The
Rise of Modernism
Art of the Later 19th Century
REALISM:
“Unvarnished TRUTH”
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Industrialization of Europe and U.S.
about 1850
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Later 19th Century CONTEXT
Industrial Revolution: new building materials, social unrest 
URBANIZATION:
cities grew, rural dwellers moved into cities for factory jobs.
Emphasis on Science and progress.
Empiricism= knowledge based on observation and direct
experience
Invention of photography
REALISM: depicting life as it actually occurs – without myth
or glory
MODERNISM= deals with present
- artists examine the definition and role of art itself- what is Art?
Avante Garde= artists rejected past and pushed boundaries
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Figure 29-1 GUSTAVE COURBET, The Stone Breakers, 1849. Oil on
canvas, 5’ 3” x 8’ 6”. Formerly at Gemäldegalerie, Dresden (destroyed in
1945).
Gustave Courbet
Traits= reevaluation
of reality,
(Empiricists), shows
everyday life.
(historical fiction is
unobservable, so it is
bad),
mundane & trivial
subjects treated like
Grand History
painting.
- REJECTED by 1855
Salon Show
Stone Breakers = lowest of society
Style: Not glorified, dirty browns, grays; sense of mechanical monotony
Young and old, little sky
Context: Revolution of 1848= workers rebel against gov’t = placed
workers on center stage
Concept: Ind. Rev. invents new machines for new labor, but can’t liberate
man from backbreaking work
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Figure 29-2 GUSTAVE COURBET, Burial at Ornans, 1849. Oil on canvas, approx. 10’ x 22’.
Louvre, Paris.
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REALISM
Artist=Millet
Barbizon School:
images of peaceful
country life
Gleaners= lowest of
society; collect
leftovers of the harvest
Thought to be a
political manifesto
How does it fit into
the Realist style?
Figure 29-3 JEAN-FRANÇOIS MILLET, The Gleaners, 1857. Oil on canvas, approx. 2’
9” x 3’ 8”. Louvre, Paris.
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Figure 28-68 TIMOTHY O’SULLIVAN, A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1863. Negative
by Timothy O’Sullivan. Original print by ALEXANDER GARDNER, 6 3/8" x 8 3/4". The New York Public
Library (Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, Rare Books and Manuscript Division), New York.
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8
Daumier
-defended working class; produced lithographs= reach broader audience.
Satirical prints criticizing the wealthy
Rue Transnonian:
Narrative of event during Revolution of 1848 = compare to…
sniper shot a military guard; shot came form worker’s housing block. Guards
stormed the building and killed ALL the inhabitants.
Shows the aftermath of the crime scene; based on actual observation:
Figure 29-6 HONORÉ DAUMIER, The Third-Class
Carriage, ca. 1862. Oil on canvas, 2’ 1 3/4” x 2’ 11 1/2”.
Figure 29-4 HONORÉ DAUMIER, Rue Transnonain, 1834.
Lithograph, approx. 1’ x 1’ 5 1/2”. Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia (bequest of Fiske and Marie Kimball).
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Third Class Carriage:
Places the viewer in the poor section of the bus
Great separation between rich and poor,
impersonal and vague like the modern city
Emphasis on line = rough unfinished, raw quality.
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Manet
-Influenced
Impressionism.
-“Salon de Refuses”
-Seated nude =
Victorine (Manet’s
favorite model)
Two men= Manet’s
bro & another artist.
-Criticized - shocking
-woman - unashamed
-“soft focus” of water
in background, loose
brush stroke, harsh
contrast between light
and dark= flattens
forms
-Manet= “light is chief
actor in painting”
Figure 29-7 ÉDOUARD MANET, Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the Grass), 1863.
Oil on canvas, approx. 7’ x 8’ 10”. Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
IS IT REALIST?
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Olympia: Manet
HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL (Olympia= common name for prostitutes).
-Looks
cool,
confident
-Wears
fashionable
objects as
adornment.
-Being presented
w/ flowers from
client
-New goddess=
prostitute.
-Is this Realist?
Figure 29-8 ÉDOUARD MANET, Olympia, 1863. Oil on canvas, 4’ 3” x 6’ 3”. Musée d’Orsay, Paris.13
Horse Fair: BONHEUR
-most celebrated female artist of 19th c.
-Considered a naturalist.
-studied anatomy of animals w/ scientific accuaracy
-“spirit of the horse”, loose brushstrokes.
Figure 29-10 MARIE-ROSALIE (ROSA) BONHEUR, The Horse Fair, 1853–1855. Oil on canvas, 8’ 1/4” x 16’ 7 1/2”.
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TANNER
American
Studied with Eakins.
Portrayed ordinary
people with dignity.
Giving thanks
How is it Realist?
What is artistically
unique about the
brushwork?
What is the mood?
Figure 29-15 HENRY OSSAWA TANNER, The Thankful Poor, 1894. Oil
on canvas, 3’ 8 1/4” x 2’ 11 1/2”.
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1. Realism developed first in which country?
A) France
B) Germany
C) Italy
D) Spain
2. Realism was influenced by all of the following
EXCEPT:
A) Photography
B) Japanese woodblock prints
C) Science
D) Politics
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3. Which artist created the lithograph Rue
Transnonain?
A) Courbet
B) Millet
C) Daumier
D) Manet
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