Introduction
Realism is an art movement which originated in France (Cabello, 2015). Because of this, the spread of realism in the world has been greatly affected not only by the artistic minds, but also by the different aspects of society which will potentially impact a movement or an artwork. These influences were greatly seen in the middle, to the latter nineteenth century where the art movement received various criticisms, especially by the mass media during that period, through the newspapers (Lloyd, 2013). This paper will show the different views of society upon the introduction of the Realist movement in the society, and subsequently, to the world.
Body
Realism, in the artistic perspective, is an art movement that depicts the situations of everyday life. It represents what are real things, and those that are truly existent (Finocchio, 2004). As such, realism portraits a certain object, person, or event which already exists, or is possible to happen (or might have already happened) in real life. Realism rejected the more prominent movements during that time, the Classicism and the Realism, but agreed to the principles of Naturalism. Moreover, the most contrasting movement was Romanticism, which mostly displays emotions and the creative minds (Thakar, 2012). In most cases, artworks classified under realism are conveyed through painting, and many artists grew significantly during the flourish or Realism, especially in the Nineteenth Century. The most prominent among all of them was Gustave Courbet, who made the paintings such as A Burial at Ornans, and The Stonebreakers (Finocchio, 2004).
A Burial at Ornans (www.pbs.org)
The Stone Breakers (www.gustave-courbet.com)
As one can see in the two paintings, Realism portrays such things which can be made or can happen in real life. In the first picture, a burial event is being portrayed, which is a real-life situation. In the second picture, a type of job is being portrayed, and that is being a stone breaker. In the simplest sense, Realism can be portrayed as what can be seen in the painting. In the simplest interpretation, Realism can be viewed as a simple representation of everyday life, or a real life situation. However, the portrayal of Realism is not just simple; in fact, the society during that time (even in the modern period) expressed criticisms and was able to relate the concept of Realism to the other aspects.
As stated earlier, Romanticism is considered to be the contrasting movement of Realism. However, the difference can be found not only in the theme of the painting itself, but also on the aspects that the two movements represented. Though emotions prevail in Romantic artworks, the portrayal of common people is very uncommon. Gods are mostly portrayed (if an individual is involved in the painting), and their characteristics served as ideal representations of abstract concepts of Romanticism such as beauty, bravery, and strength. In other paintings, spaces are being distorted in order to represent the ideal abstract concepts of Romanticism (Thakar, 2012).
Whereas in Realism, the “ordinary aspects” are the ones being represented, and as such, Realist paintings are those that represent facts, truth, reality (Thakar, 2012). Since the people has been exposed to the reality of the surroundings through the paintings of the Realists, the political aspect of the society has been greatly affected. In fact, in the year 1848 when a major uprising overthrew the then-monarchy, the political rights of the people were being made to be equal in terms of opportunities, such as the right to vote. This eventually inspired the artists, and created the Realism movement, in order to portray an ordinary situation in a meaningful and more appreciative way, through art (Thakar, 2012). This implies that Realism was not created through the creative minds like the foundations of Classicism and Romanticism. Realism came into life through a different but more purposive, responsive, and most importantly, sensible inspiration.
Aside from the political aspects, the mid-19th Century Realism has also been significant in fighting the social issues during that time. In fact, Courbet made several depictions of the possible issues faced by some of the members of the society (Artble, 2016). In this instance, Realism can be considered as a form of artwork, and as a form of advocacy at the same time. This is because Realism depicts a certain situation with the purpose of exposure, not only of the job, but also the strength and weaknesses of a certain situation. By strengths and weaknesses, it only meant the possible impressions that the painting might have, as well as the evaluation of the situation itself. As such, Realism is an art movement which depicts a certain situation in every angle, and that includes both the strengths and weaknesses of the painting. This pertains to perspectives, especially when people are chosen to evaluate a certain issue. The implication is that Realist paintings can easily convey the message through the artistic use of materials. As compared to writings and other works, the paintings are visually available, and even if people might not determine the hidden message of Realist paintings, the artistic value can be retained at the very least. These instances showed both the strengths and weaknesses of Realism as a form of representation of the real situations in the society. The interpretation or the message is hidden and needs to be extracted through the painting first; however, the art is still there, and more appreciated by the common people.
As Courbet stated, the experiences of the artist is the most accurate theme to be portrayed in Realism (Artble, 2016). However, the experience of an artist can be seen anywhere, as long as the art calls for itself. In the 19th Century, this was evident in a way that people experienced several changes through the series of revolution and reforms (Thakar, 2012). Artists also witnessed and experienced these changes, and as a result, they had portrayed the accurate reality of the events that transpired during those times, and the people are now the ones to decide whether to value the importance of Realism or not.
Conclusion
Realism, though it depicts the ordinary situations of the everyday life, is not a simple representation of such things. Unlike the past movements, Realism does not tackle the artistic and emotional sense, but the natural sense, thus breaking the traditional concepts of previous art movements. The 19th Century indeed became meaningful for the world of art because it expanded the boundary of challenging the key issues of the society through the use of artistic representation. Also, Realism defied the very concept of art, as it expanded its scope through the depiction of reality, which was not considered to be an ideal artistic concept in the past movements.
References
Artble. (2016). Honoré Daumier. Retrieved June 30, 2016, from http://www.artble.com/artists/honore_daumier.
Cabello, F. (2015). Painting realism and medicine: The two surgical clinics of Thomas Eakins. Revista Medica De Chile, 143(6), 787-794.
Finocchio, R. (2004). Nineteenth-Century French Realism | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved June 29, 2016, from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rlsm/hd_rlsm.htm.
Lloyd, R. (2013). Realism, Naturalism and Symbolism in France. In M. Habib (Ed.), The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism (Vol. 6, pp. 293-312). Cambridge University Press.
Thakar, S. (2012). A Current Study and Comparison of Realism and Romanticism. The Analysis and Comparison of Realism and Romanticism in Europe, 1-34.
