Category: Realism

The Girlfriends is a movie produced in 1978 and directed by Claudia Weill. The movie’s script was written by Vickie Polon (Tibbetts 270). In spite of the fact that it narrates about women, the movie cannot be considered feministic. Nonetheless, Girlfriends has some similar attributes to Agnes Vardar’s movie titled One Sings, The Other Doesn’t in terms of the theme and other technical aspects.

The film is basically about two women who fight to sustain their companionship in light of a male-dominated society, marriage, abortion and family obligations. The women strive to keep a balance between their affection for each other and their affection for the men they love (Tibbetts 271). Claudia has kept the slice-of-life movie pragmatic and simple, with humor and charisma under the silence anxiety (Levy 6).

The Girlfriends bears similarities to Eric Rohmer’s movies of 1970s and 1980s in terms of style. The Girlfriends film is extremely stark and nothing much occurs in it. Nonetheless, the ordinary nature of the characters appears to attract the viewers. In a number of ways, the cast of this movie is plain and the scenery is very grey.

The dialogue is also mundane. However, the film possesses charm and warmth which draws the viewers (IMDB 1). In contrast to the openly feminist angle employed in the One Song, The Other Doesn’t, The Girl Friend’s film steers clear of feminist polemic, first-person storyline as well as the doubtful corroboration of fable and street theater. The Girlfriends film does not make use of didacticism and declamation of the Brechtian technique apparent in the Varda film.

The dialogues in The Girlfriends movie are moderate and oblique, and a superb sense of the accidental exists. What’s more, the movie does not purely confront us but rather shuffles alongside, serenely waiting for the audience to discern it. In other words, it is episodic, discourteous, baffling as well as ultimately unpredictable (Tibbetts, 271).

When Suzanne and Apple (characters in the Varda film) finally meet at the end of the film, we recognize it as a major triumph for feminism. However, when Susan and Annie (characters in The Girl Friends film) attain their final conspiratorial fete, we merely comprehend that the triumph of companionship is really a hurdling of portrayals. It is liberating as well as mysterious. However, according to Vickie Polon, this theme is rarely depicted in many movies. Vickie contends:

It’s hard to think of any American films that have intelligently treated changing female roles…recent films have demonstrated a new the power of women in major film roles…for that reason, am very pleased to see these films come out of Hollywood…I think The Girlfriends is a breakthrough in the treatment of female relationships (Tibbetts 271).

The movie begins with both Susan and Annie trying to conserve what they feel is actually the definite boundary of their existence. The first shot of the film discloses Susan taking a photo of the sleeping shape of Annie, her roommate. Later on, when Annie gets married to Martin, Susan relentlessly asks Annie if she is sure the relationship will work.

However, Annie settles for marriage because she feels that it embodies an extension of the reliance she has on Susan. The new situations that both Anne and Susan find themselves in justify new survival ploys (Levy 5). For Annie, it implies dealing with children and an oddly passive and quite spouse, as well as a shattered writing job.

For Susan, it implies learning to steer the unfamiliar terrain of a vacant apartment, coping assertively with her potential photography patrons, as well as her association with a mystifying world of men- a nagging boyfriend, a demeaning magazine editor, a lonely rabbi and an incapable cab driver (Tibbetts 272).

The movie does not present the story in the conventional sense of the word; neither does it reveal any objective lessons. In light of the tightly-plotted storyline, everything that takes place in the present is geared towards what Suzanne Langer describes, as a destiny, an essential scene which is the logical outcome of everything that precedes it.

The 19^th century playwrights, such as Sardou and Scribe, and movie makers (e.g. Hitchcock and Lang) have previously explored this deterministic representation. Although most of commercial movies utilize clear-cut linear storylines, The Girl Friends intentionally does not lend importance to the causality in the arrangement of scenes and shots (Kubrick 2).

The film is somewhat plot-less (events and details are scattered). The details of the film are more autonomous and not tied to the overall plot structure. In fact, the main scene may be lost in general. However, the presence of a key situation or character unites this type of schema (Tibbetts 273).

The Girlfriends is united together by the fluctuating rhythm that alternately unites and divides Annie and Susan (IDMB n. p.). The screenplay and direction are arranged in a manner that keeps main themes at the edge of the vision (off-angle). As a result, events and characters in the film are depicted half out of the picture.

For example, key themes in the film are oppression; marital mix-up and abortion are kept off-angle. Consequently, the news about Annie’s abortion is offhandedly slotted into a discussion about something else. What’s more, the love affair between Susan and her boyfriend takes place during a discussion on mashed potatoes. The relationship between Rabbi Gold and Susan ends when the former decides to take his family to a football match (Tibbetts 273).

The Girlfriends film seems to depict a deceptively off-hand appearance which in part is attributed to the oblique technique employed. This technique is described by Polon as “moment to moment quality, the deception of those little things that can make us make choices that reveal us as people” (Tibbetts 273).

These details are cautiously selected. He further notes that “the development of situations and the order of events are carefully thought out…there is an incredible attention to structure and character” (Tibbetts 273). The film also employs minor characters (e.g. the young female hitchhiker) whose role is to reveal the key characters in high relief.

On the same note, the incidental quality of most of the conversations in the film is illusory. The gibberish word-game between Susan and Annie at the end of the film provides the much needed relief for them in light of the alterations that separated them. For example, the obliquity of the conversation between the two characters about Annie’s abortion is among the outstanding aspects of the movie. It is the type of dialogue uncharacteristic of classic drama.

It lacks both mathematical and symmetrical structure. Therefore, the dialogue in the movie functions elliptically and follows a disjointed, zigzag course that is scarcely noticed in real life. However, the same might be referred to as absurd or naturalistic in the film or theatre. Evidences of this phenomenon abound in the movie.

For example, the numerous exchanges between Susan and Annie (as well as the hitchhiker); the scene (at the party) where Erik and Susan meet and pair up; and particularly the exchange between Rabbi Gold and Susan as they rest following a bar-mitzvah (Tibbetts 274).

Throughout the dialogues presented in the film, it becomes apparent that characters prod cautiously at each other, leap forward and back, always in search for what Strindberg referred to as chance cogs. The film’s obliquity seems to have derive its inspiration from Chekhov, especially from The Cherry Orchard play in which the characters appear to encircle cautiously around each other. It thus becomes irritating (Tibbetts 275).

Neither Annie nor Susan can be compared to any expedient outlines we may anticipate from the unshackled females of contemporary cinema or the sensational productions of classic movies. For example, Ann is neurotic, pinched and wan whereas Susan is short-sighted, plump and clumsy.

