The Idea of Realism - Essay Example

The Idea of Realism Realism was an artistic movement that was popular in France for about 10-20 years from 1840 until near the end of the century. It was based on a concept that the true nature of art should be to reflect life as it really was, in all its common activities and free of the idealisms and judgments of previous movements. It was, in part, inspired by various political movements of the period in which the people were attempting to gain a better lifestyle for themselves with rights granted to the ‘common’ man as had been evidently accomplished in America. In attempting to ‘accurately’ reflect life in all its objective detail, artists taking a Realist approach often worked to find the most ‘common’ people of the fields and villages and depicted them in their most humble and menial tasks. The ideas behind realism can be better understood by comparing the writing of two influential artists of the period, Gustave Courbet and Ferdnand Leger. Gustave Courbet held that “painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist in the representation of real and existing things” (cited in Finocchio, 2004). The chief technical concern of Courbet seemed to be an abandonment, to some extent, of the ‘rules’ of art in favor of a more natural flow of line and form. By retaining these rough elements of the painting, Courbet felt he was more accurately representing the moment and the emotion of the moment during which the piece was created or the scene was witnessed. As he continued to attempt to portray the ‘real’ of life by focusing upon the humble peasantry, he began to identify himself more and more from their perspective. By 1850, his ideas regarding what was real were becoming more defined as he wrote to a friend, “… in our so very civilized society it is necessary for me to live the life of a savage. I must be free even of governments. The people have my sympathies, I must address myself to them directly” (cited in Insecula, 2008). In his Realist Manifesto, he states the goal of Realist art is “to translate the customs, the ideas, the appearance of my epoch according to my own estimation” (cited in Finnochio, 2004). Within his statement and approach, it can be seen that Courbet had a concept of the real that was based primarily upon the previously unrepresented classes of society. He was also making decisions regarding what to paint based upon his own conceptions of what was ‘common’ and unrepresented and thereby making up his own definition of society based upon what he chose to represent. This approach can be seen in his artwork in which he continues to concentrate on what he felt was most important to his concept of real, which was not necessarily a dishonorable pursuit. For instance, in his painting “Young Women from the Village” (1852), Courbet presents an image in which three young ladies from the village stand within a rural setting offering a poor farm girl something from a basket. This graceful act of charity is nearly lost in the tremendous spaciousness of the landscape around them, which is only slightly populated by the presence of a few cattle and a small dog, all of which defied traditional approaches to the art of the period. “His Young Women from the Village exhibited at the Salon of 1852, violates conventional rules of scale and perspective and challenges traditional class distinctions by underlining the close connections between the young women (the artist’s sisters), who represent the emerging rural middle class, and the poor cowherd who accepts their charity” (Finnochio, 2004). Within the painting, there is no attempt to make the girls prettier, their clothes more fashionable or their situation more idyllic. Courbet’s approach to Realism was contested to some degree by Ferdnand Leger, who called for a New Realism that took into account the artist’s biases. Leger realized that there was no possible means by which the artist could take a completely objective approach to his subject. “Realisms vary by reason of the fact that the artist finds himself always living in a different era, in a new environment, and amid a general trend of thought, dominating and influencing his mind” (cited in Harrison & Wood, 2003: 503). However, he did seem to agree with Courbet that the art, in order to be appreciated and to realize its maximum potential, needed to be available to the public, claiming that now the new modern art is retained within the private collections of the rich and not available for the public’s edification. Rather than being focused as much upon the content of the image presented, Leger was interested in the social structures that would permit the masses to take part in the image, to understand it and appreciate its ability to reflect modern conventions, styles, issues and debates. This approach permitted him to abandon the recognizable form altogether to try to focus on the Realism of the concept as portrayed in his abstract cubist pieces such as “Mechanical Elements.” While Courbet felt the people should be given access to art by remaining faithful to the image he saw before him and concentrating the subject of his images to the ‘common’ people of the earth, Leger saw Realism as a conceptual framework within which one might communicate basic ideas of form and relationship to the masses simply by making the artwork available to them. While both artists had a valid point in their arguments, it is difficult to accept either painter as essentially Realist or even to determine a specific example of what Realism should be. Courbet presents images ‘real’ enough that they could have been photographed, but are not necessarily the objective example of the era that the artist had in mind. While Leger remains true to his ideas and ideals in his willingness to abandon the form altogether, it is difficult to translate his idea of the real into easily understood, immediately available and concrete concepts. References Finocchio, Ross. (2004). “Nineteenth-Century French Realism.” Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–2004. Available March 14, 2008 from Harrison, Charles & Wood, Paul. (2003). Art in Theory, 1900-2000: An Anthology of Ideas. Blackwell Publishing. Insecula. (2008). Jean-Desire-Gustave Courbet. Available March 14, 2008 from Read More