Difference between revisions of "Realism" - New World Encyclopedia

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==Painting in France==
 
==Painting in France==
 
===Corot===
 
===Corot===
Conceived in total isolation form the earliest photographic experiments, yet mysteriously parallel to them, the new objective style becomes apparent first int he quiet early landscapes of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Corot's taste and desire appealed not to the classical conventions but to the harmony of man and nature in the Italian landscape and the beauty of Italian light, which erases differences of time and unifies all objects, natural or man-made, in the serenity of vision. Corot's primary concern is not as much for the figures in the painting as it is for the landscape. What must be noted is that although Corot is a realist, his work has very little in common with the somber tones of other Realist landscape painters. Corot's soft silvery light was far away from reality, yet his landscapes were surely influenced by the reality of the photography in the nearly monochromatic and soft-focus landscapes of his later years.
+
"Conceived in total isolation form the earliest photographic experiments, yet mysteriously parallel to them, the new objective style becomes apparent first in the quiet early landscapes of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot."<ref name=Hartt/> Corot strayed away from classical conventions and emphasized the sanctity of nature and the harmony of man and nature in the Italian landscape and the beauty of Italian light. The purpose of the light was to unify all objects on the canvas as on one plane. Corot's primary concern is not as much for the figures in the painting as it is for the landscape. What must be noted is that although Corot is a realist, his work has very little in common with the somber tones of other Realist landscape painters. Corot's soft silvery light was far away from reality, yet his landscapes were surely influenced by the reality of the photography in the nearly monochromatic and soft-focus landscapes of his later years.<ref name=Hartt/>
 
===Millet===
 
===Millet===
Another painter who settled int he forest of Fontainebleau and was not likely to be found among the Realists of the Andler Keller, was Jean François Millet. Millet preferred to live like a peasant and dedicated his life to the painting of peasants in whose attachment to the soil he found a religious quality. Up to this point in art history, peasants had often been portrayed as moronic or senseless; however, Millet saw them as pious actors in a divinely ordained drama. His figures stride in almost angelic forms with a Michelangelesque grandeur.  
+
"Another painter who settled int he forest of Fontainebleau, at the village of Barbizon, and was not likely to be found among the Realists of the Andler Keller, was Jean François Millet." <ref name=Hartt/> Millet preferred to live like a peasant and dedicated his life to the painting of peasants in whose attachment to the soil he found a religious quality. Up to this point in art history, peasants had often been portrayed as moronic or senseless; however, Millet saw them as something more: actors who were performing their role on the stage of life. His figures stride in almost angelic forms with a Michelangelesque grandeur.  
 
===Daumier===
 
===Daumier===
Honoré Daumier was the realist most absorbed with the earth and ground. He worked in the lithograph technique, which involved drawing on porous stone with a pencil. The realist affiliation with peasantry and the working class is in full bloom in Daumier's work. One of his most powerful lithographs, ''Rue Transonian, April 15, 1834'', depicts an incident during the insurrection of that month in which all the inhabitants of a working-class house were slaughtered in reprisal for shots fired at a single soldier. Although Daumier was imprisoned as a result of these challenging creations, he continued to portray the working class as a hero who gathered old and young about him in a march through the grim streets of poverty. Instead of littering the canvas of his painting with hundreds of individuals and utter chaos, Daumier intelligently sketches in only a few heads, and hints at hundreds of windows with a few dark brushstrokes. This deliberate style creates extreme tension and an impending exposure of the herd of people creeping in the dark, closer and closer to the light. It wasn't until 1862 when his ''Third-Class Carriage'' demonstrated a concern for the fate of human beings. Ordinary people of both sexes and all ages are brought together physically, yet are spiritually isolated. Daumier's use of light and shade, and his implicit depiction of the mass with quick and free contours give the painting a much needed credibility in the era of realist painting.  
+
Honoré Daumier was the realist most absorbed with the earth and ground. <ref name=Hartt/> He worked in the lithograph technique, which involved drawing on porous stone with a pencil. The realist affiliation with peasantry and the working class is in full bloom in Daumier's work. One of his most powerful lithographs, ''Rue Transonian, April 15, 1834'', depicts an incident during the insurrection of that month in which all the inhabitants of a working-class house were slaughtered in reprisal for shots fired at a single soldier.<ref name=Hartt/> Although Daumier was imprisoned as a result of these challenging creations, he continued to portray the working class as an allegorical hero who gathered old and young about him in a march through the grim streets of poverty. Instead of littering the canvas of his painting with hundreds of individuals and utter chaos, Daumier intelligently sketches in only a few heads, and hints at hundreds of windows with a few dark brushstrokes. This deliberate style creates extreme tension and an impending exposure of the herd of people creeping in the dark, closer and closer to the light. It wasn't until 1862 when his ''Third-Class Carriage'' demonstrated a concern for the fate of human beings.<ref name=Hartt/>Ordinary people of both sexes and all ages are brought together physically, yet are spiritually isolated. Daumier's use of light and shade, and his implicit depiction of the mass with quick and free contours give the painting a much needed credibility in the era of realist painting.  
 
