What Caused the rise of realism in arts?

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During the period of time, starting from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, realism in arts rose. It was a movement against the previous movement of Romanticism, which was glorifying the world and presenting it in an unreal way. Things that were painted were often unrealistic and were drawn out of the artist’s imagination. Artists felt that artworks should have a social consciousness and they also wanted to break away from the previous styles of art. Realism was the style of art that focused on the reality and the original, but not that pleasing side of the object or idea. It was also a way of revealing the truth of the ordinary lives in the country. Artists felt the need to express arts through daily lives and society, instead of symbolic representations. They were able to express art through daily lives by painting workers, farmers, common man, they expressed society by painting what they had actually seen, and focusing on the emotions expressed by ordinary people.
Artists rejected the symbolization and representative styles of art. They focused on the formal subjects and the true identity of a man, because they recognized the needs to express art through daily objects and people. Gustave Courbet portrayed the people from his native region in his painting, and also produced some paintings about everyday life such as The Burial at Ornans (Realism late1800s - early 1900s). The painting was very realistic and was based upon direct observations such as recording the movements and daily activities among the people. He also drew scenes of traditional life of farmers and landscapes, such as his most famous painting The Stonebreakers (Galitz). Courbet depicted the parts of lives that often got excluded in paintings in the past. He als...

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...out for a walk (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History). This painting challenged the traditional perspectives and divisions of how women were portrayed in the past. One of his most famous pieces, The Painter’s Studio (Clarks), it was emphasizing how he was surrounded by the influences of his artworks and ideas, while turning away from the nude model who was behind him, which was symbolizing how he was turning away from the traditional style of arts and focusing on the modern era. Wilhelm Leibl was also an important artist during the rise of realism in arts (Wilhelm Leibl). Leibl was inspired by Courbet and went to Paris, his works were realistic and filled with strong and direct colors. His most well known painting was the Three Women in Church, where the women’s expressions were clearly portrayed with details disregarding that it wasn’t considered an image of beauty.

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