Realism is one of the most important artistic movements, both in painting and in literature, and emerged in the mid-nineteenth century. This consisted of the objective representation of reality, one of the themes being the denunciation of the excessive workload caused by industrialization.
Gustave Courbet
The French painter Gustave Courbet is considered to be founder and maximum representative of realism. He based his studies on the leading representatives of the Flemish, Venetian, and Dutch schools of the 16th and 17th centuries.
At first he began to paint landscapes, some portraits in a romantic style and after a few years he began his realistic stage. So much so that he is considered the founder of this artistic movement, and is even credited with inventing the name.
The theme he chooses for his works is everyday reality and, in addition, choose topics customs which turn out to be an innovation for the time. He was a clear advocate that art was a way of capture reality, the honesty and the sacrifice that the proletariat was making. He was inspired by artists such as Rembrandt, Velázquez or Zurbarán, just as he became an author who inspired others.
some of his most outstanding works They are: L’embouchure de la Seine (1841), Self-Portrait with a Black Dog, (1842), Portrait of the Artist, called The Man with a Pipe, (1849?), Burial at Ornans (1850), Flagey’s Peasants Returning from the fair (1850), the bathers (1853), the origin of the world (1866), among others.
Honore Daumier
Honore Daumier he is one of those artists who achieved glory in his homeland, Marseille, and from there he moved to Paris, where he finally established himself.
He began working at an early age and later studied painting and drawing. With the onset of Romanticism and Realism he began his career in woodcut and advertisement illustration. He developed in many areas and worked as caricaturist, painter, illustrator, engraver, draughtsman and sculptor.
some of his most outstanding works They are: Gargantua (1832), A Hero in July (1832), Freedom of the Press (1832), The Legislative Womb. Appearance of the ministerial benches of the impromptu chamber. (1834), The Member of All Academies (1842), People of Justice (in French, Les Gens de Justice),
The Republic (1848), Nicole, la belle Nicole (1850).
Jean Francois Millet
Jean-François Millet belonged to a peasant family and soon began his studies. He first went with a local painter from Cherbourg, then he continued in Paris with Delaroche and in his works you can see the influence that Daumier exerted through his pastoral and socialist style.
He was part of the barbizon school along with Theodore Rousseau, Narcisse Díaz and others, who were influenced by the Dutch landscape painters of the 17th century, Corot, Constable, forerunners of Impressionism.
In his works you can find how he tries to show the innocence of the peasant against the degradation he sees in industrial society, a social complaint through art. This author is located both in the realistic movement as in the naturalist.
some of his most outstanding works They are: The Angelus (1857–59), Hunting birds at night (1874), The gleaners (1857), The sower (1850), The fan (1848), among others.
Camille Corot
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was a French painter of the realist movement who stood out especially in portraiture and landscape, also exercising a great influence on impressionism (in authors such as Monet, Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, among others).
He was born into a wealthy family, received a bourgeois education and his father did not see favorably that he dedicated himself to painting, so he found him a position in the family business, but even so he dedicated most of his day to the paint.
He had several teachers throughout his career (study of Achille-Etna Michallon, Jean-Victor Bertin) and also traveled through Italy, where he learned more about the handling of light. Upon his return to Paris, his travels did not stop, but he continued traveling to find new landscapes to be inspired by.
some of his most outstanding works They are: Ville d’Avray (c. 1867), Memory of Mortefontaine (1864), Rome, seen from the Farnese Gardens, Woman with a Pearl, The Old Bridge of Mantes, The Pond of Ville-d’Avray, among others.
Edouard Manet
Édouard Manet is a French painter who exerted great influence on the initiators of Impressionism. He was born into a wealthy family, tried to study law, traveled as a sailor to enter the French Naval Academy and began his studies in the Thomas Couture Workshop, which were combined with visits to museums where he copied paintings by Titian, Rembrandt, Goya, Delacroix, Courbet and Daumier.
Over time, he left his teacher to start a training trip to other European countries – the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Italy – to see and copy the great masters. Later he traveled to Spain and discovered Diego Velazquezwho was a great influence on him and his work.
Some most outstanding works by this painter are: Lola de Valencia (1862), Music at the Tuileries (1862), The Fife (1866), The Balcony (1869), Olympia (1863), Lunch on the Grass (1863), among others.
Anthony Lopez
Antonio López was born in 1936 and is considered one of the most exceptional painters – he is also a sculptor – and is referent of Spanish hyperrealism, also has the Prince of Asturias Award. One of the characteristics that describe him is that he chooses the hours of the day in which to create his work to always paint with the same incidence of light.
He has exhibited in major museums in the world: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, the Boston Fine Arts Museum, the Reina Sofía Museum, the Prado Museum, among others.
some of his most outstanding works They are: Atocha (1964), Gran Vía (1974. 1981), Gran Vía de Agosto, Madrid from Torres Blancas (1974-82), Rabbit skinned (1972), among others. You can see his works on his website, from the old to the current ones.
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