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AR T O F T H E M I D D L E A N D L A T E
1 9 T H C E N T U R Y
Realism in Painting and
Literature
Learning Objectives
To understand the forces which led to the
development of the Realist style
To recognize the major characteristics of Realist
painting
To be able to identify the major subjects of Realist
painting and literature
Realism in Painting
In part due to the impact of photography, the Realist painters wanted to branch
away from fantastic or Romanticized representation of life and nature and
instead strove to depict real-life events with real-life detail.
Realists tried to move away from their own feelings and ideas and instead
represent life as it actually was – not filtered through just one person’s
understanding or emotion. They wanted to represent life without any
embellishments and this meant even dealing with its ugly, dirty, or low sides.
Ultimately, they aimed for objective rather than subjective representation.
They were also concerned with contemporary events – with the here and now
rather than some romanticized past or utopian future.
The subject matter consists almost exclusively of the lower classes and rural poor.
Realists tried to convey the idea that ordinary people in modern times, not
archaic gods or kings and queens, were the proper subject for modern art.
The Realists also generally refused to use traditional iconography in their
paintings, such as Biblical allusions, mythological subjects, or complex symbols.
Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)
Courbet was one of the leading figures in this shift away from Romantic,
sublime, and idealized art toward a more true-to-life style in painting. He,
like most Realists, was also a social activist on the side of the working classes.
What follows are a few quotes from Courbet that reveal his new approach to
painting and which reinforce the characteristics on the previous slide:
“To be able to translate the customs, ideas, and appearances of my time as I
see them – in a word, to create a living art this has been my aim…”
“The art of painting can consist only in the representation of objects visible
and tangible to the painter…[who must apply] his personal faculties to the
ideas and the things of the period in which he lives…”
“I hold also that painting is an essentially concrete art, and can consist only
of the representation of things both real and existing…An abstract object,
invisible or nonexistent, does not belong to the domain of painting”
“A painter should paint only what he can see.” When asked why he never
painted angels, Courbet replied, “Show me an angel, and I’ll paint one.”
Courbet
Self-Portrait
1848
Here is Courbet’s self-portrait. You can tell he
has not tried to create an idealized image of
himself or an overly sentimental image either. It
is simply what he sees in the mirror – for better
or for worse!
Gustave Courbet The Stone-Breakers (1849)
This painting, and therefore the figures in it, were done on a very large scale (5’3” x 8’6”). This was unusual given the relatively basic subject
matter. Courbet did this on purpose, though. The size of his figures alone gave them importance – even if they weren’t famous or powerful.
Courbet Burial at Ornans
(1850)
This painting is also done on a monumental scale. It is 21 ft long and 10 ft
high! The figures are larger than life size.
Courbet said this painting was “the negation of the ideal…and the
Burial at Ornans was in reality the burial of Romanticism.”
What aspects of the painting (subject, style, color, etc) distinguish this from most Romantic paintings?
Courbet Interior of My Studio (1854)
Courbet Interior of My Studio (1854)
This painting is a manifesto of Realism and an intentional allegory for Courbet’s life
and the Realist movement.
Courbet is in the center sitting at a canvas painting a landscape scene. On one side he
is being watched by a nude women and on the other by a young boy. Behind the
canvas he’s sitting at stands another canvas with a religious image painted on it.
These are representations of all of the major forms of art in the 19th century. Nature is
representative of Romanticism, the nude woman is probably Neoclassicism, and the
other canvas is representative of religious art.
On the left of the painting are members of the proletariat – the working class.
A hunter and his dog, peasants, and laborers are among those depicted.
On the right is the bourgeoisie – the rich and powerful of society.
Wealthy merchants and individuals in fashionable dress can be seen.
Basically, on the left are those who Courbet paints, and on the right are those whom
he paints for.
The Allegory or Meaning:
It shows the artist as the mediator between the working class and the ruling class.
Courbet Interior of My Studio (1854)
Courbet Beach in Normandy (1875)
Realist Painting
Compare a Realist view of the beach (Courbet’s on the
previous slide) with a Romantic view of the beach
(Friedrich’s Monk by the Sea) on the next slide. This
comparison gives you a good sense of how different the
two periods represented nature.
Jean-Francois Millet (1814-1875)
Millet is referred to as the “Peasant
Painter.”
He painted mainly the rural poor and
peasants in rural settings.
His paintings imbue common and
anonymous people with dignity and
importance.
