REALISMand

COURBET

Realism

• Represented the subject matter of everyday life in a REALISTIC manner.

• Focused on the experiences of everyday life – working class, the ordinary, observable world.

Realists attempted to portray the lives,

appearances, problems, customs, and morals of the middle and lower classes.

Realist REJECTED the structured, symmetrical ideas of Neoclassicism and the theatrical

drama of Romanticism.

Gustave Courbet1819 - 1877

Burial at Ornans - 1849

The Stone Breakers - 1849

Compared to CLASSICAL ART

The Peasants of Flagey Returning from the Fair, Ornans,

1950-55

Things to remember about REALISM & COURBET

1. Subject matter consisted of “everyday” working people and life.

2. Rejected the ideals of Classicism and Romanticism.

3. Painterly style that depicted “observable” moments of life.