romanticism and realism essay

Romanticism vs Realism – What’s the Difference?

Few art movements had as much of an impact on the trajectory of art and painting since the Renaissance era as Romanticism and Realism.

These two art periods took place in the 19th century and were heavily influenced by the new and fast-evolving world that had been transformed by the Industrial Revolution.

Artists began to seek to capture the world around them with great accuracy while others sought to portray works that centered around one’s emotional connection to the world.

This newfound sense of Romanticism encouraged artists to paint works in which they would explore their own imagination and push the bounds of what was real and what was fiction.

In this article, we will explore both Realism and Romanticism as we take a closer look at the driving factors behind both art movements and why they became so popular during the 1800’s.

Romanticism vs Realism

The main difference between Romanticism and Realism is that Realism pertains to that which was real often scenes from the lives of the lower classes while Romanticism was largely fictionalized and often portrayed scenes that were pure fantasy.

Romanticism Overview

The first of these two art movements was Romanticism, which began in the first few years of the 19th century. The movement is thought to have been sparked by the poems of great literary figures like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who penned masterful works of literary genius in the last few decades of the 1700’s.

These poems drew widespread acclaim for their framing of how the world viewed the poor, as well as nature and how everything was beginning to change with industrial growth in Europe.

The hallmark of Romanticism was that the artist was free to express themselves in whatever way they pleased. It was a movement that was defined by the spontaneous and exploratory measures of artists who worked with the pen, as well as the paintbrush.

The Romanticism era would emerge in art form in England and would soon take hold in Germany and other nearby countries as well.

Some of the first paintings of the Romanticism era were focused on landscapes or seascapes in which painters would create a scene that would involve humans and animals.

These scenes often invoked images that were Gothic in nature and seemed to bring back various themes and figures from Greek or Roman mythology.

Many artists would portray their modern-day figures and landscapes with a distinctive mythological twist with women appearing like robed goddesses and men having the muscular physique that was common among portrayals of Greek gods.

Romanticism revived the sense of religious or nationalist themes by using these embellished methods of depiction that invoked Greek or Roman mythology in their paintings.

The result was a litany of works that were beautifully dramatic and told the story of just how the artist felt about a certain idea or event.

Realism Overview

Realism didn’t truly emerge until the mid-19th century when the Industrial Revolution had begun to pick up considerable steam throughout Europe.

Romanticism had been the dominant form of artistic expression throughout Europe for a couple generations and artists were very much growing tired of the same over-the-top style of portrayal and classical imagery that was common.

Realism broke through this fanciful style of depiction and presented the world exactly as it was.

Most artists quickly realized that by painting the world around them in exact, accurate detail, they would be creating works that had truly never been done before because much of the industrialized world had never been captured in paintings.

Photography had not come about yet and it was painters who first sought to capture the world around them in a way that documented people, places, things and events in a way that told a story to those who were viewing these works.

The artists who worked during this Realism period can be very closely compared to journalists in that they felt a strong sense of duty to their fellow man to display certain scenes or subject matter in a way that gave viewers an honest and accurate view of them—regardless of how the artist felt about them.

This was very much a novel approach that grew like wildfire across Europe and in the United States.

As Realism grew and changed, artists would move further away from portraying the more pleasant scenes of European and American cities and landscapes and move closer toward depicting the world in all its grandeur, as well as paltriness.

After Realism had been around for a few decades, artists had increasingly moved toward painting scenes of hardship and despair that plagued the poor and disenfranchised class of people that were so often neglected by the public as a whole.

Major Differences in Romanticism and Realism

Romanticism came about through artists pursuing their own desire to push the boundaries of emotional expression in their paintings.

The Romanticism era was defined by a deep affinity towards nature during a time when the industrial world seemed to creep into every part of life for Europeans and Americans.

This industrial complex is tied to the worldly view that man must rely on his own skill and prowess in order to advance himself and his fellow humans.

Romanticism, however, turned that view around and placed much more emphasis on nature as the most powerful force in the world. Many of the paintings that came from the earliest years of the Romanticism movement involved depictions of vast swaths of natural landscapes.

