|
Realism art or art realism , refers to the accurate, unembellished representation of the ordinary, observable world without idealization. Eschewing romantic ideals of beauty, abstraction and imagination, art realism seeks to depict objects and figures as they appear in real life. From Gustave Courbet's unflinchingly honest rendering of human misery in The Stonebreakers to Jean-Francois Millet's portrayal of the heartbreaking wretchedness of rural poverty in The Gleaners , many realist paintings carry an implicit social commentary by portraying the drudgery of everyday life as experienced by the unsung and the unexceptional. Realism art shares several elements with naturalism, which explains why the terms art realism and naturalism are sometimes, but not always accurately used interchangeably. The fundamental differences between art realism and naturalism resist simplistic comparisons between the two schools of painting. In the broadest sense, art realism represents things as they exist, without embellishment or adornment, while naturalism portrays things as they might exist, suggesting a certain degree of improvement over their actual appearance.
The realism art movement emerged in France in the wake of the 1848 Revolution and lasted until 1880. Although several attempts at infusing realism into art had been made throughout art history, the actual wave of realism art swept the art world after Gustave Courbet's independent exhibition in 1855 of his shockingly truthful realism paintings to a scandalized public who, until then, had only been exposed to original art steeped in the sublime aesthetics of Romanticism or the classical ideal of the Old Masters. Rejecting the idealized classicism of the old academic tradition, the realism art movement found raison d'etre in what Gustave Courbet himself called the “representation of real and existing things.” In realism paintings, ordinary, familiar and unadorned figures and objects become worthy subjects. Often implying a moral or social message, realism paintings present a straightforward depiction of the grim lives of the common folk. But not all realism paintings are intentionally imbued with social consciousness or political subversion; there are also realist paintings that capture every day scenes of contemporary life that the audience may find sweetly sentimental or innocuously spontaneous.
At the heart of realist paintings is the truthful portrayal of typical objects, events and people. Realist paintings tend to resonate strongly with many people because of their honest depiction of life as it exists. Art for sale realism paints real life in all its flawed glory, treating familiar objects, everyday people, and ordinary events as worthy subjects of realism art . To some critics, the accurate and objective rendering of contemporary life in realism art is both its strength and its handicap. Critics dismiss realism paintings for sacrificing beauty for exactitude and obviating conceptual integrity in favor of in-your-face reality. On the other side of the fence are art realism advocates who extol realism paintings for finding uncommon beauty in the quotidian.
Contemporary art for sale realism has expanded to embrace a broader definition of art realism than that espoused by the 19 th century realism art movement. Modern references to art for sale realism now include any pictorial representation of a recognizable object. This phenomenon of labeling just about any representational art for sale realism has prompted the establishment of a living artistic tradition called classical realism. Classical realism upholds and maintains the authoritative artistic standards and traditions of Western European academic art. Notwithstanding the emergence of a classical realist perspective that calls for a return to the rigorous standards of traditional representational art, many forms of art for sale realism continue to flourish in the art market. In the end, it is diversity that will ensure the growth of art patronage. Whether or not one is inclined towards classical realism or other permutations of art for sale realism, the art world will be well served by nurturing an environment where every artist—and art patron—has a voice. |
