Realism

Jacques-Louis David, “The Oath of the Horatii” 1784

Caspar David Friedrich, “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog,” 1818

Jean-François Millet, “The Gleaners,” 1857

Gustave Courbet, “The Stonebreakers,” 1849

Realism

• resisting idealization• things as they really are, appear• depiction of subject matter truthfully • without anything artificial • avoiding anything implausible, like implausible

emotions, implausible setting or conditions• avoiding exotic, supernatural elements • focus on everyday life

From the Enlightenment to Romanticism to Realism

• Minute observation of material, physical world • Minute observation of social world, social

reality, and isolation in the social • Authentic depiction of inner world, emotional

life • All things given equal weight – the mundane

versus the sublime