Many of these landscapes were painted as experiencing a strong weather event like a storm, wind, or rain. This addition of harsh and powerful weather was meant to further emphasize that it was nature—not man—that was the most powerful force in the world.

Romanticism embraced the idea that man was at his best when he was closer to nature. The farther humans got from nature and the closer they drew towards their man-made industrial centers, the more depressed and melancholy they would become.

Artists from the Romanticism era used nature as a symbol of good while the industrialized world was representative of man’s less desirable characteristics.

Realism emerged from the Romanticism movement as a means for artists to embrace the truth about the world around them instead of pushing a belief system that would become more fantastical as the movement went on.

Realism offered the opportunity for artists to paint their subjects and scenery without the pressure of embellishing it with their own emotional connection or lack thereof. Instead, artists were encouraged to capture the world around them just as it looked in order to show others what the world really looked like.

According to many art historians and critics, this era of Realism was long overdue and was very much a breath of fresh air for artists who had long studied many different art movements and styles.

These previous art movements always involved placing great importance on the need to include the artist’s own emotions and views into the subject matter.

Realism then existed as a means for artists to accurately capture the world around them with great purpose. Many artists saw a sense of duty to their fellow humans to accurately portray the world around them and bring to light certain things that were often hidden from view.

The most prevalent of these previously-hidden aspects of society was how hard life actually was for the poor. Artists saw their ability to paint the lives and activities of the poor as a means to shine a light on their plight and hope to spark some sort of change that would bring them out of poverty.

While the differences between Romanticism and Realism are often boiled down to that which is imagined and that which is real, there are many other deep differences between these two movements.

There had never been two art styles of movements that were essentially so different in both philosophy and actual portrayal as Realism and Romanticism.

As many art historians have noted, Realism is an era that would go on to inspire many modern artists to focus on depicting subjects in an effort to improve human existence and eliminate poverty.

This shift from the imagined to what was real is one of the most drastic changes between two art movements in history. Much of today’s efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger in the world can be directly tied back to the Realism era artists and their desire for change.

Realism vs. Romanticism

What's the difference.

Realism and Romanticism are two distinct artistic movements that emerged in the 19th century. Realism focused on depicting everyday life and ordinary people in a straightforward and objective manner, often highlighting social issues and political realities. In contrast, Romanticism emphasized emotion, imagination, and the beauty of nature, often portraying fantastical or idealized scenes. While Realism sought to capture the truth of the world as it is, Romanticism aimed to evoke powerful emotions and inspire a sense of wonder and awe. Despite their differences, both movements played a significant role in shaping the artistic landscape of their time and continue to influence artists today.

Further Detail

Realism and Romanticism are two major literary movements that emerged in the 19th century. Realism is characterized by a focus on depicting everyday life and society as it truly is, without idealization or romanticizing. On the other hand, Romanticism is marked by an emphasis on emotion, imagination, and the individual experience, often glorifying nature and the supernatural.

Realism tends to explore themes such as social class, morality, and the impact of industrialization on society. Realist writers often depict the struggles of ordinary people and the harsh realities of life. In contrast, Romanticism often focuses on themes of nature, love, and the supernatural. Romantic writers are more interested in exploring the inner world of emotions and the power of the imagination.

Realist literature is characterized by its objective and detailed portrayal of everyday life. Realist writers strive for accuracy and authenticity in their descriptions, often using precise language and detailed observations. In contrast, Romantic literature is known for its lyrical and emotional style. Romantic writers use vivid imagery, symbolism, and metaphor to evoke powerful emotions and create a sense of wonder.

Characterization

In Realism, characters are often depicted as ordinary people facing the challenges of everyday life. Realist writers focus on the complexities of human nature and behavior, portraying characters in a nuanced and realistic way. On the other hand, Romanticism often features larger-than-life characters who are driven by passion, imagination, and a sense of adventure. Romantic writers tend to idealize their characters and emphasize their heroic qualities.

Realist literature is typically set in urban or industrial environments, reflecting the rapid changes brought about by modernization. Realist writers often explore the impact of these changes on society and individuals. In contrast, Romantic literature often takes place in natural or rural settings, emphasizing the beauty and power of nature. Romantic writers use the natural world as a backdrop to explore themes of freedom, spirituality, and the sublime.