Thus, they do not present themselves in the center-screen. On the contrary, just like all other aspects of the movie, they are at an off-angle. For example, Susan peers behind thick glasses and camera tripods while Annie glances from behind loads of laundry and typewriters. Nonetheless, both Susan and Annie are intensely lively characters (Tibbetts 276).

According to Polon, some of the established definitions appear challenged by this film. For example, the characters have to deal with somewhat inflexible boundaries that segregate their lives. What’s more, viewers have to cope with a movie that constantly interrupts their assumptions and expectations.

The Girlfriends is neither a story movie nor a feminist polemic. Nonetheless, it amazes and amuses in its own distinctive way. The approach employed in the movie is oblique engagement (before the audience is aware, the movie seems to have emerged from nowhere). For example, during one spectacular scene when the rabbi and Susan rest (following a bar-mitzvah), the viewers become conscious that something wonderful is taking place even as the two characters engage in quite discussions (Tibbetts 276).

Questions and Answers

What is the difference between Hollywood films and The Girl Friends film?

The Girl Friend’s film steers clear of feminist polemic, first-person storyline and the doubtful corroboration of fable and street theater. It does not use didacticism and declamation of the Brechtian technique apparent in the Varda film. The dialogues in the movie are moderate and oblique and a superb sense of the accidental exists (an attribute not seen in Hollywood films). What’s more, the movie does not purely confront us but rather shuffle alongside, serenely waiting for the audience to discern it.

Briefly describe the plot-structure employed in the film

The movie does not present the story in the conventional sense of the word neither does it reveal any objective lessons. In light of the tightly-plotted storyline, everything that takes place in the present is geared toward a destiny, an essential scene which is the logical outcome of all that precede it. Although most of commercial movies use clear-cut linear storylines, The Girl Friends intentionally does not lend importance with regard to the causality in the arrangement of scenes and plots. The film is somewhat plot-less (events and details are scattered).

Briefly describe the oblique technique employed in the movie

The Girl Friends film seems to depict a deceptively off-hand appearance which, in part, is attributed to the oblique technique employed. The screenplay and direction are arranged in a way that keeps main themes at the edge of the vision (off-angle). As a result, events and characters in the film are depicted half out of the picture.

Works Cited

IDMB. “Girlfriends.” 2010. Web.

Kubrick, Stanley. “AMG AllMovie Guide: Girlfriends.” 2012. Web.

Levy, Emmanuel. “Film Reviews: The Girl Friends.” 2012. Web.

Tibbetts, John. A matter of Definition: Out of Bounds in The Girlfriends. Kansas: University of Kansas, 1978. Print.

Melodrama

French artists coined the term melodrama to refer to plays with exaggerated plots and actors with the purpose of touching the emotions of the audience.

The term melodrama has two morphemes that have different etymologies; melos, a French word that means music and drain, a Greek word that means to perform or to do. Artists later adopted the word drain into French and Latin as drama and drama respectively. So, French artists only combined the words melons and drama to form the word melodrama.

The most popular American melodrama is considered to be Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Even though her book was a bestseller in the 19th century, the majority of Americans preferred watching the dramatized version in theatres to reading the book from their homes.

Historical developments that influenced realism

The historical developments that had the greatest influence on realism were the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s. These hard times led to the withdrawal of playwrights and directors from Romanticism. They then focused their attention on the real conditions of human beings in the world. The independent spirits that resulted from the French Revolution led to liberalism in drama.

Furthermore, the Industrial Revolution changed the focus of theatre from rich to poor citizens. Directors made plays that reflected the plight of workers employed in the industries and other problems that came with industrialization. They, therefore, painted a pessimistic world, unlike their Romantic predecessors who always portrayed the world as the best place for everybody.

Emergence of naturalism

Another movement, Naturalism, developed from Realism in the later parts of the 19th century. This movement based its principles on the scientific works of Charles Darwin, who argued that chance, heredity, and the environment are the things that control the fate of human beings.

These Darwinian ideologies made playwrights use characters that were controlled by external forces. Realism and Naturalism were similar in the sense that they were both committed to depicting the world in its real sense. Naturalism, however, differed from Realism because it had a clearly defined attitude towards life and playwrights imposed this view of life on their works.

Notable 19-century Theatrical Naturalists

Emile Zola was the real leader of the literary School of Naturalism. He argued that plays should be true and simple and that theatre should educate people on how to be moral and just.

August Strindberg was the founder of modern Swedish literature and theatre. He combined psychology and naturalism and made drama out of them. It was, however, hard to stage his plays because the Royal Theatre did not accept his plays.

André Antoine was an actor, theater manager, film director, critic, and naturalist playwright. He advocated for Emile Zola’s ideologies in France and staged performances based on Zola’s plays.

Meaning of the term Realistic

The term realistic in its literal usage means something that is not imaginary; one that can be seen. In literary works, the term realism refers to plays that directly expose particular evils, especially among leaders, without using a figurative language.

The meaning of this word in the 19th-century drama was different. Then, it referred to the movement in art that represented the world as it was; with minimal imaginations and emotions. Modern drama should embrace the meaning of realism as purposed by the 19th-century drama and eliminate unrealistic elements like science fiction from modern drama.

A Doll’s House

I would adopt most characters as they are, but empower Norah to fight for her rightful place without leaving her house. She would be equally learned to challenge Krogstad with facts instead of running away from home the way Ibsen’s Norah does. I would create Norah who would go to court to ask for a divorce because women of the 21st century are educated and usually challenge their husbands as equals.

French art movement

Klein was particularly interested in what he called the vacuum — the endless expanse of the sky above his head, the sea at his feet. Yves Klein was a member of the French art movement New Realism. His followers shared the desire of other conceptualists of that time to go beyond the boundaries of easel painting, which, as their manifest proclaimed, has outlived its century. His work Le Vide from 1960, is nothing but bare walls in his gallery (Arnason and Mansfield 446). The main goal was to show the vacuum-like simplicity and how the concept of nothingness can be appreciated. It is critical to note the fact that the given artist was always inspired by the idea of levitation and body only flight. All these notions came from the original thought of vacuum and nothingness, which can allow an object to adhere to the freedom of movement.

British artist Richard Hamilton

British artist Richard Hamilton was one of the first individuals who gave a more precise definition to Pop art. He claimed that the given form of art must be transient, popular, low cost, expendable, mass-produced, glamorous, and young. His poster Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? was a clear manifestation of his key ideas about Pop art. Another Pop artist, who made a significant impact on British art, is R. B. Kitaj.