===Courbet===
 
===Courbet===
Gustave Courbet was the apostle of Realism. He, like other Realist painters, was raised in poverty. He was born in the bleak village of Ornans, Courbet came to Paris determined to leave an imprint on the art of the capital. He was devoted to concrete reality and the art of the past. Like Daumier, Courbet was a strong republican and champion of working-class rights and ideas. He said, "The art of painting should consist only in the representation of objects which the artist can see and tough. I hold that the artists of a century are completely incapable of reproducing the things of a preceding or a future century...It is for this reason that I reject history painting when applied to the past. History painting is essentially contemporary." Courbet's '''''Stone Breakers''''' created plenty of controversy and attracted criticism when it was exhibited at the Salon of 1850. A public that was submerged in the waves of romantic and neoclassicist ideals had no way of appreciating reality for what it really was. This painting depicted the dehumanizing labor of breaking stones into gravel for road repairs. He conceals the faces of the figures to give it a universal ideology.
+
Gustave Courbet was the apostle of Realism. He, like other Realist painters, was raised in poverty. Born in the poverty-ridden village of Ornans, Courbet came to Paris determined to leave an imprint on the art of the capital.<ref name=Hartt/> He was devoted to concrete reality and the art of the past. Like Daumier, Courbet was a strong republican and champion of working-class rights and ideas. He said, "The art of painting should consist only in the representation of objects which the artist can see and touch. I hold that the artists of a century are completely incapable of reproducing the things of a preceding or a future century...It is for this reason that I reject history painting when applied to the past. History painting is essentially contemporary." <ref name=Hartt/> Courbet's '''''Stone Breakers''''' created plenty of controversy and attracted criticism when it was exhibited at the Salon of 1850. A public that was submerged in the waves of romantic and neoclassicist ideals had no way of appreciating reality. This painting depicted the dehumanizing labor of breaking stones into gravel for road repairs. He conceals the faces of the figures to give it a universal ideology.
Another famous realist work of Gustave Courbet was '''''A Burial at Ornans.''''' He depicts the imminence of death hovering above our heads. The inescapable end of an ordinary inhabitant of the village is represented with sober realism and a certain rough grandeur. The canvas, about twenty-two feet long, was so large that the artist could not step back in the studio to see the whole work, yet it is throughly unified. The entire painting is constructed in an S-curve, with the figures standing with the simple dignity and embracing their destiny. Each face is painted with all of Courbet's dignity and sculptural density. The entire landscape is on level ground, with no figure towering above the other, which is the most appropriate depiction of a funeral. Courbet attempts to depict the reality of life, in this scene, by showing that in death, rich and poor, all are equal.
+
Another famous realist work of Gustave Courbet was '''''A Burial at Ornans.''''' He depicts the imminence of death hovering above our heads. "The inescapable end of an ordinary inhabitant of the village is represented with sober realism and a certain rough grandeur." <ref name=Hartt/> The canvas, about twenty-two feet long, was so large that the artist could not step back in the studio to see the whole work, yet it is throughly unified. The entire painting is constructed in an S-curve, with the figures standing with the simple dignity and embracing their destiny. Each face is painted with all of Courbet's dignity and sculptural density. The entire landscape is on level ground, with no figure towering above the other, which is the most appropriate depiction of a funeral. Courbet attempts to depict the reality of life, in this scene, by showing that in death, rich and poor, are all equal.
  
 
==Painting in the United States==
 
==Painting in the United States==

Revision as of 15:59, 13 August 2007


Realism in the visual arts is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation. The term is also used to describe works of art which, in revealing a truth, may emphasize the ugly or sordid.

Realism also refers to a mid-19th century cultural movement with its roots in France, where it was a very popular art form around the mid to late 1800s. It came about with the introduction of photography - a new visual source that created a desire for people to produce things that look “objectively real”. Realism was heavily against romanticism, a genre dominating French literature and artwork in the mid 19th century. Undistorted by personal bias, Realism believed in the ideology of objective reality and revolted against exaggerated emotionalism. Truth and accuracy became the goals of many Realists.

