Realism
Originating in France, Realism is an artistic movement that is commonly defined as a concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary. Realists sought to render everyday characters, situations, dilemmas, and events all in an accurate or realistic manner. It spawned all over Western Europe and the United States starting in the mid-19th century. Unlike its predecessors, neoclassicism and romanticism, realism presents the idea that an artist’s highest accomplishment is to faithfully represent life as it happens around him.
A Burial at Ornans - Gustave Courbet
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This painting portrays a funeral service in France. Rather than earlier artistic styles, Courbet provides an instance of Realism by illustrating realistic and undramatic expressions across the faces of the characters within the painting, creating a believable scene that lowers to a personal and local level with the viewer.
Citation: "Famous Realism Artwork." Ranker. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. .
Eight Bells - Winslow Homer
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Two sailors navigate with sextants on the high seas in this painting. Homer created the sea in an un-personified manner (unlike in Romanticism) and focused on the sailors themselves, who do not appear to be in a rushed/panicked state as they approach unfavorable weather.
Citation: "Famous Realism Artwork." Ranker. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Fox Hunt - Winslow Homer
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Homer provides a scene that involves an event that takes place strictly under the influence of nature. As the birds-of-prey close in on the fox, Homer indirectly causes a state of sympathy for the fox among some viewers, while other viewers simply see the food-chain, an occurrence of mother-nature, show its true colors.
Citation: "Famous Realism Artwork." Ranker. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Laksefiskeren - Eilif Peterssen
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Much like the Romantic art movement, landscapes were a large part of the Realism movement, although they were portrayed in a less personified way and a more realistic manner (obviously). In this example the fisherman waits patiently for his net to do its work.
Citation: "Famous Realism Artwork." Ranker. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Miss Amelia Van Buren - Thomas Eakins
Portrait of Henrik Ibsen - Eilif Peterssen
Prisoners of the Front - Winslow Homer
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Homer adds a militaristic subject to this creation, creating the focus on captured prisoners by the American army. Rather than characterizing the prisoners as evil and villainous, he depicts them as normal men who may actually be more than what they seem.
Citation: "Famous Realism Artwork." Ranker. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Self-portrait - Thomas Eakins
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Literally a self-portrait of himself, Eakins jumps on the bandwagon of the Realism movement in creating an image of himself. During this time, self-portraits and autobiographies became increasingly popular among American and Western European artists and writers.
Citation: "Famous Realism Artwork." Ranker. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Snap the Whip - Winslow Homer
Spring Rut. The Battle of the Stags - Gustave Courbet
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Much like Winslow Homer's "Fox Hunt", Courbet captivates a realistic-view on the way of animals without the influence of man. While Charles Darwin and other scientists studied the nature of animals across the planet, painters reflected their true nature within their creations.
Citation: "Famous Realism Artwork." Ranker. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Citation:
"Realism | Art." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/493052/realism>.
"Realism Artists." Realism. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.artinthepicture.com/styles/Realism/>.
"Realism | Art." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/493052/realism>.
"Realism Artists." Realism. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.artinthepicture.com/styles/Realism/>.