THE RISE AND FALL OF GUSTAVE COURBET Part Two The early career of Gustave Courbet is discussed within the historical context of class struggles during the middle of the nineteenth century. The Realism in Courbet’s paintings of the 1850s manifested itself not...
THE RURAL REALISM OF GUSTAVE COURBET Part One As a self-proclaimed “Realist” in a highly charged political atmosphere, Gustave Courbet challenged the conventions of the French Salon system. For ten years, Courbet had waited his chance to break through in...
SINCERITY AND ARTIFICE IN REALISM England and France By the middle of the nineteenth century, Realism was an international movement. In England, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were the rebellious Realists, challenging the classicism of the Academy. The English artists...
REALISM IN EUROPE Part Two Because art history tends to focus towards all things French, French “Realism” is often considered the exemplar of European Realism. Given that the British did not experience a violent Revolution in 1848, it is certainly correct...
EUROPEAN REALISM Part One In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Revolution of 1848 broke out like a series of brushfires across the continent of Europe. Although the uprising of the lower classes and the peasants was the last significant attempt to achieve...
THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL AND THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT IN LANDSCAPE PAINTING American Romanticism was always based upon the concept of the search for the Garden of Eden. The “frontier” of America, the edges of this God-given Garden, was the Appalachian...