Realism is rooted in the belief that literature should reflect the realities of everyday life and provide a truthful representation of society. Realist writers seek to expose social injustices and challenge conventional beliefs. In contrast, Romanticism is driven by a belief in the power of the individual imagination and the importance of emotion and intuition. Romantic writers value creativity, spontaneity, and the pursuit of personal freedom.

Both Realism and Romanticism have had a lasting impact on literature and art. Realism paved the way for modern literature by emphasizing the importance of objective observation and social critique. Realist writers such as Charles Dickens and Gustave Flaubert are still widely read and studied today. On the other hand, Romanticism has influenced a wide range of artistic movements, from Symbolism to Surrealism. Romantic writers such as William Wordsworth and Edgar Allan Poe continue to inspire readers with their imaginative and emotional works.

Comparisons may contain inaccurate information about people, places, or facts. Please report any issues.

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

• Romanticism

Théodore Gericault

Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct

Alfred Dedreux (1810–1860) as a Child

The Start of the Race of the Riderless Horses

Horace Vernet

Jean-Louis-André-Théodore Gericault (1791–1824)

Inundated Ruins of a Monastery

Karl Blechen

Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds

John Constable

Eugène Delacroix

Royal Tiger

Stormy Coast Scene after a Shipwreck

French Painter

Mother and Child by the Sea

Johan Christian Dahl

The Natchez

Wanderer in the Storm

Julius von Leypold

The Abduction of Rebecca

Jewish Woman of Algiers Seated on the Ground

Théodore Chassériau

The Virgin Adoring the Host

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Ovid among the Scythians

Kathryn Calley Galitz Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2004

Romanticism, first defined as an aesthetic in literary criticism around 1800, gained momentum as an artistic movement in France and Britain in the early decades of the nineteenth century and flourished until mid-century. With its emphasis on the imagination and emotion, Romanticism emerged as a response to the disillusionment with the Enlightenment values of reason and order in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1789. Though often posited in opposition to Neoclassicism , early Romanticism was shaped largely by artists trained in Jacques Louis David’s studio, including Baron Antoine Jean Gros, Anne Louis Girodet-Trioson, and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. This blurring of stylistic boundaries is best expressed in Ingres’ Apotheosis of Homer and Eugène Delacroix’s Death of Sardanapalus (both Museé du Louvre, Paris), which polarized the public at the Salon of 1827 in Paris. While Ingres’ work seemingly embodied the ordered classicism of David in contrast to the disorder and tumult of Delacroix, in fact both works draw from the Davidian tradition but each ultimately subverts that model, asserting the originality of the artist—a central notion of Romanticism.

In Romantic art, nature—with its uncontrollable power, unpredictability, and potential for cataclysmic extremes—offered an alternative to the ordered world of Enlightenment thought. The violent and terrifying images of nature conjured by Romantic artists recall the eighteenth-century aesthetic of the Sublime. As articulated by the British statesman Edmund Burke in a 1757 treatise and echoed by the French philosopher Denis Diderot a decade later, “all that stuns the soul, all that imprints a feeling of terror, leads to the sublime.” In French and British painting of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the recurrence of images of shipwrecks ( 2003.42.56 ) and other representations of man’s struggle against the awesome power of nature manifest this sensibility. Scenes of shipwrecks culminated in 1819 with Théodore Gericault’s strikingly original Raft of the Medusa (Louvre), based on a contemporary event. In its horrifying explicitness, emotional intensity, and conspicuous lack of a hero, The Raft of the Medusa became an icon of the emerging Romantic style. Similarly, J. M. W. Turner’s 1812 depiction of Hannibal and his army crossing the Alps (Tate, London), in which the general and his troops are dwarfed by the overwhelming scale of the landscape and engulfed in the swirling vortex of snow, embodies the Romantic sensibility in landscape painting. Gericault also explored the Romantic landscape in a series of views representing different times of day; in Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct ( 1989.183 ), the dramatic sky, blasted tree, and classical ruins evoke a sense of melancholic reverie.