Although he was an American citizen, his major works helped to shape newly emerging British Pop art (Arnason and Mansfield 459). His work, The Autumn of Central Paris, addresses the calamities of the Second World War, where many French people suffered occupation. Another American Pop artist is Jasper Johns from South Carolina (Arnason and Mansfield 462). He was highly interested in flags, specifically in the American flag. Johns strived to add a certain depth to inherently flat items, such as the flag. His work Flag is an attempt to give a certain three-dimensional appearance to the American flag.

Work Cited

Arnason, Harvard, and Elizabeth Mansfield. History of Modern Art. Pearson, 2012.

Introduction

When it comes to comparing the contemporary works of art with the artistic masterpieces of the past, it is important to know what accounts for the main qualitative difference between the two. In my opinion, this difference is concerned with the fact that, whereas, many (Classicist, Realist) artistic works of the past can be enjoyed by just about anyone, this is far from being the case with the examples of contemporary art, associated with the artistic styles of (Post-Modernism, Fluxus).¹

The reason for this is that, in order for an individual to be able to appreciate any artistic works, associated with the mentioned art-styles, he or she would have to be capable of interpreting these works’ actual significance within the narrow framework of what can be deemed the most circumstantially applicable theory of art. In its turn, this creates a certain paradox – there is not much of the de facto ‘art’ in today’s art, but mainly a theory. In this paper, I will explore the validity of the above-stated, in regards to the art of Eustache Le Sueur (Classicist), Ilya Repin (Realist), John Armleder (Fluxus/contemporary) and Joseph Beuys (Post-Modernist/contemporary).

Main Body

The Classicist paintings’ most prominent feature is that themes and motifs, contained in them, often relate to the philosophical, literary and aesthetical legacy of Greco-Roman antiquity. The validity of this statement can be illustrated, in regards to the painting Melpomene, Erato & Polymnie by Le Sueur:

After all, Melpomene, Erato and Polymnie used to be referred to by the ancient Romans, as ‘muses’ – the semi-divine/never-aging females, who were believed to endow poets, musicians and artists with the sense of an artistic inspiration.

As it can be well seen in this painting, all three depicted women radiate the spirit of serenity and calmness, while appearing to be in the middle of reflecting on some abstract subject matter. They can also be referred to as thoroughly healthy, in the mental and physical sense of this word – their bodily physique leaves only a few doubts, in this respect. There is also an acute sense of order to the painting in question – all three ‘muses’ are located in the painting’s center, with the images of trees and blue sky in the background, ensuring the three-dimensional integrity of Le Sueur’s masterpiece. The message that this painting conveys is thoroughly clear – young women are able to inspire men by the very virtue of their physical beauty.

In light of the above-staved, we can well conclude that the painting Melpomene, Erato & Polymnie is rather ‘democratic’. That is, despite having been essentially concerned with visualizing the motifs of the ancient Roman theology, it nevertheless can be enjoyed even by those people, who happened to be utterly unaware of what this theology was all about.² It is needless to mention, of course, that this contributes to the painting’s aesthetic value rather considerably, as the art’s actual purpose has traditionally been considered the fact that it is able to please/enlighten individuals, regardless of what happened to be the particulars of their social status.³

The same idea applies, within the context of discussing the Realist painting Religious Procession by Repin:

In the formal sense of this word, this painting depicts the religious procession of Orthodox peasants in the 19^th century’s Russia. It does this in the strikingly realist manner – the painting’s visuals are not only spatially but also psychologically plausible. That is, the expressions of the featured people’s faces are thoroughly compatible with the time-tested idea that strongly religious individuals can hardly be considered intellectually bright and behaviorally adequate. Thus, Repin’s Religious Procession, can be well referred to, as such that does not also allow spectators to experience the sensation of an aesthetic pleasure, but also as such that ‘educates’ them, in respect of what accounts for the imperfections of the society’s functioning, and what causes these imperfections to be there, in the first place.⁴

After all, it is indeed very likely that, in the aftermath of having been exposed to the paintings in question, spectators would be tempted to associate the notion of poverty with the notion of religion, which in turn should increase their ability to address life-challenges in the circumstantially appropriate manner. This confirms the validity of the suggestion that Realist art, which reached the peak of its popularity in the 19^th century, indeed deserves to be referred to as such that benefited humanity in so many ways – especially, in respect of how it used to prompt people to adopt a rationale-based stance in life.⁵

Consequently, this can be interpreted as yet an additional indication that, just as it happened to be the case with artistic Classicism, artistic Realism (as a style of depicting the surrounding reality’s emanations) does represent an objective value of a ‘thing in itself’.

Unfortunately, the analysis of what can be deemed the most typical examples of contemporary art, does not allow us to refer to it as being anything else but essentially degenerative. To confirm the validity of this suggestion, we can mention the 1991 painting Untitled by John Armleder, who is being considered one of the most prominent enthusiasts of the artistic style Fluxus.

As it can be well seen above, upon having been exposed to this ‘masterpiece’, it would prove rather impossible for onlookers to come up with the comprehensible idea, as to what Untitled actually depicts. After all, this painting creates the impression that the process of its creation involved the author smearing some dirt (possibly feces) on the canvas in the vertically wise direction. People would also experience a hard time, while trying to define what motivated Armdeler to begin working on this painting, except for the hypothetical possibility that, after having woken up one day, Armdeler realized that he felt very bad about life, in general, and consequently decided to depict such his feeling artistically.

This, however, would not be quite the case if one were to evaluate Armdeler’s painting within the discursive framework of Fluxus. Given the fact that artists, associated with this style, always strived to defy the ‘perceptual oppressiveness’ of the spatially stable geometrical forms⁶, the message that this painting conveys, can be interpreted as follows: Untitled depicts the skyscrapers of New York, which are embedded into the mechanistic matrix of today’s living that causes people to experience the irrational attraction towards filth. The depicted implies that there are other three-dimensional continuums, except for the one in which we happened to exist – hence, the aura of ‘fluidity’, which Untitled emanates. In its turn, this is meant to emphasize that there is a certain dichotomy between how we perceive the reality around us, and that happened to be our unconscious anxiety to be submerged in the realm of ‘unrealness’.

