Realism as a Social Movement Realism as an art movement established itself around the time when there were many social changes and political movements, enlightenment and industrial revolution. The 1940s saw hard times both economically and socially and realism as a form of art and a social movement came in to defy the traditional trends of art depicting heroic figures and towing the political lines. Realism achieved a democratic political dimension that depicted the true living conditions of people in society and the despondency that existed. It had a leftist origin and it was art against social decadence and advocated for social change especially from the political class. This break brought about by realism made realism to be considered the beginning of modern art. The artist call for social change through their painting at time displayed unflinching and a lot of time ugly moments of life as it was hence arousing subjects and political discussions that were more critical than the art itself. An example of such works is the Gustava Courbet "The Stone Breakers" painting that was done between1849-50. This painting depicts a realist view of poverty in the everyday life with the irony of poverty inflicting both the young and old who are confined to breaking stones...
Photography was discovered in the early 19th Century and it immediately became famous and preferred mode of storing images due to the ability to capture finer details of the subject. In the early years it was dominantly considered, not as a form of art or artistic expression, but predominantly remained to serve the documentary function. Great portraits such as those done by John Jabez, called "Queen Victoria and Prince Albert" of 1861, served to preserve history and keep memories of famous and influential people intact as they were through capturing the real images as they were. This trend however changed in the late 19th Century when with the advancement in photography and better cameras, more photographers began to use photography as a form of art. Artists like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen were very instrumental in revolutionizing photography into fine art almost a decade after it had been invented (Ireland C., 2010).
It is as if the art was improvised, much like Monet's portrait of flowers gives the impression that the artist simply happened upon a cluster of flowers one day, and was moved to paint by the beauty he saw before him. Of course, it must be argued that neither composition, although they create such an extemporaneous impression, was truly spontaneous. Both works were carefully and consciously planned by the artist
Art Impressionism was a radical departure from previous forms of painting. It is a style that in a sense was a response to the change in technology, the invention and growth of photography (Soltes, "From Realism to Impressionism"). Photographs offered incredible detail and perspective of the world outside the lens, this prompted artists to reimagine what the objectives of art should be. Artists wanted to record a moment, an impression, of
Realist Painting Style and Realism The Realist style owes its existence to the Realist concept. "Realism is democracy in art," Courbet believed. (Nochlin, xiii) Taking that as the credo upon which the works of the artists were constructed, the style itself can be nothing if not anti-academic, anti-historical, anti-conservative. Indeed, whether brushstrokes or pen markings or etching into stone or metal form the image, the underlying attitude is one of freedom,
The rococo was aimed towards the French court and nobles. The main message was not a religious one, but aimed the upper classes and focused on their lives, houses and celebrations. In France this style gave way to the austere neoclassic style at the end of the xviii century and disappeared with the French revolution in 1978, suddenly and completely. Neoclassicism appeared as a return to the classical ideology in
Realism, Impressionism, and Nineteenth-Century Photography The Village Maidens Artist Gustave Courbet Date the Piece was Created Art Movement and/or Style Media Realism / Oil Paint Description and Analysis This 1852 painting, which sparked the creation of a collection of pictures dedicated to women's lives, depicts the artist's three sisters -- Juliette, Zoe and Zelie -- taking a stroll along the Communal-- a little valley close to Ornans (their native village) (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016). Despite nothing
The manner in which Cezanne abstractly modulated color in his paintings was seminal to the controversial cubist style. What is more, Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon simplified previous endeavors in terms of structure by employing a savage two-dimensional angularity, and as such was exponential for early modern art. Modernist painting, in Clement Greenberg's words, "used art to call attention to art" (193) as opposed to Realism's alleged concealment of art.
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