GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Realism calls for an objective and truthful depiction of contemporary life. The art movement emerged after the Revolution of 1848 that overturned the French monarchy. Just as the French population called for democratic reform, the Realists democratized the subject matter of works of art by rejecting idealized classicism and exotic romanticism for the portrayal of modern subjects observed in the every-day. Following Gustave Courbet's lead, Realist artists sought to create descriptive, impartial works that did not rely on historic, mythic, or religious subjects. A large portion of their imagery presented the lives of working classes on grand scale canvases.
Adapted from
"Gustave Courbet, Fox in the Snow," DMA Connect, Dallas Museum of Art, 2012.
NOTES
Deleted TMS tag for 1979.7.FA
This note was routed during the summer of 2015, but now includes text pulled from an additional source in the education files. I am marking it to be re-routed- EAS, 09/2015.
FUN FACTS- the source for the second quote- (From PFR, undated essay on Gustave Courbet's The Wave (1950.86), DMA education files.)
- An artistic movement in the mid-19th century that was often rejected by the traditional French Academy.
- Works of art often included accurate, detailed, unembellished images of nature or of contemporary life.
- Oridnary people and events are elevated to a stature previously reserved for themes from the Bible, ancient history, or mythology.
From "Realism or Romanticism?" 2005 Bonjour Monsieur Courbet! teaching materials online. http://66.195.106.23/teacherpackets/teachingpackets/TP/Courbet/RealvsRomanceGame/start.htm
The most distinctive aesthetic movement in 19th century Europe Realism. Whether in literature, history, painting, sculpture or philosophy, the effort to deal with everyday life in a rapidly changing world was an intellectual equivalent to the political changes transforming Europe from monarchies to industrial capitalist states. Landscapes, portraits and genre scenes document the importance of an emerging middle class. Courbet's Fox in the Snow, with its rich picture of raw survival, is the kind of avant-garde art that established realism as an important style. The Impressionist painters were also realists, who tried to capture
the optical effects of transient light at different times of day. The many portraits, interior scenes and still lifes in the DMA collections illuminate the urban society of late 19th century France. Toulouse Lautrec's Women of the House in the Reves Collection is a brilliant vision of the tawdry life of a brothel, as Degas' The Bathers, also in the Reves Collection, is an uncompromising view of women casually bathing and combing their hair. Realism occurs in the decorative arts, also. The Arts and Crafts movement cemented the close connection between painting, sculpture and decorative arts in late 19th century Europe.
"Post-Impressionism and Symbolism"
The realist tradition that was so distinctive a part of 19th century art began to change by the late 1880s. Cezanne's geometric landscapes and still lifes had already verged on abstract form. The flat, two-dimensional designs of Gauguin, Van Gogh and Bernard explored a visual world that was not tied to the illusion of natural appearances. Bright colors and silhouette forms replaced the sketchy brushstrokes of Impressionist art. At the same time, Symbolist artists like Redon and Serusier created paintings that drew on dreams, myths, magic and the archaic society of Brittany. From Serusier's Celtic Tale to Gauguin's search for a tribal life in the South Pacific, represented by Under the Pandanus, was only a short remove. These abstract and decorative paintings, like Cezanne's severe geometric structures, were to influence the abstract art of the 20th century.
Excerpt from
DMA thematic label copy, Ancient Mediterranean and European Art, n.d., Education files.
ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS
AUDIO ASSETS
French Landscape Painting from Realism to Post-Impressionism 267025377: UMO
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
Courbet, Fox in the Snow
13131435: UMO
WEB RESOURCES
- Nineteenth-Century French Realism~Check out this essay on 19th-century French Realism from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Realism~Explore the historical context and theoretical underpinnings of Realism as it was conceived by Gustave Courbet and his contemporaries with the Musée d'Orsay.
- Nineteenth-Century Realism and Symbolism~Learn more about Realism from the Norton Anthology of Western Literature.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- Realist practitioners emphatically stated that painting was an art of sight and should therefore concern itself with things seen. When asked to include angels in a painting for a church, Courbet replied, "I have never seen angels. Show me an angel and I will paint one."
- Gustave Courbet, often considered to be the leader of the Realist movement, wrote the following in a letter to his students on December 25, 1861: "Painting is an essentially concrete art and can consist only of the representation of real and existing things. It is a completely physical language, the words of which consist of all visible objects; an object which is abstract, not visible, non-existent, is not within the realm of painting. Imagination in art consists in knowing how to find the most complete expression of an existing thing, but never in inventing or creating that thing itself. The beautiful exists in nature and may be encountered in the midst of reality under the most diverse aspects. As soon as it is found there, it belongs to art, or rather, to the artist who knows how to see it there. As soon as beauty is real and visible, it has its artistic expression from these very qualities. Artifice has no right to amplify this expression; by meddling with it, one only runs the risk of perverting and, consequently, of weakening it. The beauty provided by nature is superior to all the conventions of the artist. Beauty, like truth, is a thing relative to the time in which it is seen and to the individual fit to conceive it. The expression of beauty is in direct ratio to the power of perception acquired by the artist."
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General Description
Realism calls for an objective and truthful depiction of contemporary life. The art movement emerged after the Revolution of 1848 that overturned the French monarchy. Just as the French population called for democratic reform, the Realists democratized the subject matter of works of art by rejecting idealized classicism and exotic romanticism for the portrayal of modern subjects observed in the every-day. Following Gustave Courbet's lead, Realist artists sought to create descriptive, impartial works that did not rely on historic, mythic, or religious subjects. A large portion of their imagery presented the lives of working classes on grand scale canvases.
Adapted from
"Gustave Courbet, Fox in the Snow," DMA Connect, Dallas Museum of Art, 2012.
Fun Facts
- Realist practitioners emphatically stated that painting was an art of sight and should therefore concern itself with things seen. When asked to include angels in a painting for a church, Courbet replied, "I have never seen angels. Show me an angel and I will paint one."
- Gustave Courbet, often considered to be the leader of the Realist movement, wrote the following in a letter to his students on December 25, 1861: "Painting is an essentially concrete art and can consist only of the representation of real and existing things. It is a completely physical language, the words of which consist of all visible objects; an object which is abstract, not visible, non-existent, is not within the realm of painting. Imagination in art consists in knowing how to find the most complete expression of an existing thing, but never in inventing or creating that thing itself. The beautiful exists in nature and may be encountered in the midst of reality under the most diverse aspects. As soon as it is found there, it belongs to art, or rather, to the artist who knows how to see it there. As soon as beauty is real and visible, it has its artistic expression from these very qualities. Artifice has no right to amplify this expression; by meddling with it, one only runs the risk of perverting and, consequently, of weakening it. The beauty provided by nature is superior to all the conventions of the artist. Beauty, like truth, is a thing relative to the time in which it is seen and to the individual fit to conceive it. The expression of beauty is in direct ratio to the power of perception acquired by the artist."
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Nineteenth-Century French Realism~Check out this essay on 19th-century French Realism from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
- Realism~Explore the historical context and theoretical underpinnings of Realism as it was conceived by Gustave Courbet and his contemporaries with the Musée d'Orsay.
- Nineteenth-Century Realism and Symbolism~Learn more about Realism from the Norton Anthology of Western Literature.
Notes
Deleted TMS tag for 1979.7.FA
This note was routed during the summer of 2015, but now includes text pulled from an additional source in the education files. I am marking it to be re-routed- EAS, 09/2015.
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