Lecture 5: 19th Century Art Movements: Realism and Impressionism

Introduction to Realism and Impressionism

• Realism emerged in mid-19th century France as a reaction to Romanticism
• Impressionism followed Realism, focusing on light, color, and fleeting moments
• Both movements sought to challenge academic traditions and idealized art
• Industrial Revolution influenced artistic themes and materials
• Urbanization prompted focus on everyday life as a subject for art

Key terms: Realism, Impressionism

Defining Realism: Challenges to Romanticism

• Romanticism focused on dramatic, idealized emotion
• Realism emphasized the ordinary, truth over idealization
• Gustave Courbet: Key figure in the Realist movement
• Courbet's 'The Stone Breakers' (1849) symbolic of Realist themes
• Honoré Daumier used satire to critique society

Key terms: Gustave Courbet, Honoré Daumier

Impressionism: Light, Color, and Modernity

• Impressionism builds on Realism's break from tradition
• Depicts fleeting moments: landscapes, seascapes, urban scenes
• Artistic focus shifted to light, optics, and color theory
• Claude Monet as a central pioneer
• 'En Plein Air' painting brought artists outdoors

Key terms: En Plein Air, Chevreul’s Color Theory

Society and the Changing Context of Art

• Industrial Revolution reshaped the art market and patronage
• Urban growth inspired depictions of modern life
• The rise of the middle class influenced subject matter
• Exhibitions shifted from salons to independent shows
• Critics initially dismissed both Realism and Impressionism

Key terms: Salon des Refusés, Middle-Class Patronage

Gustave Courbet and the Realist Manifesto

• Courbet's pivotal role in initiating Realism in the 1840s-1850s
• 'The Stone Breakers' (1849): A landmark of Realism
• Rejection of idealized romantic subjects in favor of everyday labor
• Courbet’s Salon des Refusés exhibitions as defiance to established norms
• Realist ideology: Truthful representation of observed scenes

Key terms: Salon des Refusés, Realism

The Technical Innovations of Impressionist Painting

• Move from studio work to plein air painting
• Introduction of synthetic pigments enabled bright new colors
• Loose brushwork to suggest light and movement
• Rejection of black in favor of colored shadows
• Importance of the Impressionist technique in capturing ephemeral moments

Key terms: Plein Air, Synthetic Pigments

Claude Monet: The Influence of Light and Perception

• 'Water Lilies' series: Light's reflection as a subject
• Use of layering and subtle gradients to depict water dynamics
• Dynamic compositions studying passing time in series paintings
• Implementation of simultaneous contrast theory (Chevreul, 1839)
• Monet’s diverse times of day studies—Rouen Cathedral series

Key terms: Simultaneous Contrast Theory

Challenges to Established Artistic Conventions

• Salon de Paris dominance and rejection of Realist works
• Critics initially ridiculed Impressionism as ‘unfinished’
• Liberation of art from storytelling to aesthetic presence
• Impact of photography on changing perceptions of reality
• Art institutions began loosening rigid formal constraints

Key terms: Salon de Paris

Influence of Science and Technology on Realism and Impressionism

• The Industrial Revolution fueled urbanization and technological development.
• Photography emerged as a medium, influencing how reality was captured.
• Optical theories like those by Michel-Eugène Chevreul emphasized color harmony.
• Advances in paint manufacturing made portable tubes available.
• Railways enabled travel, inspiring plein air landscape painting.

Key terms: Plein air, Chevreul’s Law of Simultaneous Contrast

Why Everyday Life Matters in Art

• Realist and Impressionist art shifted focus to ordinary people and scenes.
• Realism depicted the working class with dignity and truth.
• Impressionism captured fleeting moments of leisure and modernity.
• The political climate (e.g., 1848 Revolutions) encouraged awareness of social realities.
• These movements questioned and rejected idealized historical or mythological subjects.

Key terms: Realism, Modernity

The Role of Critics and Public Controversy

• Realist works were often dismissed as lacking ‘beauty’ or refinement.
• Impressionists were labeled as formless and unfinished painters.
• Émile Zola defended these movements as revolutionary.
• The Salon des Refusés exhibited rejected Impressionist works in 1863.
• Public opinion gradually shaped acceptance, with Impressionism gaining traction by the 1880s.

Key terms: Salon des Refusés, Academic Painting

Evolution Beyond Impressionism

• Impact of Realism and Impressionism on subsequent movements
• Connector to Post-Impressionism and Modern Art
• Key advancements introduced by Realist & Impressionist artists (e.g., plein air)
• Shift in artistic purpose: from narrative to experiential
• Rise of artist individuality and subjective expression

Key terms: Post-Impressionism, Abstraction

References

• Nochlin, L. (1971) Realism. London: Penguin.
• Rubin, J. (1999) Impressionism and the Modern Landscape. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute.
• Clark, T.J. (1973) Image of the People: Gustave Courbet and the 1848 Revolution. London: Thames & Hudson.
• Chevreul, M.E. (1839) The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colors. Paris: Baillard.
• Boime, A. (1987) The Art of the Industrial Revolution. New York: Garland.
• Callen, A. (2000) The Spectacular Body: Science, Technique, and the Modern Artist. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Arnason, H.H., and Mansfield, E.C. (2013). History of Modern Art. 7th edn. Pearson Education.
• Nochlin, L. (1971). Realism. Penguin Books.
• House, J. (2004). Monet: Nature into Art. New Haven: Yale Press.
• Rosenblum, R. (1989). Modern Painting and the Northern Romantic Tradition: Friedrich to Rothko. Thames & Hudson.
• Chevreul, M.-E. (1839). The Law of Simultaneous Contrast of Colours.
• Tinterow, G. et al. (1994). Origins of Impressionism. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Clarke, M. (2010). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Oxford University Press.
• Huyghe, R. (1968). Impressionism. Lausanne: Skira/Edita.
• Chevreul, M.-E. (1839) The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Colors. London: Longman.
• Clark, T.J. (1999) The Painting of Modern Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Nochlin, L. (1991) Realism. London: Penguin Books.
• Herbert, R. (1988) Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Green, C. (1987) The Impressionist and the Avant-Garde. New Haven: Yale University Press.
• Callen, A. (2000) The Art of Impressionism. London: Yale.