It is understood, of course, that despite sounding pretentiously sophisticate, the above-provided interpretation is essentially unintelligible. Yet, this is what modern art is all about. Unlike what it used to be the case with art of the past, it is not about artists creating their masterpieces, but rather about the hordes of ‘art critics’ making a good living, as a result of being able to indulge into the superficially sophisticate art-related rhetoric.⁷

The validity of the idea that the notion of ‘contemporary art’ is largely synonymous with the notion of ‘degeneracy’ can also be explored, in regards to the Post-Modernist painting Wooden Virgin by Joseph Beuys:

As it can be well seen, the painting depicts a human-like object that lies on its side. There are the unmistakable undertones of lifelessness to the ‘wooden virgin’, which the mentioned object is meant to symbolize. We can only wonder what prompted the author to believe that there indeed may be a link between what it being depicted in this painting, on one hand, and the notion of ‘virginity’, on the other. Nevertheless, given the fact that Beuys has never been a stranger to alcohol,⁸ we can speculate that he must have worked on Wooden Virgin, while experiencing a severe hangover.

The fact that the painting features only the color of ‘dirt-gray’ has a symbolical significance of its own. While assessed through the lenses of psychoanalysis, the qualitative subtleties of the painting’s gamut can be considered indicative of the artist’s deep-seated sense of pessimism, as to humanity’s ability to stay on the path of progress. What it means is that Wooden Virgin poses a certain danger to the potential onlookers, as this painting appears more than capable of triggering the sensation of depression in people, which is hardly the quality of what it being commonly referred to as ‘high art’.

Conclusion

I believe that the earlier deployed line of argumentation, in relation of how contemporary art differs from the art of the past, is fully consistent with the paper’s initial thesis. It is understood, of course, that people should refrain from thinking of their personal opinions, in regards to a particular piece of art, as such that represent an undisputed truth-value.

However, it can be hardly doubted that there is indeed a fully objective criterion for distinguishing real art from the extrapolations of people’s mental inadequacy, which are now being frequently discussed in terms of art. This criterion is concerned with the fact that, as opposed to what it is being the case with the mentioned extrapolations of one’s mental pathology, real art appeals to people on an unconscious level.⁹

In its turn, this makes it possible for just about anyone to land its view, in regards to what can be considered the actual significance of a particular ‘classical’ artistic piece. If we were to apply the mentioned criterion to the discussed examples of contemporary art, it would appear that they cannot be considered even slightly valuable. The reason for this is apparent – these formally artistic creations do not seem to relate to the notion of ‘aesthetics’.¹⁰ As such, they can only represent interest to either the self-proclaimed ‘experts on art’, known for their ‘bohemian’ (decadent) ways, or to the healthcare specialists that work in the field of psychiatry. This once again confirms the soundness of the paper’s original thesis.

Bibliography

De Duve, T. “Joseph Beuys, or the Last of the Proletarians.” October 45, no. 3 (1988): 47-62.

Friedman, K. “Freedom? Nothingness? Time? Fluxus and the Laboratory of Ideas.” Theory, Culture & Society 29, no. 7/8 (2012): 372-398.

Goggin, M. “’Decent’ vs. ‘Degenerate’ Art: The National Socialist Case.” Art Journal 50, no. 4 (1991): 84-92.

Henderson, N. “Le Sueur’s Allegory of Magnificence.” The Burlington Magazine 112, no. 805 (1970): 213 – 217.

Jackson, D. “Western art and Russian Ethics: Repin in Paris, 1873-76.” Russian Review 57, no. 3 (1998): 394 – 409.

Oren, M. “Anti-Art as the End of Cultural History.” Performing Arts Journal 15, no. 2 (1993): 1-30.

Petrov, P. “The Industry of Truing: Socialist Realism, Reality, Realization.” Slavic Review 70, no. 4 (2011): 873-892.

Pinchas, N. “A Theory of Art and Aesthetic Experience.” Psychoanalytic Review 100, no. 4 (2013): 559-582.

Smith, T. “The State of Art History: Contemporary Art.” The Art Bulletin 92, no. 4 (2010): 366-383.

Truitt, W. “Realism.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 37, no. 2 (1978): 141-148.

Footnotes

1. M. Goggin, “’Decent’ vs. ‘Degenerate’ Art: The National Socialist Case.” Art Journal 50, no. 4 (1991): 84.
2. N. Henderson, “Le Sueur’s Allegory of Magnificence.” The Burlington Magazine 112, no. 805 (1970): 214.
3. P. Petrov, “The Industry of Truing: Socialist Realism, Reality, Realization.” Slavic Review 70, no. 4 (2011): 876.
4. D. Jackson, “Western art and Russian Ethics: Repin in Paris, 1873-76.” Russian Review 57, no. 3 (1998): 403.
5. W. Truitt, “Realism.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 37, no. 2 (1978): 142.
6. K. Friedman, “Freedom? Nothingness? Time? Fluxus and the Laboratory of Ideas.” Theory, Culture & Society 29, no. 7/8 (2012): 379.
7. T. Smith, “The State of Art History: Contemporary Art.” The Art Bulletin 92, no. 4 (2010): 375.
8. T. De Duve, “Joseph Beuys, or the Last of the Proletarians.” 45, no. 3 (1988): 56.
9. M. Oren, “Anti-Art as the End of Cultural History.” Performing Arts Journal 15, no. 2 (1993): 9.
10. N. Pinchas, “A Theory of Art and Aesthetic Experience.” Psychoanalytic Review 100, no. 4 (2013): 563.

Both Edouard Manet and Gustave Courbet were self-identified founding pioneers of the Realist movement. They exemplified the trend in French art termed Modernity, defined by the poet Charles Baudelaire as a pursuit of “the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent”¹. These artists rejected received wisdom, whether regarding social issues, or brushwork technique. However, their approaches reflected their personal interests, and are thus noticeably distinct from each other.

Born 13 years apart (a half generation, at most), both artists were rigorously and academically trained. Courbet, the elder, moved from tiny Ornans to Besancon to study with Jean Louis David². Courbet’s meticulous draftsmanship shows in his scientific grasp of human anatomy, e.g. in The Source . His traditional technique, involves fine brushwork and studio settings. Edouard Manet trained with the history painting specialist, Thomas Couture ³.

Manet’s familiarity with the Spanish and Italian Old Masters is reflected in his near-parodies. Consider Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe , echoing the clothed and unclothed grouping outdoors in Titian’s Pastoral Concert . Consider also Manet’s painting Olympia , mimicking the nude pose of Titian’s Venus of Urbana. Over his career, his brushwork technique grew bolder and looser, as shown in his last major work, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère , where the background is hazily and indistinctly indicated with broader brushstrokes.

However, both these classically prepared artists rebelled against the academic art establishment and the hypocrisies of the social class structure. By their selection of topics and their treatment of them, they delightedly flouted conventional wisdom about art and class. However, their style and technique remained firmly representational and figurative.