Another facet of the Romantic attitude toward nature emerges in the landscapes of John Constable , whose art expresses his response to his native English countryside. For his major paintings, Constable executed full-scale sketches, as in a view of Salisbury Cathedral ( 50.145.8 ); he wrote that a sketch represents “nothing but one state of mind—that which you were in at the time.” When his landscapes were exhibited in Paris at the Salon of 1824, critics and artists embraced his art as “nature itself.” Constable’s subjective, highly personal view of nature accords with the individuality that is a central tenet of Romanticism.

This interest in the individual and subjective—at odds with eighteenth-century rationalism—is mirrored in the Romantic approach to portraiture. Traditionally, records of individual likeness, portraits became vehicles for expressing a range of psychological and emotional states in the hands of Romantic painters. Gericault probed the extremes of mental illness in his portraits of psychiatric patients, as well as the darker side of childhood in his unconventional portrayals of children. In his portrait of Alfred Dedreux ( 41.17 ), a young boy of about five or six, the child appears intensely serious, more adult than childlike, while the dark clouds in the background convey an unsettling, ominous quality.

Such explorations of emotional states extended into the animal kingdom, marking the Romantic fascination with animals as both forces of nature and metaphors for human behavior. This curiosity is manifest in the sketches of wild animals done in the menageries of Paris and London in the 1820s by artists such as Delacroix, Antoine-Louis Barye, and Edwin Landseer. Gericault depicted horses of all breeds—from workhorses to racehorses—in his work. Lord Byron’s 1819 tale of Mazeppa tied to a wild horse captivated Romantic artists from Delacroix to Théodore Chassériau, who exploited the violence and passion inherent in the story. Similarly, Horace Vernet, who exhibited two scenes from Mazeppa in the Salon of 1827 (both Musée Calvet, Avignon), also painted the riderless horse race that marked the end of the Roman Carnival, which he witnessed during his 1820 visit to Rome. His oil sketch ( 87.15.47 ) captures the frenetic energy of the spectacle, just before the start of the race. Images of wild, unbridled animals evoked primal states that stirred the Romantic imagination.

Along with plumbing emotional and behavioral extremes, Romantic artists expanded the repertoire of subject matter, rejecting the didacticism of Neoclassical history painting in favor of imaginary and exotic subjects. Orientalism and the worlds of literature stimulated new dialogues with the past as well as the present. Ingres’ sinuous odalisques ( 38.65 ) reflect the contemporary fascination with the exoticism of the harem, albeit a purely imagined Orient, as he never traveled beyond Italy. In 1832, Delacroix journeyed to Morocco, and his trip to North Africa prompted other artists to follow. In 1846, Chassériau documented his visit to Algeria in notebooks filled with watercolors and drawings, which later served as models for paintings done in his Paris studio ( 64.188 ). Literature offered an alternative form of escapism. The novels of Sir Walter Scott, the poetry of Lord Byron, and the drama of Shakespeare transported art to other worlds and eras. Medieval England is the setting of Delacroix’s tumultuous Abduction of Rebecca ( 03.30 ), which illustrates an episode from Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe .

In its stylistic diversity and range of subjects, Romanticism defies simple categorization. As the poet and critic Charles Baudelaire wrote in 1846, “Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor in exact truth, but in a way of feeling.”

Galitz, Kathryn Calley. “Romanticism.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/roma/hd_roma.htm (October 2004)

Further Reading

Brookner, Anita. Romanticism and Its Discontents . New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux; : , 2000.

Honour, Hugh. Romanticism . New York: Harper & Row, 1979.

