Ms. Meyer's English Website



REALISM IN ART AND PHOTOGRAPHYMs. Meyer / English 11Key Points:Realist painters replaced the idealistic images and literary conceits of traditional art with real-life events, successfully helping merge art and life (versus earlier art which often focused on glamorizing historical events, famous historical people, or depicting stories from myth).Realism is broadly considered the beginning of modern art. Literally, this is due to its conviction that everyday life and the modern world were suitable subjects for art. Realism art wants to depict all social classes accurately. This led to unflinching, sometimes "ugly" portrayals of life's unpleasant moments and the use of dark, earthy palettes that confronted high art's ultimate ideals of beauty.Photography became a legitimate art form during the Realism movement since it was difficult to manipulate the truth or glamorize a real life moment in a photograph.Directions: After you have reviewed the key concepts of Realism art, you will view a variety of different paintings and photographs from the time period. Using the format below, keep track of what you think is important about the painting or photograph. We will discuss your notes as a class. Painting Number One “A Burial at Ornans” by Gustave Courbet What is occurring in this painting? A rural, Christian funeral. You know this because of the setting in the background, the religious items in the painting, and the types of people depicted.What do you notice about the type of people depicted in the painting? The church members have the most detail and the finer clothes. The mourners are regular middle-class people.Are there any gritty depictions? The grave is simply a dirt grave, the dog has been perceived by some as malnourished, and the color palette (in the color version) is grim.How might this painting represent the Realism style? It depicts the ordinary – this is a regular man’s funeral, not the funeral of someone famous or important.What questions or observations do you have about the painting? Answers will vary.Painting Number Two “The Stone Breakers” by Gustave CourbetWhat is occurring in this painting? A boy and a man are breaking up stones to create gravel for roads.What type of people are depicted in this painting? What might their social class be? A boy and a man with torn clothes and weathered hands. They are low class because only low class people would submit themselves to such back-breaking work. You can also tell their status by their clothes.Why might Gustave Courbet have decided to make these figures faceless? If they’re faceless, they can represent all of the lower class.What gritty details are present in the painting? The torn clothes and weathered hands.How are the figures depicted in a dignified manner? They are made larger in scale; they are not depicted as complaining but merely doing their work to make a living.Painting Number Three – “The Gross Clinic” by Thomas Eakins What is occurring in this painting? This is an anatomy lesson.Where does Eakins choose to use the most of his light colors? Why might be this way? The colors draw your eye to the anatomy to force the reality of the situation.What gritty details are present in the painting? There is blood on the body, blood on the doctor’s instruments and fingers, and a person turning his head away in the corner to depict his discomfort.How does this painting represent the Realism style? It does not sanitize the situation like classical artists, so it provides an objective POV. Painting Number Four – “Rue Transnonain” by Honore DuamierWhat is occurring in this painting? It is a room of corpses.What gritty details are present? A wounded man is dead on top of a child whose skull has been split and there are two bodies also dead on the floor. A chair is overturned, which suggests a struggle.What type of people does this painting concern itself with depicting? How might that connect to Realism? These are lower class people based on their clothes and the historical context. Realism wants to depict the struggle of regular men.What is left unanswered in this painting? We are not told what happened to these people, but this picture was originally published in a French newspaper after the French army massacred workers in an apartment building for protesting.Photograph – Antietam Dunker’s Church What is depicted in this photograph? Dead soldiers on a battlefield next to a church.This photograph was taken during what American event? What is significant of the battle of Antietam? It was taken during the Civil War. The battle is the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.What is the emotional impact of this photograph? Although most people acknowledge that this photograph shows the brutality of war, they are not overly emotionally moved by it due to its objective, documentary manner.How is the photograph potentially different from a painting? What might a painting choose to change? Answers will vary. A classical painting would have shown the faces of the men and given each man a story. The soldiers would have been depicted as honorable and dying for a righteous cause.Photograph – “Slave Auction House, Alexandria”What is depicted in this photograph? Union soldiers standing outside of a slave auction house in Alexandria. What is significant about the setting of this photograph when paired with the events being depicted? The slave auction house helps establish a story. Here, the Union entered the abandoned city of Alexandria. Legend says that one slave was found shackled to the floor inside of the building.How does this photograph represent the Realism style? It is honest and objective.How does this photograph suggest “truth”? This photograph becomes historical documentation of the fact that America was a slave-owning country at one point. ................
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