Realism

Realism: A 19 th century art movement originating in France, shared the same time frame for a short period with Romanticism. The term “realism” can be a challenge to define because there were many thoughts about it’s meaning at the time. Realism embrace the concept of what was real to the artist- that which could be seen and touched, the reality within their lives.

Points to know…. Relists dismissed the historical and revival motivations of the earlier styles and settled on the everyday subject matter of their immediate world. Subjects for artworks came from the mundane. Mundane: 1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of the world 2 : characterized by the practical, transitory, and ordinary : commonplace <the mundane concerns of day-to-day life. commonplace Many times this was subject matter that would have been considered unworthy of depicting in a work of art in earlier periods. The Realists subjects came from the working class. They were day laborers and peasants who were overlooked by the Renaissance, Neo-Classical and Romantic artist. The realists captured these common folk in their everyday work environment. The also focused on the impact of the Industrial Revolution on everyday life and the conditions face by the working class.

Influences Industrial Revolution 1848: A rapid major change in the economy marked by the general introduction of power- driven machinery or by an important change in the prevailing types and methods of use of such machines. Great time of “progress”. Changing times with industrialization, urbanization, new inventions, and theories. These times influenced writers, scientist, artists, politicians, philosophers, and educators. Charles Darwin wrote on “On The Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection”. Presented a new concept of life on Earth.

Influences Continued….. Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels wrote on the Communist Manifesto Urged the working class to overthrow capitalism. The theories of Marx gave rise to socialism and the beginning of trade unions. Socialism: any various economic and political theories advocating collective or government ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.

Influences cont…. All of these factors influenced artists of the 19 th and 20 th centuries and challenged them in the creation of art. Artist who moved forward adopted some of the current theory and philosophy and incorporated those beliefs into their own art work. The result was an intense focus on the commonplace, capturing the every day existence of ordinary people.

Artist There were many well known artist during this time. Gustave Corbet was one of the most popular Other popular artist were: Francois Millet Honore Daumier John Singer Sargent Edouard Manet Thomas Ekins Winslow Homer

Francois Millet Haystacks: Autumn 1874

Honore Daumier. St. Magdalene in the Desert. c Oil on canvas.

John Singer Sargent Lady Agnew of Lochnaw

Edourad Manet : Monet working on his boat

Thomas Eakins (American, ). John Biglin in a Single Scull, ca Watercolor on off-white wove paper. 19 5/16 x 24 7/8 in. (49.2 x 63.2 cm). Fletcher Fund, 1924 (24.108). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Winslow Homer: Waiting for an answer

Gustave Courbet Made a huge impact in the art world with his desire to record what real life looked like. Courbet was born to prosperous farming family in France His father tried to send him to law school but he wanted to paint He studied art by copying pictures of artwork at the Louvre.

Gustave Courbet cont…. His choice of ordinary subject matter and realistic portrayals were at odds with many of the time. Courbet believed that painter should paint during their own time period. “painting is an essentially concrete art, and can consists only of representation of real and existing things”. Many of his paintings were very large. Is known to be the first to use a palette knife instead of a brush. He applied paint thick.

“The Artist Studio” was refused for an important exhibition, so he displayed it near the exhibition hall alone.

A Burial at Omans

Edouard Manet Paris native His images of modern urban life and sometimes scandalous subject matter broke new ground. He painted subjects previously deemed unsuitable for high art and painted them in a new style that foreshadowed ideas of the modern painters. Concerned with the properties of painting instead of the subject matter.

Edouard Manet cont…. His work was often controversial Is sometimes considered the father of impressionism Bridged the gap between realism and impressionism. Le Bar aux Folies-Bergere