Realism to Change Art

Gustave Courbet, 1851-1852, Young Ladies of the Village, 

Oil painting, 1.95m x 2.61m

Realism has its roots way back in the mid-19^th century, were at the time, the French society overturned the monarchy of Louis-Philippe in the Revolution fighting for democratic reform. At the time, academies like the Royal academies of Art in France and England, taught art to be organized and well planned. They had standards, which were classical art themes like Romanticism, a European tradition and historical subjects. A movement emerged during that time going against the academic standards. Artists started portraying the truth of contemporary lives of working class people who were poor and living a very hard life. These artists formed a movement known as the Avant-garde, because they started seeking change. In England there were the Pre-Raphaelites and in France, Realists, which Gustav Courbet led.

In Courbet’s, “Young Ladies of the Village”, you can see Courbet’s sisters wondering in the countryside. It is set against the Ornan hills, just like in “The Stone Breakers”, which are very common in that area, therefore he made several studies of the scene. The figures have a triangular form, slightly off the center in the foreground appearing to be handing something to a little girl. The tonal balance between the dark and light cliffs split the background vertically. The ladies stand out in front of the dark background, which has a lot of depth. On the other hand, the cattle are set below a bright cliff and are further away so, by their heavy bodies, they balance out the ladies whom feel heavier as they are closer in the foreground. Nonetheless Courbet still got criticized for being ‘clumsy’ and ‘tasteless’.

Jean Francois Millet is another Realist painter, whose favorite subjects were also peasants, hard labor and landscapes. In his work “The Gleaners”, the woman portrayed had to go during the sunset to pick up the remainder of the corn’s husks, which were missed by the harvesters. Just like “The Stone Breakers”, these women are within a boundary, which is represented by the horizon. They have to have an unpleasant duty, which breaks their back, and a man on a horse way back in the farm constantly supervises them. You can almost feel the pain they must have been going through, constantly bent down like that. The setting sun leaves darkness in the foreground, which gives a balance to the whole picture. It gives them depth, makes the foreground look heavy, with sunlight hitting their backs and arms, giving the attention on them, so to emphasize which parts their pain is most. The background though is much brighter. This is what balances the whole painting as the further out and brighter feels lighter. 

Jean-Francois Millet, The Gleaners, 1857, Musee d’Orsay, oil painting, 84cm x 1.12m

Jean-Francois Millet, The Winnower, 1848, Musee d’Orsay,

 oil on canvas, 58.5 x 79.5cm

Portraits and landscapes of working people can be seen throughout Millet’s works, and he covered many traits. Another one is winnowing, in ‘The Winnower’. This figure gives a sense of stability, with the positioning of his feet close together from the knees and apart from the ankles. This is because he is holding the winnowing fan so he has to keep balance. Also, a contrast of cool and warm by the winnower’s red cap and the piece of blue fabric tied to his feet.

As you go further in time, impressionist movements started emerging, influenced by the Realists, art gets a huge other meaning and new concepts.

Nineteenth-Century French Realism | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2014. Nineteenth-Century French Realism | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rlsm/hd_rlsm.htm. [Accessed 24 November 2014].

Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2014. Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gust/hd_gust.htm. [Accessed 24 November 2014].

Jean-Francois Millet - The complete works. 2014. Jean-Francois Millet - The complete works. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.jeanmillet.org/. [Accessed 24 November 2014].