One of the most powerful ways he
accomplishes this is by creating large
figures in his paintings. Most of the people
Millet painted were placed in the
foreground and dominate the canvas –
forcing the viewer to see them as large and
important.
He is also noteworthy as one of the
founders of the Barbizon School of painters
in France.
Millet
The Sower
(1850)
Compared to Courbet, Millet’s paintings look and
feel a bit different. You get the sense he cares
about the peasants he paints and so they don’t feel
quite as objective or detached as Courbet.
However, the representation of contemporary
people and the hardworking poor aligns the two
painters.
Millet Woman Baking Bread (1854)
Millet The Gleaners (1857)
Gleaners were peasants so poor they were allowed to pick up leftovers after a harvest –
known as gleaning the fields – in order to get food to eat.
Rosa Bonheur (1822 – 1899)
Bonheur also painted rural scenes but
very often her paintings were of the
animals or land instead of people. In so
doing, she creates a very accurate
portrait of rural life in the 19th century.
She does not paint idyllic
representations of animals, but instead,
painstakingly anatomically correct
animals.
She is not concerned with portraying
an emotion, simply in reconstructing
the scene as life-like as possible.
Rosa Bonheur
The Horse Fair (1853)
Notice the extreme detail paid to everything from anatomy, musculature, and light to sheen, color, texture, and
movement. Bonheur would spend months studying her subjects before she began to paint them.
Delacroix’s Frightened Horse
Delacroix’s painting is a good point of comparison between Romantic and Realist painting. The representation of
Delacroix’s horse and Bonheur’s horse reveal the different approaches and ideals between the two movements.
Rosa Bonheur
Plowing in Nivernais (1850)
This painting is located at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota so you can see it in person!
Rosa Bonheur
Virtual Tour of the Ringling Museum
Once the room comes up, scroll to the left to see the painting.
Click on the link below to go to the room in the Ringling Museum where Bonheur’s
Plowing in Nivernais painting is located. You will also be able to see another painting
by Bonheur in the same room.
http://www.motion-vr.net/tours/RinglingMuseum/Gallery21.html
Honoré Daumier (1808-1879)
Daumier was perhaps the Realist artist most actively involved in politics.
His art was unquestionably infused with a social conscience.
Daumier produced around 4,000 lithographs throughout his lifetime
for various Paris newspapers and journals commenting on all aspects
of society – from political and economic issues to fashion trends and
parenting. Some of them even got him thrown in jail.
Lithography – literally “stone writing”
An image drawn onto stone is transferred to paper by pressing paper
down on the inked stone.
It was a cheap way to mass produce and disseminate political and
social commentary.
Click on the link below to watch how lithographic prints are made.
Watch this *Lithography Demonstration*
(1831)
Gargantua (1831)
Daumier spent six months in jail for creating and distributing this
print (so did his printer)!
It was a commentary on how capitalism helped those in power get
richer at the expense of the working class.
It shows King Louis-Philippe (the “Bourgeois-King”) who came to
power after the July Revolution of 1830. This means he has been
in power only a year when Daumier represents him as a
gargantuan, overweight man sitting on a throne. He is
continuously eating the lower and middle class workers’ taxes thus
making him larger and larger (or more and more powerful).
Underneath Louis-Philippe are his wealthy supporters who run to
catch the money and laws he ‘gives off’ which make them wealthier
and wealthier.
The policies of Louis-Philippe which Daumier caricatures here
ultimately led to the popular Revolution of 1848.
(1831)
Daumier Le Ventre Legislatif or The Legislative Belly (1834)
It isn’t too hard to guess what Daumier thought of the French legislators or the laws they passed.
Daumier
Nader Elevating
Photography to Art
1863
This print is actually making fun of the newly
developed genre of photography. Daumier
didn’t actually think photography should be
considered “art” and thought it was only a fad
that would pass quickly.
Daumier Third-Class Carriage (1862)
Daumier
The Laundress
(1864)
Edouard Manet (1832-1883)
Manet is a hard figure to classify in the 19th century.
Stylistically he will lean toward the Impressionists;
His subject matter, however, falls completely within Realism.
Manet lived and worked in the modern urban environment. In fact, he was
very much part of the social and artistic atmosphere that made the modern
world. His paintings represent all the aspects of this modern world:
contemporary people, workers, locations, buildings, and activities.
Manet’s painting Déjeuner sur l’herbe (on the next slide) was rejected from the
official Salon exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris in 1863 (along with
almost 3,000 others).