Courbet, for his part, eschewed expected subjects, which included elite portraits⁴, history, and moral lessons⁵. Instead Courbet painted his actual rough-hewn fellow villagers of Ornans. The Burial at Ornans , for example, displays his family and neighbors on an unprecedented scale, and with respectful care . Viewers in 1849 associated such adulatory treatment with heroic battle scenes⁶.

Unlike his predecessors, Courbet also portrayed day-to-day activities. He effectively documented the harsh living/working conditions still prevalent in Europe, despite the despite the overthrow of the ancien regime⁷.

For example, he unapologetically portrayed the brutality of hard labor in his 1849 painting Les Casseurs de Pierres . This was only a year after the Revolution of 1848⁸. Courbet’s glorification of the working classes and their challenging conditions, must have reminded many viewers about the triggers of that unrest .

He skewered the moral norms of the time, as well, in paintings such as Les Demoiselles des Bords de la Seine (Été) . His demoiselles, resting after a tryst, are not socialites, but demi-mondaines⁹. He portrayed them in a classical-looking setting and pose¹⁰. This juxtaposition critiqued prevailing stuffy moral standards . Today’s viewer barely notices their undress. At the time, portraying recent fornication was an outrage, which Courbet doubtless anticipated.

In this, he represented the overall movement of Modernity characterized by Baudelaire . This movement of the mid-1800s emphasized the current rather than the past, the democratic rather than the elite, things that are provable rather than things accepted on faith, among other items .

After rejection by the academic authorities, Courbet set up his own exhibit pavilion, with his own Realist Manifesto. He wrote, “To know in order to be capable; that was my idea.” ¹¹. This meant, presumably that he wanted to acquire enough skills to fool the eye into believing that a 2D image is 3D, as in The Source .

He goes on to detail his intention to, “translate my …epoch…to create living art” . He accomplished this by dignifying the lives of fellow villagers and city dwellers with the scrupulously detailed and highly finished techniques of academic art. He felt that his”mission was the pursuit of truth, which would help erase social contradictions and imbalances”¹².

He thereby satirized the Academy, and revealed social injustice. Although he was later associated with the Commune, an early Socialist organization, he asserted, “when I am dead let this be said of me: ‘He belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least of all to any régime except the régime of liberty.’”¹³.

Edouard Manet was also iconoclastic, although less explicitly political. Manet achieved a change in the goal for painting. Although he is quoted as asserting, “no intention of overthrowing old methods of painting, or creating new ones.” by the end of his life, he was moving towards the techniques viewers associate with Impressionism . He felt that art’s goal was; “to paint what you see”¹⁴. He seems to have moved, perhaps unintentionally, from painting with the centuries-old goal of representation, and edifying morally, to the portrayal of colors and shading as viewed in natural light, using contemporary subjects and settings.

Manet also chose subjects and treatments that flouted expectations. For example, The Dead Christ with Angels, although a relatively familiar pose from the Renaissance onward, showed a coarse, shows a ham-handed carpenter of a man, rather than an ethereal pretty boy . His painting A Bar at the Folies Bergere captures almost a snapshot of the life of an ordinary girl; neither deity nor duchess .

His Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe quotes from a painting by Titian, but places the figures in contemporary times. He also used dramatic lighting in a way that he may have felt was more natural than what would appear in a purely studio-based painting.

His Olympia not only arranges a prostitute in a goddess-like pose, which shocked viewers, but offended by appearing incomplete. His detractors characterized as childish his suggestion of some details by broader-brushed shapes rather than tiny indistinguishable strokes. It is the case that the nude’s hands lack detail, and her face is reminiscent of a Mesopotamian idol. This is probably deliberate because her servant’s face competently reveals great individuality and liveliness.

His work was refused, as well, and he exhibited independently, like Courbet. He exhibited with what has come to be known as the first Impressionist exhibition, which truly launched this new trend in art. Today, his work seems inevitable, both in his focus on the ordinary moments in ordinary lives, and in his suggestive brushwork.

Whatever their differences in goal and emphasis, both Courbet and Manet were at the forefront of the movement in art towards, “portraying life as it actually is rather than representing and idealizing the past” .

Both reflected the trends and pressures surrounding them at the time. Socialism, the Industrial Revolution, urbanization, and population growth, all affected them, and informed their choices. Even the introduction of photography and the increased mobility arising from the spread of railways seems to have affected their art .

Though their art was individual, they both followed Courbet’s dictum: “painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist in the representation of real and existing things”¹⁵. They showed the world around them; their reality . This was their contribution to Modernity – to launch Realism and pave the way to Impressionism.

Reference List

Employment and the Revolution of 1848 in France. 2013. Web.

Courbet, G., (1849), Les Casseurs de Pierres. Web.

Courbet, G., (1849), The Burial at Ornans. Web.

Courbet, G., (1862), The Source. Web.

Courbet and the Modern Landscape – Mary G. Morton, Charlotte Nalle Eyerman – Google Books. 2013. Courbet And the Modern Landscape – Mary G. Morton, Charlotte Nalle Eyerman – Google Books. Web.

Courbet, G., (1853), Les Demoiselles des Bords de la Seine. Web.

Courbet, G., (1847), Les Romains de la Decadence. Web.

David, Jacques-Louis, (1793), The Death of Marat. Web.

Delant, G. 2010, “Modernity”, in Ritzer, G.; Ryan, J. eds., The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology. Web.

Fischer, K. 2013. Courbet, Manet and Modernity. Web.

Godefroide, M. E., (1810), The Sons of Marshall Ney. Web.

GustaveCourbet.org. 2013. Gustave Courbet: The Complete Works. Web.

J. Paul Getty Museum. 2013. Edouard Manet. Web.

Manet, E., (1863), Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe. Web.

Manet, E., (1863), Olympia. Web.

Manet, E., (1864), The Dead Christ with Angels. Web.

Manet, E., (1881), A Bar at the Folies Bergere. Web.

Metropolitan Museum. 2013. 19th Century French Realism. Web..

Metropolitan Museum. 2013. Ornans: The Emergence of Realism. Web.

Musee D’Orsay. 2013. Edouard Manet: Dejeuner Sur L”Herbe. Web.

Musee D’Orsay. 2013. Edouard Manet: Biography. Web.

Musee D’Orsay. 2013. Manet; The Man Who Invented Modernity. Web.

National Gallery of Art: UK. 2013. Young Ladies on the Banks of the Seine. Web.

Philosopedia. 2013. Gustave Courbet. Web.

Rabinow, R… 2013. Edouard Manet. Web.

Reithel, A., (1847), The Battle of Cordoba. Web.

PBS. 2000. The Shock of the Nude. Web.

Titian, (1510), Pastoral Concert (“Concert Champêtre”). Web.