Additional Essays by Kathryn Calley Galitz

• Galitz, Kathryn Calley. “ The Legacy of Jacques Louis David (1748–1825) .” (October 2004)
• Galitz, Kathryn Calley. “ Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) .” (May 2009)
• Galitz, Kathryn Calley. “ The French Academy in Rome .” (October 2003)

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Romantics and Realists

Overview Romantic has always been an elusive label -- in 1836 one wag concluded that romanticism "consisted in not shaving, and in wearing vests with heavily starched lapels." Delacroix, who in fact declined to identify himself as a romantic, is often set opposite the "classical" Ingres. Yet both produced romantic works exploring literary, historical, or purely imaginary, often exotic, themes: Delacroix with freely painted, energetic compositions and vivid color, Ingres with carefully controlled but evocative contours and highly refined surfaces. More than defining a style, romanticism suggests an inspiration in the creative imagination and an intense, personal response. In 1846 the poet and critic Charles Baudelaire answered his own question "What is romanticism?" by calling it "a manner of feeling." For realist artists in the next generation, on the other hand, the painter was to be guided by observation. "Painting is an essentially concrete art," Courbet wrote in 1861, "and can only consist in the representation of real and existent things. It is a wholly physical language, which uses visible objects instead of words; the abstract , invisible and nonexistent, lies outside the scope of painting." He adopted as subjects the events and people of ordinary life and elevated them to a stature previously reserved for themes from the Bible, ancient history, or mythology. It was an affront to the arts establishment, compounded by the way in which he painted, with rough texture and the offhand look of accidental compositions. A similar bias for fact was already at work in landscape painting. Abandoning the idealization that had long characterized French landscapes, "modern" landscapists -- including Courbet -- depicted real, even unremarkable places with the freshness of direct observation.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres , French, 1780 - 1867, Pope Pius VII in the Sistine Chapel , 1814, oil on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.23

This small canvas is one of a series of cavalrymen Géricault painted between 1812 and 1814. It is difficult to categorize Géricault's horsemen: neither true portraits nor genre scenes, they are more finished than studies yet not fully independent works. They convey the romantic excitement of battle and the glamour of military uniforms in the Napoleonic era. Géricault studied his subjects -- and they are more often trumpeters than soldiers -- with precision. The heroism of French expansion throughout Europe was soon reduced to disillusion and despair as the allied opposition gained the upper hand in 1814. Here Géricault seems to have been preoccupied in the painting itself, in a lively handling of pigments and the working out of his design. Notice the soft spots of color on the center horse's muzzle and the long, rippling streaks in its tail. This painting shows the influence of the Flemish and Italian artists he was copying in the Louvre. Géricault's trumpeter and his mount reflect elements taken from Rubens and Van Dyck. The energetic styles of these baroque artists and their emphasis of color were well matched to a sensibility that valued inspiration and emotion.

Théodore Gericault , French, 1791 - 1824, Mounted Trumpeters of Napoleon's Imperial Guard , 1813/1814, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Fund, 1972.25.1

Though less well-known than other painters on this tour, Horace Vernet was regarded by many in his day as one of the greatest French artists of all time. Horace's forthright and accurate reporting of facts was already being disparaged by some romantic critics before his death -- and more recently he has been compared to Norman Rockwell. Increasingly, however, his naturalism is appreciated as foreshadowing the work of realists like Courbet. This painting was made in Italy after Vernet had been appointed director of the French Academy in Rome. Following the July Revolution of 1830, which installed "Citizen King" Louis Philippe, Vernet found himself the most senior French official in the city -- an uncomfortable post, given the antipathy of the pope and Italian public toward a more liberal French monarchy. It was often advantageous to be out of town, and the painter's love of hunting offered frequent opportunities. Here, tiny figures are overshadowed by the wild landscape -- an ancient wooded marsh some forty kilometers from Rome. Vernet described it as a majestic place, where the presence of man did not interrupt the order of nature.

Horace Vernet , French, 1789 - 1863, Hunting in the Pontine Marshes , 1833, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Fund, 1989.3.1

At first there seems to be something a bit incongruous here. The forest is rough, almost wild, but a young woman lies on the ground to read. Her blouse falls perilously low, but her book has the look of a biblical text. Viewers who saw this at the Salon in 1834, however, would have quickly recognized the woman as Mary Magdalene from her book, the deer, and especially her long tresses. Corot apparently added the figure as an afterthought -- she is painted over bits of foliage and water -- probably to elevate his landscape in the hierarchy of the Salon. By introducing a narrative element, and a religious one at that, his subject would be accorded greater prestige and justify the large size of his canvas. Today, Corot is most appreciated for very different kinds of landscape: for plein air sketches, never destined to be exhibited themselves but painted outdoors in preparation for studio pictures, and for lyrical views of the countryside he called souvenirs . The soft, silvery souvenirs recapture a poetic response to nature. Their fresh touch and light atmosphere are informed by outdoor studies and combined with a strong sense of form retained from classical French landscapes of the seventeenth century. Corot's work was an important influence on younger impressionist painters.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot , French, 1796 - 1875, Forest of Fontainebleau , 1834, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.109

