The document discusses realism in art during the 19th century. Some key points: - Realist artists rejected the subjectivity of Romanticism and sought accurate depictions of ordinary people and everyday life drawn from observation of the real world. - Important realist artists included Courbet, Millet, and Daumier, who painted scenes of working class life to portray and sometimes criticize the conditions of the poor. - The Barbizon school, including artists like Rousseau and Daubigny, painted landscapes outdoors in a naturalistic style, attempting to faithfully capture nature.

1. RealismRealism
Revision

2. Characteristics of the PeriodCharacteristics of the Period
• During the second half of 19th century the
positivism was dominant
• It was an age of faith in knowledge derived
from science
• The scientific method was used to solve all
human problems.

3. Visual ArtsVisual Arts
• The subjectivism and imagination of
Romanticism are rejected
• They want an accurate description of the
objects
• Science and the development of
photography influenced into academic art
• They tend to represent contemporary life
instead of imitating past models

4. Visual ArtsVisual Arts
• Ordinary people and everyday activities became
subjects of Art
• Realists tend to portray the lives, appearances,
problems, customs and mores of the middle and
lower classes
• They did these depictions of the unexceptional,
ordinary, humble and unadorned
• They represented ignored aspects such as mental
attitudes, physical settings and material
conditions.

5. ChronologyChronology
• In France they appeared after the 1848
revolution
– They expressed a taste for democracy
• In England they appeared at the same time
– It was a reaction against Victorian materialism
– They reacted against the conventions of the
Royal Academy in London

6. ArtistsArtists
• The Realists
– There is an international group centred in Paris
– They focused on:
• Scientific concepts of vision
• Study of optical effects
– They expressed:
• Taste for democracy
• Rejection of the old artistic tradition

7. ArtistsArtists
– They felt that painters should work from the life
around them
– Desecrated rules of artistic propriety with their
new realistic portrayals of modern life
– Artists:
• Courbet: The Artist’s Workshop
• Daumier: Caricatures
• Millet: Angelus

8. ArtistsArtists
• Barbizon School:
– Landscape artists formed outside the Academy
– Named after the forest of Fontebleau in near
Barbizon where they worked
– They attempted to paint nature directly
– The pioneer of this movement is Constable,
with a faithful depiction of nature

9. ArtistsArtists
– Landscape compositions were painted outdoors
– The second phase was marked by the interest in
Middle Ages
– Subject matters were from medieval tales, bible
stories, classical mythology, and nature
– With technique of bright colours on a white
background, they achieved great depth and
brilliance
– Artists: Millais, Burne-Jones, Waterhouse

10. T. Rousseau Daubigny
Dupré

11. CourbetCourbet
• He depicted the characters as they appeared
in front of him, without any idealization
• He represented any subject: customs of a
town or people from the bourgeoisie
• He disliked bourgeois people
• Burial at Ornans, The Artist’s Studio, The
Stonecutters, Good Morning Mister
Courbet

13. MilletMillet
• He worked with the landscape painters of the
Barbizone school
• He depicted the way of living of working class
people
• He portrayed poor people in an attempt to criticize
their situation
• He underlined the spirituality of the characters
• Angelus, The Gleaners

15. DaumierDaumier
• He worked as a cartoonist and press-drawer
• His style was schematic
• He reported poverty
• He showed the harsh living condition of
poor classes and the corruption of the
powerful people
• Laundress, Crispin and Escarpin

17. CorotCorot
• Eminent landscapist
• He painted in nature
• Accurate depiction of light and colour
• Pre-impressionist
• View of Chartres Cathedral

19. SculptureSculpture
• There was an eclectic
trend
• Meunier depicted
workers
• His works were made
of bronze
• In his works characters
appear portrayed as
heroes.