Titian, (1538Online), Venus of Urbino. Web.

Footnotes

• ¹ Baudelaire is quoted by Delant .
• ² David chronicled the famous with utmost formality, classicism, and meticulousness, as for example, in The Death of Marat .
• 3^k to
• ⁴ For example, the Sons of Marshall Ney
• ⁵ As an example of the kind of subject that viewers expected in the mid-1800s, consider Thomas Couture’s Romans de la Decadence, noted above. This portrays in voyeuristic and luscious detail the degeneration of the Romans, once so hardy, upright, and moral, into self-indulgence and sexual amorality. The presence in the composition of cheerful naked ladies could be justified, in that era of public modesty and prudery, by the fact that the artist is depicting ancient people, doing something that the viewer can feel superior to and disapprove of heartily.
• ⁶ An example would be The Battle of Cordoba by Alfred Reithel .
• ⁷ The late 1700s saw a decade of violent disempowerment of aristocrats and royalty, inspired to some extent by the successful anti-monarchical struggle of the British colonies in America.
• ⁸ This outbreak of social unrest was duplicated all over Europe. In France, it was triggered by discontent with the uneven and disruptive cycles of economic setback that accompanied industrialization, agricultural failures leading to mass hunger, and persistent lack of enfranchisement for many in the population, among many other causes. Some workers responded by Luddite destruction of new machines that were perceived as endangering job security, or by xenophobic attacks against foreign workers from Belgium. This was the period of the beginning of the Socialist movement, and union activism. On the part of the government, there were experiments in government intervention which were variously successful .
• ⁹ Even if they did not receive money for their sexual favors, and therefore might not be officially prostitutes, they were not considered respectable at all.
• ¹⁰ An earlier artist might have used this rustic bower to showcase Cupid awoken by Psyche, or Susannah spied on by the elders, or some similar myth or Bible story, and that was exactly Courbet’s point.
• ¹¹ His Realistic Manifesto is quoted by Morton and Eyerman ,
• ¹² This quoted by the Courbet website .
• ¹³ This is quoted in Philosopedia .
• ¹⁴ This is quoted in the exhibition notes of the J. Paul Getty Museum
• ¹⁵ As quoted in exhibition notes from the Metropolitan Museum

Realism can be regarded from the point of view of historical influence of previous movements and according to the historical impact on other successive movements and trends. The dictionary article gives the definition of realism as “the theory or practice of fidelity in art and literature to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization” (“Realism” 1). Thus the realistic movement in painting presupposes the real description of life, people and of events. The paintings of authors representing the movement of realism are extremely vivid and are likely to create an impression of presence in the painting while observing it. The works of artists who painted in realistic style are very true to life and make the observers admire those people, landscapes and settings. The realistic paintings are often depicting people in different settings, some of them are depicted sitting for the portrait, others, like the woman on the Edgar Degas’ painting “After the Bath: Woman Drying her feet”, do not seem to know that the whole audience is observing her figure, when she dries her feet after the bath. Realism can be characterized by exact, beautified, and particular depiction of natural landscapes and life of contemporary people. One of the basic features of the movement is expression of physical appearance rather than idealization of different people; attempts to make them better than they appear. The movement of realism was spread not only in Europe; the American authors are likely to have created paintings of this trend as well.

The movement of realism began developing in the middle of the 19^th century. The authors tried not to idealize the objects painted in order to preserve natural look and harmony of colors in the sense of understanding. Artists depicted ordinary images which were not always likely to satisfy tests of the observers and did not correspond to common notion of pictures, because other movements depicted people and nature in idealized or changed way. Before the movement became popular and well-known the portraits created the images of noble, famous and rich men and women, their families, and children. Realists began to depict the world as it appeared and as other common people perceived it (Stremmel 6).

There are some different schools or as they are also called trends that characterize the movement of realism in painting. Thus we should mention the Realists, which represented the new techniques of representation of the actual world; this school was marked by the works of such famous artists as Marie Rosalie Bonheur, Gustave Coubert, Edgar Degas, Thomas Eakins and other bright creators of the realistic history of that time. These painters depicted the world from the point of view of scientific ideas of physical vision. The next school of this movement covers the middle of the 19^th century, and stands for realistic depiction of nature and natural phenomena by means of painting nature directly from the real world. The main representatives of the movement are Camille Corot, Charles-François Daubigny, Pierre-Etienne-Théodore Rousseau and others. And the last school of realistic movement is represented by a Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which existed in the second half of the 19^th century. The main representatives of this trend are such British painters as John William Waterhouse, Arthur Hughes, John Everett Millais and other significant artists. The basic features of this trend were the desire to depict the natural world, thus they represented natural landscapes in their works; the colors and details were depicted with such accuracy that the images in pictures seemed to become alive; the colors were vary natural and soft.

The movement of realism was spread all over Europe and the United States of America. Thus the representation of the actual world was one of the basic principles of the movement. Thereby Coubert painted in a specific manner which made obvious his interest “in reality in its various manifestations” (Stremmel 6). The representative of the American movement of realism James Abbott McNeill Whistler created a new vision of the grace and power of the ocean in his work “Symphony in Grey and Green: The Ocean”. Thus the movement of realism represents specific views and ideas of depiction of objects. The most obvious and bright techniques involve the description of natural landscapes from real actual world life without idealizing, misrepresenting or distorting it. The people in the pictures of realists are depicted in their habitual actions, some interesting eye-catching moves of common people or models sitting for a portrait. The essential basis of techniques involved not only extreme accuracy of colors and details in various depictions of natural phenomena, people and all together, but also the high brightness of colors and their real to life presentation. The realists from some schools demanded the use of scientific conception of vision in order to reach the most significant results in the depiction of nature and people. The main goal of the movement of realism was to use experience of depiction, and to improve it by involving new more accurate techniques and methods in order to achieve the brightest colors and the most accurate details.

Works Cited

“Realism.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2009. Web.

“Realism: Main Representatives”. HuntFor.com. 2007. Web.

Stremmel, Kerstin, and Uta Grosenick. Realism. Cologne: Taschen, 2004.

What Is A Magical Realism?

Magical realism is a style of literature that was used in the 1920s to refer to the school of painters, which was an extraordinary thing that people in their day-to-day life experienced. It is a myth, fantasy, reality, and magic all combined. The term magical realism is often confused with expressionism and surrealism. Expressionism is an art’s style meant to show or reveal some human feelings, for example, expressing sadness, poverty, happiness, and depression (García 45).