In the 1840s Troyon worked with other landscape painters centered in the village of Barbizon in the forest of Fontainebleau. This group had emerged from the so-called Generation of 1830, young painters who as the July Revolution was deposing a conservative monarch were themselves overturning long-held traditions of French landscape painting. They had been influenced by John Constable's panoramic views of the English countryside, two of which had been shown at the Paris Salon of 1824, which encouraged them to express nature without academic convention or idealization. Here Troyon has depicted an ordinary, if beautiful place in a straightforward way. Preparing for the last ferry crossing before a storm, country people look at the looming, dark sky. The air is filled with the approaching storm -- more than anything else this is the "subject." If the Barbizon painters' unembellished themes offended tradition, so did their manner of painting. The texture of the paint is clearly visible, helping to convey the scene's rustic character. This free handling of paint, along with a feeling for light in all its variations, was to be an inspiration for the impressionists. But the Barbizon painters were not interested in nature's fleeting effects, but sought out the rugged and enduring unity beneath its changing aspects.

Constant Troyon , French, 1810 - 1865, The Approaching Storm , 1849, oil on canvas on board, Chester Dale Fund, 1995.42.1

The hero, the individual of talent and passion who follows a difficult, solitary path to greatness, was central to romanticism. Here is Columbus at the final moment of frustration before his ultimate triumph. Almost penniless, he and his son have sought shelter in the monastery of La Rábida, where, according to legendary accounts, word of the fateful meeting with Queen Isabella would soon arrive. Calm rectangular forms dominate: the juncture of walls and ceiling, the parade of dark canvases down the hall, the large map that Columbus contemplates. The figure groups have solid geometrical form. Even the colors are quiet: the monks' habits, the soft light and brown shadows -- only the plume of Columbus' hat, which points to him as protagonist, interrupts this muted range. Neither the tone nor composition matches our image of Delacroix as the champion of color and exuberant form. More typical of his work, for example, are the bright color accents and dynamic zigzagging energy of Arabs Skirmishing . Columbus and His Son is one of a pair -- the second painting (Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio), much richer in color and effect, shows the explorer returning in triumph -- and it seems likely that Delacroix wanted to underscore radically opposed circumstances by corresponding differences in feel.

Eugène Delacroix , French, 1798 - 1863, Christopher Columbus and His Son at La Rábida , 1838, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.127

In 1832 Delacroix accompanied a French diplomatic mission to Morocco. His five months in North Africa would provide inspiration for the rest of his life. The exoticism and the vicarious thrill of this violent subject are typical of romantic art. While in Morocco Delacroix had painted watercolors and filled notebooks with sketches recording details of landscape and Arab dress, but he wrote later that "I did not begin to do passable work in my trip to Africa until the moment when I had sufficiently forgotten the small details to recall in my pictures only the striking and poetic aspect: up to that point I was haunted by that love of exactitude which people are apt to mistake for truth." In this painting details are muted, subsumed into atmosphere and the energy of the attack. It has the look of a quick improvisation, yet a close look reveals how carefully painted it is. In distant bluffs, small touches of color enliven the luminous haze. In the middle range, figures and surroundings merge into one mélange of color, where churning brushstrokes convey the turbulence of action. And in the foreground, brilliant accents of green, blue, and red stand out to produce a closer -- and more dangerous -- sense of reality. Delacroix's free handling of paint and juxtapositions of complementary colors influenced the impressionists.

