History of realism

The history of realism finds its origins somewhere around the second half of the 19th century, mainly from 1830 to 1870. Among its main principles realism establishes itself as a way of thought more than a movement within a specific genre. It seeks to express an object, scene or even a subject through that which is perceivable, negating all romanticism and subjectivism or any other elements which may distort something as it really exists. These realists, also known as positivists, found their faith in the fact that all knowledge obtained from science and its objectives would, in essence, solve all human problems.

Among its main principles, realism rejects classicism and romanticism as fallacies of art, perhaps accusing it of not focussing on the real world lives and issues of the middle and lower classes of normal suburban individuals. Realism suggests that those things considered as everyday and mundane are indeed worthy as subjects of art. This is because they depict the everyday life of the everyday man with common problems and obstacles with which everyone can associate.

Realism was introduced in France after the 1848 revolution with one of its main ideas relating to democracy. In England realism tended to focus on a social liberation of the middle and lower classes by acting against Victorian materialism and certain abstract institutions of the Royal Academy in London.

Today we acknowledge a number of schools of realist painting, most prominent of which are:

The Realists, an international group of artists in Paris which sought to depict the life around them through the scientific study of the optical perception of the everyday world. These included artists such as Ignace Henri Theodore Fantin-Latour, Marie Rosalie Bonheur and Wilhelm Leibl.

The Barbizon School which mainly consisted of artists that moved away from revolutionary Paris to the Forest of Fonteblau to pursue their artistic endeavours. Here they focused on depicting nature as it really appears and established landscape and country life as inspiration for their art. Notable artists include Camille Corot, Charles-François Daubigny and Pierre-Etienne-Théodore Rousseau.

As mentioned before, realism did not only have its influences in art, but in literature as well. This can be noted in the English Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood as a collection of painters, poets and critics who claimed as their doctrine the principle that artists should seek to imitate, one might go so far as to use the term "represent", the real world.