In 1903, Picasso came up with the work, The Blind’s Man Meal, which showed the meaning of expressionism and magical realism. He expressed how poor the blind man is. Surrealism is an art and literature movement; contrary to the dream where one shows the at he or she thinks by presenting images. Magical realism, therefore, is expressionism where an individual expresses his or her feelings freely. In magical realism, for example, the feeling one expresses in dancing is happiness while in certain music the feeling expressed is sorrowfulness (Eugenia 16-20).

Development of Magical Realism

Several people who are authors in the world have created the term magical realism, which has received global acceptance. For many years, the term has been used in America, Africa, Australia, and Europe. The term was seen as regional literature limited to the Latin American writers but it has been widened to be seen as a worldwide phenomenon.

Also, it is the latest development of the latest centuries and is seen as a modern fiction internationally (Eugenia 16-20). The concept of loreal Maravillas was introduced in 1949 to the Americans where the foundations of magical realism were traced from the art world. In this essay, the concept was criticized analytically based on its theoretical movement, cultures and text citations from Latin America, Australia, Africa and Asia (Franz 2).

In this essay, the development of magical realism focuses on Latin America, which is traced back from the discovery of America. Most of the authors of this subject are Latin Americans. Tzvetan Todorov wrote about Columbus in 1492 arguing that America is a miraculous world with a lot of magic. The different narratives he had seen while traveling had influenced Columbus, and due to this, he had imaginary views of America. He said that he saw men and women with animal heads and were masculine respectively (Eugenia 22).

The German Franz Roh was the first man to use the term magical realism in an official way in 1925. He applied magical realism to the paintings he was studying. In addition, during the time, there arose many artists in Germany such as Otto Dix. Roh gave different criteria of the term magical realism and compared to the expressionism and the post-expressionism. In fact, the present-day definition of the term came from the categories that Roh gave (Eugenia 24).

Henri Rousseu in his paintings went deeper to explore magical realism. 1886-1910 was the period this French artist, explored the term. Other artists who explored this concept are Guenther from Austria in 1909, and Joan Miro in 1918, 1922s and 1930s in Paris whose paintings were criticized as naive (Eugenia 25).

Giorgio De Chirico from Italy was seen as the most important magical realists by Roh in his attempt to prove the real things to be unreal in 1888 to 1978. He pioneered the 20th-century movement of magical realism. Forty years from 1920, other artists in Italy came up with their paintings and other arts, which expressed magical reality (Eugenia 26).

The decades between 1910 and 1940, saw the French artists express magical realism in their paintings, for instance, Pierre Roy. However, the aspect of magical realism went down when surrealism came to the board and focused by most artists (Eugenia 27).

George Grosz is another painter who used magical realism to express day-to-day life. The subjects of his paintings were drawn from daily life. Through his works, he wanted to show people the miracles and magic in the real world. In the year 1930, so many Latin American had explored magic realism (Addison 31). The painter Amaral from Brazil in 1886 to 1973 produced the works, which showed the magic realism. His works had features such as enormous arms and the use of strong colors (Eugenia 29).

Lino Spilimbergo is another painter from Argentina who drew arts of the physical nature of Argentina from 1896 to 1964. He used the magical realism style in his works. His works were there to show life in a real situation (Eugenia 29). In addition to the artists by men, other artworks by women were done in the magical realism style.

In the 1940s, many women became painters because by then, they had learned to be professional in different fields of study and art was among them. Georgia O’ Keeffe is one of the women artists from America who painted flowers that portrayed the body of a woman. This happened in the last century where the bones of animals she painted in the 1920s in Mexico had both the elements of magic and reality (Eugenia 30).

Apart from women painters, another group is the exiled professional artists from Mexico who made paints reflecting bible stories, for example, Leonora Carrington in 1940. To date, many artists, writers, and painters explore their subjects of study by use of magical realism. It has been a style of literature to make the theme more understandable and interesting (Eugenia 16-20).

Authors Who Have Used Magical Realism and Their Works

Most of the well-known authors who used the style of magical realism in their works come from Latin America. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of the many Latin American writers who used this style in his works. In his books, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Leaf Storm, In Evil Hour, and the pages of Macondo, Marquez used this style of literature extensively. Although he said that he was trying to avoid overuse arguing that it is too limiting, it was unavoidable because the works were fictions. Gabriel who is a journalist was born in Colombia and won the Nobel Prize in 1982 for Literature. He is a pioneer of the Latin America Boom.

Other well-known authors who used magical realism as a style of realism to express fiction in their books are Sarah Addison who wrote about an apple tree, which produces magical fruits. The book is entitled Garden Spells, Haruki Murakami’s book entitled Kafka on The Shore, which was about two teenage boys who went away from home and a Mexican Laura Esquivel’s book entitled Like Water for Chocolate. The book’s theme is romance (García 1).

Works Cited

Addison, Spells. The Garden Spells. Java: Bantam Publishers, 2007. Print.

Eugenia, Michell. Magical Realism and Latin America: A Masters Project. Maine: University of Maine, 2003. Print.

Franz, Roh. Magical Realism: Theory, History, Community. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995. Print.

García, Gabriel. Good Reads: The Popular Magic Realism Books. Bones: Good reads Inc, 2012. Print.

Realism is one of the genres of art that originated due to the social questions of a particular era. This movement appeared in France in the 1840s as a reaction to changes in the government, military, and economic spheres (“Realism”). Édouard Manet, Gustave Courbet, Ilya Repin, Edward Hopper, and other representatives of early realism contributed significantly to the formation of this style of art. Among the most outstanding works created by the figures, it is possible to note “Olympia” by Manet, “Barge Haulers on the Volga” by Rrepin, or “Morning Sun” by Hopper, and these canvases are known worldwide.

Regarding my perception of realism as an art movement, I see it as a natural step that developed after the fantasy and fictional ideas of romanticism. It is clear why this genre has gained significant popularity – it was a reaction to the bored fictional images. I like the reality of the images presented by the figures of this trend because their practical techniques help emphasize specific nuances – the play of light and shadow, space organization, and other features. The only thing that is hard for me to understand is the verge of themes that painters can touch. In addition, I do not like some artists’ directness that is not supported by any background because a piece of art without a certain subtext seems insignificant. Nevertheless, when analyzing realism as a movement, one can note that it does not apply to fabulous plots and, as a rule, represents familiar objects and scenes. As an example, in Figure 1, the outstanding “Morning Sun” canvas by Edward Hopper is presented.

This work is an example of late realism without any reference to previous genres. Hopper created this canvas at the sunset of his creative career when he was 70, and the details of the painting, in particular, the woman’s turned face to the sun can reflect the painter’s personal state (“Edward Hopper”). Looking into the distance as hope and a psychological overtone make viewers think about what objects are outside the window, and Hopper manages to convey some tension in such a simple plot.