Eugène Delacroix , French, 1798 - 1863, Arabs Skirmishing in the Mountains , 1863, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Fund, 1966.12.1

During 1869 Courbet had worked along the beaches in Normandy, painting sketches that he later used to produce a number of finished paintings in the studio: "Did I ever earn my bread and butter," he wrote a friend, "I painted twenty seascapes...." Years later,while in exile in Switzerland, he painted more beach scenes, perhaps returning to the same sketches or recalling the landscape from memory. Recent scholarship suggests that this painting is probably one of the later group. The light and air lack the kind of vivid freshness of Courbet's work done while he was still under his immediate impression of a place. The rocky cliff seems generalized rather than defined by its strong highlights. Still, its bulk attracts our attention; our eyes are drawn by the sheer tactile mass of the pigments there. In many places Courbet painted not with a brush, but with a palette knife. His rough technique, like the unsentimentalized peasant subjects he pioneered, scandalized the art establishment -- and helped galvanize the bold style being adopted by younger painters like Manet. Fiercely proud of his rural roots and his country-bred vigor, Courbet retained a forthright and physical connection to the world. He painted the concrete, he said, and he gave what he saw actual physical dimension on his canvas.

Gustave Courbet , French, 1819 - 1877, Beach in Normandy , c. 1872/1875, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.10

Romanticism, Realism, and Modernism in Literature Research Paper

Introduction.

Romanticism, Realism, and modernism are among the most influential literary movements in literature. Romanticism focused on abstract ideas, and Realism aimed to depict real-life scenarios, while modernists revolted against the previous writing styles. The impact of these ideas can be seen in modern literature and works such as “After the Ball,” which showcases a scenario of the Regency England servant’s life. This paper will analyze the impact of Romanticism, Realism, and Modernism on modern literature.

Romantic literature is characterized by several key traits, such as a love of nature, an emphasis on the individual and spirituality, a celebration of solitude and sadness, an interest in the common man, an idealization of women, and a pathetic fallacy and personification. Nature was viewed by romantic authors as a teacher and a source of boundless beauty. The poem “To Autumn” by John Keats is one of the most well-known examples of Romanticism. Keats personifies the season and charts its development from its initial appearance following the summer through the harvest season and finally to the conclusion of fall as winter is about to start.

A literary movement known as Realism, which began in the middle of the 19th century, emphasized realistic, true, and relevant subject matter as a reaction against Romanticism. The romantic age, or romantic literature, was frequently characterized by magical tales that were perceived by many to be disconnected from reality. In contrast to this, Realism was a development from Romanticism into more relatable circumstances and narratives in literature. The utilization of familiar, commonplace individuals and circumstances served as a powerful example of Realism in writing.

French author Stendhal is renowned for his role in promoting the Realist literary movement. Along with other authors, he produced characters and circumstances that were understandable to regular people. In typical settings and eras, middle- and lower-class people were frequently the center of Realism. Subjects and backgrounds of Realism in American literature and beyond were influenced by industrialism, history, racism, social mobility, war, and the burgeoning scientific fields of the century.

Realism appealed to a wide spectrum of readers since the aforementioned list was symbolic of actual issues and events that people dealt with at the time and are still dealing with now. By the middle of the 20th century, Literary Realism as a movement had ended (“Realism”). However, it served as an inspiration for later authors who continued to try to depict characters and circumstances that readers could relate to. Next, modernistic literature gained popularity as the 19th and 20th centuries came to a close. Modernism was a revolt against Realism, which had very abstract writing. The authors of the era experimented and employed novel methods.

For example, the author of “After the Ball” uses realism themes to describe a situation happening in the Regency England era. The main character of this short story is placed into real-life circumstances, which links this work to Realism. However, she also reflects on her life and future in the following dialogue: “What hope do I have for a future? Last evening, I overheard many young women lamenting their limited options for suitable husbands.” Hence, this work shows some of the more modern ideas and prompts the reader to think about topics beyond real-life situations.

In summary, the three movements discussed in the paper had very different themes and settings, each influencing modern literature. A love of nature, stress on the individual and spirituality, a celebration of solitude and grief, and others are the key characteristics of romantic literature. Industrialism, history, racism, social mobility, war, and the developing scientific fields of the century all had an impact on literary Realism in American literature and literature. Modernism was a revolution against Realism and abstract writing.

“ Realism .” Encyclopedia Britannica . Web.

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Bibliography

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