Due to the large outcry, a separate exhibit was set up for many of these new
artists called the Salon des Refusés (“Exhibition of the Refused/Rejected
Painters”).
It was at this exhibition that Manet burst onto the scene with what was called
at the time one of the most shocking and scandalous paintings ever exhibited in
Paris – the Déjeuner sur l’herbe – and it was meant to be.
Manet Déjeuner sur l’herbe (“Luncheon on the Grass”) (1863)
Can you tell what it is about this painting that was considered so
scandalous, threatening, and vulgar for the 19th century?
Surely it couldn’t be the nudity in Manet’s painting that was considered so vulgar.
After all, this painting, Cabanel‘s Birth of Venus, was the winner of the Academic
Salon’s highest honor in 1863 (the same salon which rejected Manet’s painting!). In
fact, you could probably argue this painting is even more revealing than Manet’s.
The reason Manet’s naked female was so
scandalous and threatening was due to the
fact that she was a real, modern woman
looking directly at the viewer of the painting.
This is someone you might walk into on the
street. The representation of the goddess
Venus, however, is an idealized and
allegorical image of the female body – it isn’t
real and therefore isn’t threatening.
Titian Pastoral Concert (1509)
Can you notice the similarities between this Renaissance masterpiece and Manet’s painting?
Titian’s Pastoral Concert hung in Paris’ Louvre Museum at this time as an example of a great
Renaissance work. Manet’s painting is obviously quite similar.
So, again, why the powerful outrage at Manet’s painting if it so close to an accepted
masterpiece? Well, the reasons are similar to that given in the previous example.
Manet’s scene was too real, too close, too contemporary, too human. Manet’s figures were
neither mythological, like the Birth of Venus, nor historical or pastoral, like in the Pastoral
Concert. Characters from classical mythology or shepherds from some remote region of time
past posed no threat to society, but Manet’s subjects were intentionally real, 19th century people
who saw nothing wrong with removing their clothes for an afternoon lunch in the park.
Manet Déjeuner sur l’herbe (“Luncheon on the Grass”) (1863)
Manet Olympia (1865)
Olympia was considered just as scandalous – and for many of the same reasons – as the
Dejeuner sur l’herbe. This is not an idealized woman but a real woman of the late 19th
century. Also, Olympia was a common name for a prostitute of the time – far from ideal.
Titian’s Venus of Urbino (1538)
This is one of the most famous reclining nudes from the Renaissance. Can you see the differences between this
painting and the way Manet represents his reclining nude? Why might people accept this one and reject Manet’s?
Manet Olympia (1865)
Winslow Homer
(1836 – 1910)
Winslow Homer is probably the most well-known
American Realist artist. He created both paintings and
prints for newspapers and magazines that almost
exclusively dealt with the horrors of the Civil War or
the injustices of slavery.
His work, like most American Realist paintings and
literature, attempts to illuminate the brutal conditions
of slavery, the violence of the Civil War, and the plight
of the freed slaves in 19th century America.
Winslow Homer Veteran in a New Field (1865)
Winslow Homer Veteran in a New Field (1865)
This is an image of an American soldier returning home after the Civil War
has ended.
This individual has physically left the battlefield and now finds himself back
in his agricultural field – thus a veteran in a new field.
It appears at first to be a positive image with the amber waves of grain and
bright colors. But the more closely you look at the painting the more you
realize it isn’t all joy and back to normal.
If you look hard enough you can see his uniform and canteen are in the
bottom right (in the next slide).
It’s as if Homer is saying that even though the war is over the scars are
not. This man has left the war and is back at home, but the impact of his
war experiences are still with him.
Also, notice that he is cutting through the amber waves of grain with the
weapon associated with the Grim Reaper – an obvious image of death.
Homer paints a much different image after the Civil War
than Church’s Romantic painting Rainbow in the Tropics
Winslow Homer Veteran in a New Field (1865)
Winslow Homer The Gulf Stream (1899)
This is a representation of the plight of the freed slave at the end of the 19th century.
Can you pick out all of the various obstacles this man faces?
Winslow Homer
This painting was modeled off of a painting by Millet (on the next slide) both representing the
rural poor exhausted from a day of hard work.
Homer The Bright Side (1865)
Millet Noonday Rest
Realism in Literature
Just like painting, literature began to change and move farther and farther away from
the emotional, idealized world of Romanticism beginning around 1848.
The world the Romantics wrote about just wasn’t the world most people knew.
Authors began writing short stories, novels, and essays that addressed contemporary life
and that very often had a social consciousness underpinning the narratives.
