REALISM ART MOVEMENT 1848-1900
This image is Gustave Courbets ‘A Burial at Ornans’ (1849-50) depicting a simple rural funeral service in the town of his birth, the mundane topic shows the reality of the funeral because there is no depiction of a spirit or angel. Also because the canvas it is painted on is so large it sparked controversy because canvases these large are usually reserved for history paintings which are considered of more importance.
REALISM ART MOVEMENT. Realism is an artistic movement that started in France after the revolution that refers to a certain grittiness in choice of subject (working class / grim moments) happening at that time as a revolt against romanticism. Realism goes against using exotic subject matters (angels / mythology) and emotional values and exchanges it for the pure truth (sociopolitial or moral message involved). You can identify realism from the serious-looking and humble people accompanied by dark and earthy palettes in natural scenes and situations. Realism is based on depicting modern moments (of the current time) and not painting futuristic/past things. Realism soon spread across the world soon after.
The Stone Breakers by Gustave Courbet in 1849-50 Shows two workers, one young and one old. This is a realistic ‘snapshot’ of everyday life doing a backbreaking job. It depicts poverty and unrealised labour going on. Courbet saw this scene on the side of the road and asked them to come to his studio the next day. I chose to research Courbet because he was one of the main leading artists of the Realism movement. Courbet was committed to painting only what he could see. “Show me an angel and I will paint an angel”. He challeged the norm and convention by painting unidealistic peasants and workers as painting people was generally left for famous or historic or royal people. Courbet rejected romanticism and made bold social statements through his work. r recognition. He also got recognition from setting up his own personal of his pieces was rejected by the World Fair in Paris. He set it up nearby and titled
His work bought him exhibition , when one it “le Realisme”.
The Gleaners (1859) by Jean-Francois Millet. This painting shows the lowest form of work for women in french society, This painting calls attention to the rural poor, the women are tied visually to the land in form of colours and how they are bend over (against the point of the sky) this shows how much they rely on the land for survival and how they do backbreaking work to have even the lowest form of survival. it is made up of gloomy dark de-saturated colours and has a calm warmth. It is an oil on canvas, as with most realism paintings as i’ve found. The fact that none of the faces are shown or seen can suggest that we as a society forget about the poor and sometimes forget that they are people that need to survive too, even though they do the hardest forms of work in order to survive. The warm golden palette Millet uses suggests something sacred about this daily scene, He tried best to convey across the sense of fatigue and routine these people have to go through to be able to live. Although the women have a clear structural strength against the background with the way their bodies are bent and arms outstretched.
Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) (1862-63) By Edouard Manet Manet was the next major realist artist after Courbet to actively court controversy. Created a social scandal from the realism of the subject at matter. Oil on large canvas. It depicts a nude females on a picnic with two fully dressed men in a rural setting. The painting sparked a lot of public notoriety as the topic was considered controversial by revealing what men of a high social status do in their free time. Despite this, Manet also deliberately chose a large canvas, the kind usually reserved for historial or religious subjects which breaks acedemic traditions. This piece of work was featured at Salon des Refuses after being rejected by the Salon, it was featured along with James Whistlers ‘Symphony in White no.1’ (on the next page) together the works gained a lot of attention.
Symphony in White no.1 (1861-62) by James Whistler
James Abbot McNeill Whistler was an artist from 1834-1903, He was an american artist (showing that realism spread further than France) based primarily in the UK. Whistler was a leading artist for the “art for arts sake� saying. He said that art should be for the eye, with no inner meaning. Just for aesthetics sake. Not to make social / political or any other type of statement. He resented art that carried hidden content or meaning. This is why he is an important artist for the Realism movement, only painting what he saw. He was a lot like Courbet in the way that they wanted to paint from what they were seeing before them. This is why this painting is an important piece, as it is JUST a portrait that carries no agenda or meaning, no matter what critiques try to say about it, it is just and will only ever be a realistic painting of a person in a cream palette of oil paints on a canvas. Whistler entitled many of his paintings as harmonies emphasizing the tones and soft delicalicy.
Working class / Realism movement paintings typically involved a sociopolitical or moral message in the application of ugly or commonplace subjects with dark desaturated palettes.
This painting is Song of the Lark by Jules Breton in 1884, it is one of the most famous and accepted works of french realism because of its less confrontational tone with the reality of the poverty situation. It has a more pleasant atmosphere because of the representation of a strong farmworker against a soft sky. It is a glorification of hard work and was popular because it did not represent as much ugliness in a realistic sense of the world around. It became an emblem of French fortitude. The lark is traditionally a symbol for daybreak. And this piece is an oil on canvas.
The French Realist movement had equivalents in all other western countries that developed later. Groups like the Wanderers group in Russia who formed in the 1860’s organised exhibitions that included many realist pieces , portraits and \landscape artists, including Ilya Repin who is considered to be the most renowned Russian artist of the 19th century. The Ashcan School was an art movement based in new york that helped to define American Realism by including such artists as George Bellows and Robert Henri.