicals, there was no one political group that it attracted. All realists, however, agreed that the lower classes had the right to artistic representation.
European Realism
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
(Above) Chateau de Chillon, Courbet, 1875
(To Left) Photograph of Chateau de Chillon (for comparison), Veytaux, Switzerland
This photograph to the left compared to the painting above show how meticulously Courbet depicted the Chateau de Chillon in Switzerland. Notice the accurate use of light and dark, especially on the chateau and the woods behind. Also, the boat and the layers of mountains serve to show the vast scale of this area. Other realist landscapes, especially by Courbet are as true to life as modern photographs. Courbet attempted to learn in a Parisian art school in 1839, but preferred to develop his own style. Courbet felt that the lower classes should be represented in artwork and he address many social and political issues of the time.
"The Stone Breakers" by Gustave Courbet, 1849
This painting depicts a very young boy and a very elderly man breaking rocks, presumably so that a road or railway can be built. Courbet made a point of including these two extreme ages in order to show that those who were underprivileged were trapped by poverty, unable to improve their circumstances. The only thing for them to do was their work. The different ages were also included to represent mortality: the boy will grow up to be just like the old man, toiling for their entire life.
The painting itself is huge: 5' 5" x 7' 10". This provides a nearly life size view of the old man and the boy, giving the impression of stumbling across them in the road. One might pity for the workers, as it is apparent that they are performing strenuous and seemingly endless work. Despite this, they do not appear to be asking for pity, rather, they continue their honest labor.
Up until this point, paintings of such a large scale had been reserved for history paintings. As a realist, Courbet challenged these history paintings, and therefore chose to make this painting just as large. By doing so, he portrayed the struggles of ordinary people as being just as important as those events and themes in history. When "The Stone Breakers" and other paintings like it were shown in Paris salons, many people saw them as anarchist political threats, urging the rise of the proletariat.
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
A Burial at Ornans (Un enterrement a Ornans), 1849, Gustave Courbet, Musee D'Orsay, Paris, France
Gustave Courbet paints the death of his uncle in this enormous 10'x22' painting. Courbet recognized the significance of this painting towards to realist movement, saying "The Burial at Ornans was in reality the burial of Romanticism." Typical with the realist movement, the individuals are depicted as accurately as possible, each with a unique face and outfit. Also, the soil and landscape are depicted as accurately as possible. The realist movement also represented the common people; most prior paintings depicted nature or the wealthy (Italian Renaissance). In this painting, Courbet focuses on the death of a common man, an event that would most likely go unnoticed except for his close friends and relatives nearby.
"The Gleaners" by Jean-Francois Millet, 1857, Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France
This painting depicts three women gleaning, which meant going through the fields to pick up all of the ears of corn that were missed by the harvesters. This backbreaking task was seen as one of the lowest occupations of society, but despite this, Millet seems to glorify their dignity: even though there is an overseer far in the background (representing authority and the landlord who employs them), the women are not shown to be subservient. Although they are not exactly pleased with their situation, they show no signs of discontent or rebelliousness. The women simply do their arduous task, knowing that there is not much in the way of a reward in the end.
Because of its honest depiction of rural poverty, the painting was seen as politically subversive, much like Courbet's "The Stone Breakers."
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