The effect of industrial urbanization, capitalism, and the plight of the poor can be
seen just as much in Realist literature as it can in Realist painting.
The subject of Realist works of literature, then, attempted to portray the lives,
appearances, problems, and customs of the middle and lower classes.
This meant merchants, factory workers, peasants, housewives, and chimney
sweepers, among various others. And while not exclusively, it dealt mainly with
people in the urban setting.
Realists writers intentionally wanted to reproduce all the hitherto ignored aspects of
contemporary life.
This meant no kings, queens, princes, or powerful individuals; but also no shepherds,
wizards, or mythological characters – only society’s current attitudes, physical
settings, material conditions, and people.
Realism in Literature
The characters in Realist literature were modeled, or could have been modeled, after real people.
They were created without exaggeration, without creating any kind of artificial, sentimental
emotion, and without romanticizing the actions or lives of individual characters.
Realist authors represented the world as it is – not as it should be or ought to be. This meant
including the sordid, nasty, dirty, and ugly sides to life as well.
They relayed facts and tried to be as objective, detached, and accurate as possible – very much like a
newspaper reporter.
Realist authors did, however, incorporate criticism of the contemporary social environment into
their stories. They would critique the bourgeoisie world for its hypocrisy and cruelty and they
also critiqued the effects of industrialization and mechanization on humanity.
There is an implied criticism of the modern social, economic, and/or political environment but it is
usually not overtly stated by the author or narrator. The story itself reveals what is wrong.
Put another way, the author is not going to try to teach us anything overtly, nor is he/she going to
preach morality or social conventions to us; but instead, the author allows the characters and
actions to speak for themselves.
Finally, there is a huge change in the subject and function of literature.
Literature goes from focusing on the Individual (Romanticism) to generally focusing on
Society (Realism). There is also a shift in perspective from the Subjective (Romanticism) to
the Objective (Realism).
Realism in France
Honoré de Balzac’s The Human Comedy (1833)
Honoré de Balzac was the chief precursor of French Realism. He was one of the first
writers to create a detailed, encyclopedic portrait of the entire range of people within
French society. He attempted this enormous feat in his series of novels collectively called
The Human Comedy.
The series dealt with a wide range of characters which spanned the entire spectrum of
19th century French society from housewives to merchants to industrial workers.
By the time he was done Balzac had written 92 novels in all!
They were all set in early industrial France and mainly, though not exclusively, in the
urban center of Paris.
One of the major themes Balzac deals with in The Human Comedy is how industrialism
has profoundly changed middle class values.
He attempts to show how the materialism inherent in capitalism had come to
dominate the lives of the middle and lower classes at the expense of intimate human
relationships. He reveals how people’s attitudes, relationships, and lives have been
altered due to the importance placed upon objects and money instead of people.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/metabook/humancomedy.html
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/metabook/humancomedy.html
Realism in France
Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (1856)
• Flaubert’s Madame Bovary firmly established the Realist style in
literature. It follows the life of its protagonist, Emma Bovary, in
meticulous detail. Flaubert records both her behavior and her
surroundings with a precise, objective, systematic, and journalistic
perspective.
• Flaubert was actually placed on trial because of the book and accused
of corrupting French morals by writing about such a woman.
The novel can also be considered a Realist critique of Romanticism and
its worldview. Emma Bovary is portrayed as an emotional and idealistic
Romantic living in the new, modern world. Through her life, pain, and
destruction the reader is shown how ill-equipped Romantic values are to
deal with the realities of modern life.
Please read Reading 30.8 from Flaubert’s Madam Bovary in the
textbook.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2413/2413-h/2413-h.htm
Realism in England
In England, the Realist style had perhaps its greatest expression in the works of Charles Dickens.
Almost all his novels are about the evils of industrial urbanization:
Oliver Twist (1838), The Old Curiosity Shop (1841), A Christmas Carol (1843), David
Copperfield (1850), Hard Times (1854), e.g.
His settings and the actions of his characters illuminated the harsh realities of urban and industrial
life.
They helped reveal the social and individual consequences of industrialization at a personal
level, not just at the social or political level.
Dickens, however, doesn’t suggest that capitalism and industrialization are innately flawed and
can’t work (as Marx does). Instead, he condemns the people who create the horrible living and
working conditions for others.