Works Cited

“Edward Hopper – Important Art.” The Art Story. Web.

Hopper, Edward. Morning Sun. 1952. Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus. Edward Hopper: Paintings, Biography, and Quotes. Web.

“Realism – History and Concepts.” The Art Story. Web.

Realism can be defined as a type of art that emphasizes the way people or objects are represented in a natural environment. Unlike idealistic forms of art, it is devoid of mythical or unreal subjects. Édouard Manet is regarded as one of the pioneer painters of modern art. He is said to be responsible for bridging the gap between realism and impressionism. Manet grew up under the tutorage of Thomas Couture. He later abandoned the work of his teacher and started his own style of painting.

Manet broke away from traditional methods of painting by making sure that his colors were not built into a single glaze. If we consider Édouard Manet to be a realist, his reality differs from that of Courbet and Millet in that Courbet and Millet dwelt more on the challenges faced in rural areas while Manet concentrated on day-to-day activities of the people in his town.

Manet’s work attracted a lot of criticism throughout his career. The painter had a vision of ensuring that his work reflected the real life activities of the people viewing his work. Manet was, however, disappointed when most of his paintings were rejected by the Paris Salon. As an expression of realism, his technique was influenced by scenes from everyday life. He would paint images of people drinking, reading or listening to music. For instance, his first original work, The Absinthe Drinker, showed Collardet, a local alcoholic, standing next to a glass of absinthe and an empty bottle of the same drink lying on the floor. To Manet’s dismay, Couture disapproved the painting and accused Manet of losing his morals.

Another painter who embraced realism was Gustave Courbet. While growing up, Courbet disliked the strictures of the French Academy. This made him concentrate more on rural setups. Unlike Manet, Courbet usually painted realistic scenes from the countryside. Before entering politics, Courbet had gained fame through his work. One of his famous paintings was A Burial At Ornans. This piece of art was a realistic account of a relative’s funeral which he had attended in his rural town of Ornans. Critics lashed out at the artist stating that the painting lacked a sentimental rhetoric. To them, Courbet failed to include theatrical gestures of mourners which raised the question of whether they were actually grieving. However, this did not deter Courbet and he proceeded to present the painting to the Salon. To his amazement, the painting was accepted with a lot of acclaim and saw him achieve instant fame.

Jean-François Millet was another French painter who engineered the realism art movement. Millet style of realism was different from Manet’s in that he usually painted images of the hardships that peasants went through.

The Gleaners was one of his most famous paintings. In the painting, three women are seen gleaning in the wheat fields under the scorching sun. A group of harvesters can be seen in the background piling up plentiful amounts of wheat while a supervisor keeps an eye on them. As an expression of realism, the painting was meant to convey the message that although women from the lowest social classes occupied the same canvas as members of the upper classes, they would never have a chance of accessing the same resources. The painting was, of course, received with criticism by members of the French upper classes. Millet and Courbet’s styles of realism differ slightly from that of Manet. However, it is safe to say that their ideas of realism played a major role in modernizing art.

Introduction

There are three main periods in the history of art (Realism, Naturalism, and Modernism), and each of them has its worldview that is manifesting through its works. Understanding the differences between them helps a person orient themselves in the culture more confidently and see the whole picture, reflecting streams of imagination of their time.

Main body

Naturalism is an exaggerated part of Realism, while Modernism differs from them principally—the former two accent the outside world where their characters and plots take action. Modernism speculates more on the inner dimensions of human consciousness and soul when the external aspect of history is in the background. It is crucially important to understand that such a transition from one principle to another is not a coincidence and depicts changes in interpreting the world and humans.

Realism reflects reality literally as a social and mundane one trying not to dramatize or romanticize it. It appeared in the nineteenth century in France and Russia and moved away from Romanticism, emphasizing the description of everyday experience. Realist recognizes the most common for all people, and that makes Realism a genre of social progress (Newlin, 2019, 2). It takes its place in a period of significant changes in the structure of society (the transition from monarchy to democracy), reflecting situations without embellishments.

The realism movement in art is a product of the ideological and philosophical spirit of its time. The nineteenth century is a time of radical rebellion and rejection of traditional ideas and life patterns in all aspects (Newlin 4). Now people build their world according to the scientific, empirical, and secular rules first formulated by philosophers. The most spectacular examples of this change are revolutions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (The French Revolution, Russian Revolution, and others) and show a paradigmatic shift.

Naturalism is a type of extreme Realism that postulates scientific determinism and objectivism. “Naturalism sought to go further and be more explanatory than Realism by identifying the underlying causes for a person’s actions or beliefs” (West and Patterson 45). Thus, Realism concentrates on representing the shared experience, suggesting that a person acts spontaneously in response to one or another situation. Naturalism emphasizes that humans are not free in their actions, using science that does not leave a person free will.

Naturalism is a logical result of the development of Realism as the latter derives from a secular context that denies dignity. It relies on the Darwinian evolutionary theory, using it in a social dimension, even though Darwin never did this (West and Patterson 45). This fact moves a form of Social Darwinism that was unavoidable because free will used to be sanctioned only by divine law earlier.

Modernism may be characterized as a movement of departure from traditional art forms in search of something new in the new world. It differs from Realism and Naturalism in choosing the main object of the narrative. If objectivity was a primary field of unfolding events for those two movements, Modernism is essential to reflect the inner human world. O’Callaghan notes that “modernist art is concerned with the interior world of things, no matter how banal” (13). Indeed, it again reflects the contemporary ideological, intellectual, philosophical, and psychological context resulting from “God’s death” (Nietzsche). In addition to new techniques and styles, something new was to shift the attention into introspective mode as the inner person’s problems grew and demanded attention.

Conclusion

To conclude, Realism, Naturalism, and Modernism are three periods in the history of art in cause-and-effect relationships. Realism was the first to break the link with Romanticism and concentrated on the reflection of social objectivity. Naturalism is its extreme form that went more profoundly in nature of human behavior and postulated determinism. Modernism is the movement in search of new forms of art, and it emphasizes the interior world. These three periods show that art is closely linked to its contemporary context, which is necessary to know in order to understand it.

Works Cited

Newline, K. The Oxford Handbook of American Literary Realism. Oxford University Press, 2019.

O’Callaghan, K. Essays on Music and Language in Modernist Literature. Musical Modernism. Taylor & Francis, 2018.

West, R. and Patterson, B. English Literature. Nineteenth Century. EDTECH, 2018.