19th Century Realism

Realism was a response to both Neoclassicism and Romanticism, and for the entire group, history had no artistic relevance or importance. [1] Hartt, Frederick. Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture</ref> Gustave Courbet, the leader of the realism movement, defined Realism as a "human conclusion which awakened the very forces of man against paganism, Greco-Roman art, the Renaissance, Catholicism, and the gods and demigods, in short against the conventional ideal." [1] The Realists, who were influenced by the Dutch and Flemish naturalists of the seventeenth century, were dedicated wholeheartedly to an establishment founded on justice for the working class, the ordinary citizens of society. In fact, all the artists, politicians, economists, and critics congregated in the Andler Keller,a type of restaurant serving food at all hours, which eventually became known as the temple of Realism. In 1863, after being shunned by Count Nieuwerkerke at the Universal Exposition of 1855, Courbet and friends organized a Salon de Refusés. This was an exhibition that included the works of those who are now recognized as the premier painters of the period. Astoundingly, two of the greatest Realist masters, Daumier and Courbet, were actually forced to serve prison sentences as a result of their involvement in the rebellion against uniformity. [1]

Photography

With the arrival of photography, the world of visual arts would be altered significantly. The idea of photography itself was not new, and some artists have even employed some form of it. The concept of photography revolved around light passing through a small aperture as it registers an image of objects upon any surface which it may strike. [1] The camera obscura was used by artists throughout the ages and specialized particularly by Vermeer. Daguerreotypes soon became popular by the hundreds of thousands. The first photo portrait was made by Samuel F.B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph.[1] The possibilities were enormous, but for many artists, a point of concern. With the invention of photography, the art of portraiture would become almost non-existent. By 1858, photography was an assured fact, and photographers were able to prove at last how living beings really look in motion, to the great discomfiture of artists in the classic tradition with their contrived poses. In other words, photographs capture the essence of the action, the movement as it is, and there is absolutely no doubt in the veracity or accuracy of the photograph. This fits in perfectly with the realists because their sole focus is to portray the world, as it is, and not in a blown-up, romantic manner.

Painting in France

Corot

"Conceived in total isolation form the earliest photographic experiments, yet mysteriously parallel to them, the new objective style becomes apparent first in the quiet early landscapes of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot."[1] Corot strayed away from classical conventions and emphasized the sanctity of nature and the harmony of man and nature in the Italian landscape and the beauty of Italian light. The purpose of the light was to unify all objects on the canvas as on one plane. Corot's primary concern is not as much for the figures in the painting as it is for the landscape. What must be noted is that although Corot is a realist, his work has very little in common with the somber tones of other Realist landscape painters. Corot's soft silvery light was far away from reality, yet his landscapes were surely influenced by the reality of the photography in the nearly monochromatic and soft-focus landscapes of his later years.[1]

Millet

"Another painter who settled int he forest of Fontainebleau, at the village of Barbizon, and was not likely to be found among the Realists of the Andler Keller, was Jean François Millet." [1] Millet preferred to live like a peasant and dedicated his life to the painting of peasants in whose attachment to the soil he found a religious quality. Up to this point in art history, peasants had often been portrayed as moronic or senseless; however, Millet saw them as something more: actors who were performing their role on the stage of life. His figures stride in almost angelic forms with a Michelangelesque grandeur.

Daumier

Honoré Daumier was the realist most absorbed with the earth and ground. [1] He worked in the lithograph technique, which involved drawing on porous stone with a pencil. The realist affiliation with peasantry and the working class is in full bloom in Daumier's work. One of his most powerful lithographs, Rue Transonian, April 15, 1834, depicts an incident during the insurrection of that month in which all the inhabitants of a working-class house were slaughtered in reprisal for shots fired at a single soldier.[1] Although Daumier was imprisoned as a result of these challenging creations, he continued to portray the working class as an allegorical hero who gathered old and young about him in a march through the grim streets of poverty. Instead of littering the canvas of his painting with hundreds of individuals and utter chaos, Daumier intelligently sketches in only a few heads, and hints at hundreds of windows with a few dark brushstrokes. This deliberate style creates extreme tension and an impending exposure of the herd of people creeping in the dark, closer and closer to the light. It wasn't until 1862 when his Third-Class Carriage demonstrated a concern for the fate of human beings.[1]Ordinary people of both sexes and all ages are brought together physically, yet are spiritually isolated. Daumier's use of light and shade, and his implicit depiction of the mass with quick and free contours give the painting a much needed credibility in the era of realist painting.

Courbet

Gustave Courbet was the apostle of Realism. He, like other Realist painters, was raised in poverty. Born in the poverty-ridden village of Ornans, Courbet came to Paris determined to leave an imprint on the art of the capital.[1] He was devoted to concrete reality and the art of the past. Like Daumier, Courbet was a strong republican and champion of working-class rights and ideas. He said, "The art of painting should consist only in the representation of objects which the artist can see and touch. I hold that the artists of a century are completely incapable of reproducing the things of a preceding or a future century...It is for this reason that I reject history painting when applied to the past. History painting is essentially contemporary." [1] Courbet's Stone Breakers created plenty of controversy and attracted criticism when it was exhibited at the Salon of 1850. A public that was submerged in the waves of romantic and neoclassicist ideals had no way of appreciating reality. This painting depicted the dehumanizing labor of breaking stones into gravel for road repairs. He conceals the faces of the figures to give it a universal ideology. Another famous realist work of Gustave Courbet was A Burial at Ornans. He depicts the imminence of death hovering above our heads. "The inescapable end of an ordinary inhabitant of the village is represented with sober realism and a certain rough grandeur." [1] The canvas, about twenty-two feet long, was so large that the artist could not step back in the studio to see the whole work, yet it is throughly unified. The entire painting is constructed in an S-curve, with the figures standing with the simple dignity and embracing their destiny. Each face is painted with all of Courbet's dignity and sculptural density. The entire landscape is on level ground, with no figure towering above the other, which is the most appropriate depiction of a funeral. Courbet attempts to depict the reality of life, in this scene, by showing that in death, rich and poor, are all equal.

