Realism

"The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it."

(Gustave Courbet)
 

Realism is the 19th century movement that developed in France with the main objective to represent reality through the depiction of real-life events and subjects in a naturalistic manner. By rejecting both the idealism of Neoclassicism and the strong emotionalism of Romanticism, the movement sought to portray the contemporary society and its ordinary life with great ‘realism’, not avoiding even the unpleasant aspects of it. Explore the movement by starting from What is Realism? and browse our curated list of artworks from romantic painters such as Gustave Courbet, Jean-François Millet, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and others.