Realism in the visual arts is the general attempt to depict subjects as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation and "in accordance with secular, empirical rules." As such, the approach inherently implies a belief that such reality is ontologically
independent of man's conceptual schemes, linguistic practices and
beliefs, and thus can be known (or knowable) to the artist, who can in
turn represent this 'reality' faithfully.
In its most specific sense, Realism was an artistic movement that began in France in the 1850s, after the 1848 Revolution. These Realists positioned themselves against Romanticism,
a genre dominating French literature and artwork in the late 18th and
early 19th centuries. Seeking to be undistorted by personal bias,
Realism believed in the ideology of objective reality
and revolted against the exaggerated emotionalism of the Romantic
movement. Truth and accuracy became the goals of many Realists. Many
paintings depicted people at work, underscoring the changes wrought by
the Industrial and Commercial Revolutions. The popularity of such 'realistic' works grew with the introduction of photography — a new visual source that created a desire for people to produce representations which look “objectively real.”
Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet, 1854. Realist painting by Gustave Courbet.
Key Features: In general, realists render everyday characters, situations, dilemmas, and objects, all in a "true-to-life" manner. Realists tend to discard theatrical drama, lofty subjects and classical forms of art in favor of commonplace themes. The term is applied to, or used as a name for, various art movements or other groups of artists in art history. The artists at this time "told it as it is" so to speak. They drew what they had seen without any bias added. The artists simply focused on what was happening in front of them.
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