Realism

 Realism -  Realism tries to depict reality objectively, without subjective approach; the reality that can be objectively seen. Realism appeared in France in the late 18th and early 19th century. Nevertheless, the realistic tendences might be seen even  in the Prehistoric times (cave paintings), in old Greece and Rome and in Baroque as well (baroque realism – Caravaggio) The realists positioned themselves against Romanticism, a genre dominating French literature and artwork . Truth and accuracy became the goals of many realists. They started to depict everyday subjects.

The popularity of  'realistic' works grew with the introduction of photography.

Features:

Tedency to depict reality

No romantic ideals

Objectivity – the atuhor does not intervene into the plot, he or she just describes

Realists are not interested in history, they prefer contemporary problems

We cannot find realism in poetry

Everyday subjects (people at work, social problems)

Later new style appeared:

Naturalism:

Extreme realism

A person is influenced mainly by the society and genes.

Our fate is given, we cannot influence it much. We are determined by our social background and inherited qualities

They write about the bad sides of human life – alcoholism, drugs, prostitution, poverty…

Painting:

Gustave Courbert: He did not study painting at university. He was a self-taught painter. He painted figurative compositions, landscapes, seascapes, and still-lifes.

He was considered to be controversial because he depicted social issues in his work, and painted subjects that were considered vulgar, such as peasants or working conditions of the poor.

Stone-Breakers, A Burial at Ornans, The Artist's Studio, The Origin of the World and so on

Honore Daumier: a French painter, graphic and sculptor.He is known for his cartoons and satirical litographs  mocking 19th-century French politics and society. He was imprisoned and sent to a mental hospital. Nevertheless, his paintings helped introduce techniques of Impressionism into modern art.

Don Quixote, The Lawyers,

The Barbizon School

A group of French landscape painters who depicted everyday life in a village. They painted en plain air which means in the open air. Impressionism was inspired by the school 
Jean Francois Millet was an outstanding realist. He depicted the rural life and hard work
 The Gleaners (Sběračky klásků)
Edouard Manet –a predecestor of Impressionism but we can see features of realism in his works

Luncheon on the Grass , Olympia

Théodor Rousseau and Camille Corot 

They settled near Barbizon in 1825. They painted the landscape around Barbizon. Their works influenced impressionism. Their Bohemian life style was really scandalous.

Realism in Czech lands:

A boom in building (theatres (The National Theatre), banks, concert halls – Rudolfinum, schools, museums, villas, palaces)

Sculpture: Josef Václav Myslbek (St. Wenceslas monument)

Painting:

Josef Mánes – a Czech painter and drawer, we can see features of both Romanticism and Realism in his works, a landscape painter. 

Karel Purkyně

 Literature

France:

Honoré de Balzac is  one of the creators of Realism in literature. His Human Comedy contains  more than 90 novels and short stories. He wanted to depict the realities of life in modern France. He was able to write  for up to 15 hours a day drinking innumerable cups of black coffee. (He had some debts and needed to earn money)

Eugenie Grandet

Lost Illusions

Father Goriot

Gustave Flaubert : Madame Bovary

Guy de Maupassant: A writer and journalist

Wrote novels and short stories

He depicted the life of prostitues and wanted to show that even a prostitute can have moral qualities (sometimes his prostitues behaved in a more moral way than respectable  citiziens)

Ball of Fat (Kulička)

Emile Zola: Nana

UK:

Charles Dickens: He wrote about his hard childhood. His heroes are usually children without home and parents, adults often abuse them

Oliver Twist

David Copperfield – authobiographical features

Jane Austen – she wrote stories for women

USA:

Mark Twain: he wrote satirical books. He critised American society

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Czech lands: Havlíček, Němcová, Rais, Baar   Russia: Tolstoj