In fact, there are stories such as A Christmas Carol which seem to suggest capitalism could work
in a good way if the bourgeoisie (Scrooge) actually cared more about their workers (Bob
Cratchit) than every penny of profit. After all, it isn’t the system which keeps Bob Cratchit and
Tiny Tim down, it’s Scrooge. Hence, when Scrooge changes his view on what’s important their
lives get better.
Please read Reading 30.5 from Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop in the textbook.
Pay attention to detail after detail of the environment Dickens describes. What is he suggesting the
modern urban world is like? What about his style seems to draw out the seemingly unending images he
describes?
Realism in America
Most of the Realist literature in America came out of the conditions of slavery and the
Civil War.
In fact, you could probably argue that some of the best examples, anywhere, of Realist
literature are the slave narratives which develop in the United States.
Frederick Douglas’ Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas (1845)
Douglas’ style has some of the hallmarks of Realist writing. For example, he doesn’t tell you what
to feel or think, he simply relates his story and faithfully tells you what he has endured and
experienced. Douglas does not infuse his narrative with over-the-top emotion, sentimentality, or
exaggeration even though many of the scenes, actions, and experiences he describes are horrific.
The actions and events he conveys speak for themselves without any prompting from the author
on how we are supposed to feel.
There is an excerpt from Douglas’ My Bondage and My Freedom in Reading 28.5 in the textbook.
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(1885)
Twain’s realism comes through largely in the different dialects and speech patterns he uses.
Click on the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and simply read the first paragraph of Chapter 1. His mastery
of dialect and speech is apparent from the very first sentence.
Twain’s writings also reveal the Realist mantra to not smooth-out or ignore the ugly side to life.
Instead, he deals directly with social and political issues even if they are taboo or may cause some
people to become uncomfortable. He forces his readers to deal with the real situation, and not
necessarily the one we want or the one that makes us feel good.
http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DouNarr.html
http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DouNarr.html
http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DouNarr.html
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Twa2Tom.html
http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Twa2Huc.html
Realism in Russia
Feodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) was one of the greatest Russian Realists who influenced not only
Russian literature, but world literature, with his works.
He possessed an insight into human psychology which predated Sigmund Freud and he was able to
imbue his characters with all the psychological depth of real individuals. Dostoevsky’s novels often
reveal his belief in the personal freedom of choice and the worth of every individual – even amid the
vast anonymity of modern industrial and urban life. These are topics drawn directly from his personal
experiences and the experiences of millions of Russians during the 19th century.
Dostoevsky began writing at a young age. Most of his early writings were anti-government and he ran
in intellectual circles that had socialist leanings. His first job was in the Engineering Corps of the
Russian Army, but he resigned because of fear of what would happen to him if his writings were
discovered.
He was eventually arrested for his ideas/writings in 1849 and immediately sentenced to be executed.
He was given a last second reprieve, however, and instead of death he was sent to a work camp in
Siberia. That wasn’t the end of his punishment though! Once he was released he was still required to
spend the next 10 years as part of the Russian army.
Eventually he is released and begins the greatest part of his writing career. It is at this time that he
writes perhaps his most famous novel, Crime and Punishment (1866).
The novel is a deeply psychological text which delves into the mind of a male student as he
ponders killing someone. It looks at the psychology, personality, and thought processes involved
in human decision-making and how we justify the negative things we do.
http://www.readcentral.com/book/Fyodor-Dostoevsky/Read-Crime-and-Punishment-Online
Realism in Russia
Leo Tolstoy (1828 – 1910) was another great Russian Realist writer.
He is the author of some of the greatest works of world literature: The Life of Ivan
Ilyich, Anna Karenia and War and Peace.
Each of these works is characteristic of Tolstoy and his style of Realism in that they
are all written in an objective, almost completely detached fashion. Tolstoy
especially adheres to the Realist ideal of not explicitly stating morality or judgments
– just recording the facts.
He presents people, places, and actions in great detail staying true-to-life without
romanticizing anything or creating any kind of artistic sentimentality.
His novel War and Peace (1869) goes even further than Flaubert’s Madame
Bovary and is generally held up as the quintessential Realist text.
It follows the life of not just a single individual, but of 5 different families.
In the novel, Tolstoy illuminates the exploitation of the common person at the hands of
those with money and power. Two of the main characters also reveal the differences in
views and perspectives of the Romantic and Modern minds (similar to Emma and Léon in
Madame Bovary).
Tolstoy included so much specific detail that the novel reaches 1,475 pages in its English
translation!
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2600
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2600
The End
Please complete the End of Chapter Assignment for
Industry, Empire, and the Realist Style.