Painting in the United States

  • Winslow Homer

The influence of Realism spread throughout Europe. Talented American artists arrived in France in the mid 19th century and were instantly impressed by the work of the Barbizon painters (Corot, Courbet). Winslow Homer adhered to the works of Courbet and particularly imitated his use of the density of substance and pigment. Corot's influence in his clarify of forms and space was discernible as well.

  • Thomas Eakins

Arguably the greatest native-born artist, Thomas Eakins visited France and Spain before returning back to the states in 1870. He did not hide his appreciation for the work of Spanish painter Velázquez. His painting consisted of powerful works uncompromisingly founded on fact. Like Velázquez, Eakins' work searched the psychological analysis of great depth and emotional intensity, dryly painted, without the richness of pigment in which Corot and Courbet delighted. Eakins was fascinated by the new art of photography, and used it as an aid in his researches into reality, becoming a remarkably proficient photographer himself. Eakins's work deals with an inherently repulsive subject not only in a direct and analytical manner, but also with a certain reverence for the mystery of human existence.

The Pre-Raphaelites

At the same time as the Realist movement in France and the United States an independent but related revolution against official art was taking place among a group of extremely young and gifted English artists. The Pre-Raphaelite movement, founded in 1848 by youngsters William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. The group included, among others, the painter Dante Gabriel Rosetti and later the painter Ford Madox Brown. The name was given to them due to their belief that in spite of Raphael's greatness the decline of art since his day was attributable to a misunderstanding of his principles. They demanded a precise realism in the smallest detail founded perhaps on the early Netherlandish painters but betrayed the influence of the daguerreotype. Visual honesty permeated throughout their work, as in all realist painters; however, the subject itself had to be important and invested with moral dignity, and the artist had to interpret it directly, as if it were happening in front of the observer, without any reference to accepted principles of composition, posing, or color.

  • John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents, Royal Academy (1850)

The Pre-Raphaelite style was prevalent best in this piece. The colors were unexpectedly bright and the figures, based on working-class models, reflected no interest in conventional beauty. The ordinary faces, particularly that of the weary Virgin Mary, brought down the denunciation of no less a figure than a Charles Dickens. With time, the Pre-Raphaelites' position of transcendental honesty and moral dignity was perhaps to rigid to be maintained indefinitely. Although they were all long-lived, their styles changed eventually, and not always for the better. By the 1880's the movement had been transformed into a new mixture of medievalism and aestheticism in which the original purity of the purpose was lost.

The Rhetoric of Realism: Courbet and the Origins of The Avant-Garde

The rhetoric of realism is not confined to artists in France; it is written across the age and across Europe. Karl Marx's manifesto depicts the movement of Realism at heart:

The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation
hitherto honored and looked up with reverent awe. It has
converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet,
the man of science into its paid wage-laborers...Constant
revolutioning of production, uninterrupted disturbance
of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agi-
tation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones
...All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned,
and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his
real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.

Marx's words are congruent with images from Realist art.

The Realist Doctrine

The doctrine of the Realists, like those of the Neoclassicists and the Romanticists could not be maintained for long in their original purity. Too many aspects of natural human feeling and imagination were excluded. But the immense historic value of Realism lay in its insistence on the priority of vision over either abstract principles of form and composition or emotional and narrative content. The Realist emphasis on the here and now was instrumental in the formation of Impressionism. It would reappear minimally in the twentieth century, and at times, was even more fanatical.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Hartt
  • West, Shearer (1996). The Bullfinch Guide to Art. UK: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 0-8212-2137-X. 
  • A History of Romanesque Art Retrieved August 07, 2007
  • Art: A History of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Frederick Hartt, (Harry N. Abrams, Inc.) New York, 1989,

ISBN: 0-8109-1884-6

  • Helen Gardner, Art Through the Ages, Sixth Edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. 1975, ISBN: 0-15-503753-6

Related

Western art movements
Renaissance · Mannerism · Baroque · Rococo · Neoclassicism · Romanticism · Realism · Pre-Raphaelite · Academic · Impressionism · Post-Impressionism
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