6.4 Realist and Modernist Art

Realism reacts against Romanticism

By mid-19th century, artists rejected Romantic idealism for Realism, depicting everyday life, workers, and peasants with unflinching accuracy. Gustave Courbet ('The Stone Breakers') and Jean-François Millet portrayed harsh rural and laboring conditions. In literature, Charles Dickens and Émile Zola exposed urban poverty and industrial injustice, reflecting new social awareness born from industrialization and scientific thinking.

Impressionism captures fleeting perception

Impressionism emerged in the 1870s, with artists like Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir using loose brushwork and light to capture momentary impressions rather than precise detail. This shift reflected new technologies (photography, urban leisure) and challenged academic traditions, paving the way for modern art.

Modernism breaks with tradition

Late 19th/early 20th-century Modernism rejected realistic representation entirely. Movements like Post-Impressionism (Van Gogh, Cézanne), Cubism (Picasso), and Expressionism experimented with abstraction, form, and emotion. This reflected disillusionment with rationalism, influenced by Freud's ideas on the unconscious and anxieties about industrial modernity and impending war.

Key terms

Realism (art movement)

Mid-19th century movement depicting everyday life and laboring classes accurately, rejecting Romantic idealism (e.g., Courbet, Millet).

Impressionism

Late 19th-century movement using loose brushwork to capture fleeting light and color impressions (e.g., Monet, Renoir, Degas).

Modernism

Late 19th/early 20th-century artistic break from tradition, embracing abstraction and experimentation (Cubism, Expressionism, Post-Impressionism).

Émile Zola

French novelist known for Naturalist/Realist works exposing industrial and urban poverty.

Pablo Picasso

Pioneer of Cubism, fragmenting subjects into abstract geometric forms.

Try an AP-style question

Realist artists like Courbet depicted…

1. heroes from ancient mythology
2. miracles from religious stories
3. ordinary people and everyday life
4. idealized members of the nobility