Art Movement

There are many types of art, types of genres and movements. One of the art movements I have come to like is Realism. The Realist Movement in art was most popular in France from 1840 to about 1890. Realism has the aim of conveying and communicating real life-- such as people, animals, and daily life as it appears in observable life-- through art. It mostly values truth and objectivity in portrayal of life in paintings.

The reason why this art movement stood out to me was that it is about humans and the reality of life. 

This painting is named 'Young Girl Reading'. 

It was painted by Camille Corot, and it was completed and revealed to the public in 1868. 

It shows girl intently reading at her desk

Source: http://media.nga.gov/public/objects/6/6/4/0/7/66407-primary-0-440x400.jpg


Realism is about the portrayal of people in their everyday lives, working, relaxing, at the market, walking and even just sitting down-- like these following realist paintings.

This painting was named 'Whistler's Mother' and it was painted by James Abbot McNeill Whistler. It was the painter's mother and because it didn't seem to have all the characteristics of a portrait, it was renamed 'Expression of black and grey'.

Source: http://www.toffsworld.com/images/stories/art/whistler.jpg and http://toffsworld.com/lifestyle/art-information/realism/

This painting was by the champion of Realism back in the day-- Gustave Courbet himself. It was completed in 1852. 

It shows three women walking in the fields, probably going toward the town, and meeting a younger girl along the way and giving her money. The cows are not perfect, and the women are not as beautiful as society would want them to be. That is the essence of realism. 

Source: http://www.ilibrarian.net/art/realism_young_women_from_the_village_lg.jpg and http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/40.175

This painting was by Fernando Cueto Amorsolo and it is named 'Marketplace during the Occupation'. 

It was painted in 1942.

Ordinary, working class people, buying and selling at the marketplace.

Source: http://opencontours.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/marketplace.jpg

This painting was by Francois Millet, and it was named 'The Gleaner'. 

It was painted in 1857.

It shows 3 workers gleaning from the harvest.

Source: http://claudiaquinn.edublogs.org/files/2012/11/realism-jean-francois-millet-the-gleaners1-17qfi2p.jpg

Realism was meant to show life through the eyes of the artist and his sensory observation of the 'real world'.  Realist artists desired to show in every detail the unpleasantness of life and experiences of 'normal, ordinary, everyday' people. Realism mostly was protest to the art movement of "Romanticism" which showed life in a very fantasy-like way. So the artists who subscribed to Realism instead, wanted to portray everyday life with all its imperfections. (Source: http://www.ducksters.com/history/art/realism.php).

An example of a Realist artist is Gustave Courbet (1819-1877). He put forward that painting should only  be of real and existent things and people. He was the main painter who promoted Realism back in his generation. Despite opposition from society who probably preferred Romanticism, he tried hard to illustrate in his paintings accurate scenes of ordinary people and places. (Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rlsm/hd_rlsm.htm)

The Stonebreakers, painted in 1849 was done by Gustave Courbet. 

The Stonebreakers (1849)

This painting showed two humble men working hard at stonebreaking, without perfect features nor clothes. They are represented as truthfully as Gustave Courbet could represent them. 

Source : http://www.oldandsold.com/painters/paintings-83.shtml

References:

http://impressionist1877.tripod.com/realism.htm
http://www.starrabbott.com/article-realism-paintings.htm