Realism (arts)

Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet, 1854. Realist painting by Gustave Courbet.

Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular empirical rules,"^[1] as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation. As such, the approach inherently implies a belief that such reality is ontologically independent of man's conceptual schemes, linguistic practices and beliefs, and thus can be known (or knowable) to the artist, who can in turn represent this 'reality' faithfully. As Ian Watt states, modern realism "begins from the position that truth can be discovered by the individual through the senses" and as such "it has its origins in Descartes and Locke, and received its first full formulation by Thomas Reid in the middle of the eighteenth century."^[2]

Realism often refers more specifically to the artistic movement, which began in France in the 1850s. These realists positioned themselves against romanticism, a genre dominating French literature and artwork in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Purporting to be undistorted by personal bias, Realism believed in the ideology of objective reality and revolted against the exaggerated emotionalism of the romantic movement. Truth and accuracy became the goals of many Realists. Many paintings which sprung up during the time of realism depicted people at work, as during the 19th century there were many open work places due to the Industrial Revolution and Commercial Revolutions. The popularity of such 'realistic' works grew with the introduction of photography — a new visual source that created a desire for people to produce representations which look “objectively real.”

The term is also used to refer to works of art which, in revealing a truth, may emphasize the ugly or sordid, such as works of social realism, regionalism or Kitchen sink realism.

Visual arts

In general, realists render everyday characters, situations, dilemmas, and objects, all in a "true-to-life" manner. Realists tend to discard theatrical drama, lofty subjects and classical forms of art in favor of commonplace themes. The term is applied to, or used as a name for, various art movements or other groups of artists in art history.

Literature

Broadly defined as "the faithful representation of reality"^[3], the attempt to show everyday activities and life, primarily among the middle or lower class society, without romantic idealization or dramatization was the focus of writers.^[4]

Theatre

The achievement of realism in theatre was to direct attention to the physical and philosophic problems of ordinary existence, both socially and psychologically. In plays of this mode people emerge as victims of forces larger than themselves, as individuals confronted with a rapidly accelerating world.^[5] These pioneering playwrights were unafraid to present their characters as ordinary, impotent, and unable to arrive at answers to their predicaments. This type of art represents what we see with our human eyes.

Cinema

Italian neorealism was a cinematic movement incorporating elements of realism that developed in post-WWII Italy. Notable Neorealists included Vittorio De Sica, Luchino Visconti, and Roberto Rossellini.

Gallery

Gustave Courbet, Stone-Breakers, 1849.	Jean-François Millet, The Sower, 1850.	Oswald Achenbach, Abendstimmung in der Campagna, 1850.	John Singer Sargent, Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau), 1884.
Eilif Peterssen, The salmon fisher, 1889.	Ilya Repin, They did not Expect Him, 1884-1888.

See also

• Simulated reality
• Chanson réaliste (realist song), a style of music performed in France primarily from the 1880s until the end of World War II
• Aspectism

Notes

References

• Morris, Pam (2003). Realism. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-4152-22938-3. 
• Watt, Ian (1957). The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding. Berkely: University of California Press. 
• West, Shearer (1996). The Bullfinch Guide to Art. UK: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 0-8212-2137-X. 

External links

• Article on American literary realism at the Literary Movements site