It all started in France within the 19th century 1850s after the 1848 French revolution. Realism art was introduced by the discussion of a group of artists, writers and intellectuals in a Parisian bar. Realism art was all about the latest artistic trends, politics and social issues.
While previous art movement always showed the beauty of human figures and nature, realism artists gave importance to the total opposite, they showed the ugly side of everyday life.
A highly important artist within this movement is the french artist Gustave Courbet,
he was known as a painter of society. He owns an important place in the 19th century as he was willing to make bold social statements throughout his works.His art works has been rejected by many
as he went against the standard academic practice. He painted huge art works
that went against the exaggerated emotionalism from the Romantic Movement.
[Gustave Courbet]
[Gustave Courbet, 1849, Stone breakers,oil on canvas, 165 cm × 257 cm × 30,820 cm, destroyed during World war II]
An effective art piece of Courbet is the ‘stone-breakers’. This features 2 men which are working very hard to earn some money. One man is standing down on his knee breaking the stones as on the other hand the young man is carrying a big stone that looks very heavy by the way he's standing, both men looks like their giving all their strength force to do this job. The art work literally shows the ugly truth.
[Gustave Courbet, 1855, The painter's Studio, Oil on canvas, 361 cm × 598 cm, Musée d'Orsay]
This is another art work by Courbet which features an
allegory (meaning representations of various influences). Courbet showed his strong
idea of the importance in society very well. This striking artwork features the
artist himself that seem to be rejecting the ideal human figure and the high class society to paint the
middle class society around him.
Brian Gardner, (May 3, 2012), Gustave Courbet, http://westerncivguides.umwblogs.org/2012/05/03/gustave-courbet/,
[Accessed on 24/02/14]
Musée d'Orsay, (2006),Gustave
Courbet The Artist's Studio, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painter%27s_Studio,
[Accessed on 24/02/14]
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