Bellringer
1.) What is happening in the scene above?
2.) What is the artist trying to SAY in this image?
(literally, emotionally, symbolically?)
The Age of Realism
Why did Realism develop?
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Intellectual Ideas of the period:
•
Materialism:
• Science, technology, and industry can help to understand all truth,
solve all problems, and create happiness for humans.
•
Utilitarianism:
• Virtue is based on utility and conduct should be directed toward
promoting the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
•
Survival of the fittest (Darwinian theory)
• Once applied to animals, now referred
to the survival of businesses
•
Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto
• Everyone is equal: in pay, in status, in goods.
•
Rising standard of living
• Vaccinations, telegraph, public sanitation, electricity allowed for
individuals living in an industrialized world live longer and healthier.
Realism in Visual Arts
•Objective: a truthful objective, scientific, view of the world
•Artists wanted to show society as it really was
(not “Romanticized”)
•Scenes of industrial cities, physical labor, real people who complete
the real work.
•Artist was thought of as a scientific observer of detail
•Movement was heavily influenced by the invention of the camera
What did you learn?

Complete the handout
entitled, “Realism Learning
Guide:Visual Art Content
Check” using your notes.

TURN AND TALK…
◦ 2 Brains
◦ Your notes
◦ Your right answers…
Burial at Ornans
Burial at Ornans
Gustave Courbet
1850
Interior of My Studio – Seven Years of My Life as an
Artist- 1855
The Luncheon on the Grass- 1863
Olympia- 1863
Venus of Urbino
Titian, 1538
Olympia
Édouard Manet, 1863
The Gross
Clinic
1876
Baby at Play 1876
Theater in the Age of Realism
Realism in Theater
• There is significant character development
• Dialogue
•Foreshadowing
•Cause-and-Effect Structure
•sometimes even seemed “plotless”
•no real story but only a focus on the
characters.
•Characters finally seen as individuals
with props that give information on the
character
• Subjects:
•Dismal
•Controversial topics
•topics which Victorian society
attempted to conceal.
•The plays you will study confront and
redefine Victorian gender roles.
Realist Themes
•
Realist Themes:
• Theme One:
• Direct observation of human
behavior and it was to deal with
everyday life and problems as
subjects and themes.
• Theme Two:
• Criticism of societies and the
recognition of the absurdity of life.
• Theme Three:
• A longing for another life that is
either better or different than the
one being lived.
Henrik Ibsen
•1828 – 1906
•Born in Norway
•His plays attacked society’s values and
dealt with unconventional subjects within
the form of the well-made play (causeand-effect structure).
•Wrote about controversial topics of the
time
•(STDs, marriage issues, roles of
women in society)
• James Joyce said Ibsen’s work "has
provoked more discussion and criticism
that of any other living man."
•Famous work: A Doll’s House (1879).
A Doll’s House- Background Knowledge
•
Major Idea: Gender Roles in Victorian
England
• “In terms of gender ideology, the accession
of Victoria (as a Queen) was something of a
paradox. Traditionally, women were defined
physically and intellectually as the 'weaker'
sex, in all ways subordinate to male authority.
In private life women were subject to fathers,
husbands, brothers even adult sons. Publicly,
men dominated all decision-making in
political, legal and economic affairs.”
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/periods_styles/19thcentury/gender
_health/gender_ideology/index.html
•
Famous Work: A Doll’s House
• As you watch this clip, explain how Ibsen
challenges the quote above.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLXkzcR1YK0
Reading:
Why does A Doll’s House still impact us today?

Objective:
◦ Demonstrate your knowledge of the impact of these
plays on Victorian and Contemporary society

Assignment:
◦ Read the summary of the play and answer the
corresponding questions on your handout
 Note: Some of the questions are
 comprehension questions
 (Do you understand the text?)
 while others require you to analyze the impact of the play
 (Do we still struggle with the same issues discussed in the play?)

Time Allotment:
◦ 12 minutes
Homework



Objective:
◦ Create a Realist self-portrait
Requirements:
◦ All subject matter in the
painting must be “Realistic”.
◦ Clean lines… in a setting where
you would occur
◦ Your illustration must take up
an entire sheet of white
computer paper.
◦ Your illustration must use color
and must be drawn.
Point Value: 20 pts
◦ (Equals two percentage points
of your grade)
Exit Slip- Question Summary
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1) Why is the Hay Wain Romantic?
2) Saturn Devouring His Son and The Family of Charles IV were
created during the Romanticism era and by the same artist.
Why are they so different?
3) What is “gesamtkunstwerk?”
4) Listening Check: Identify the composer and the song title.
5) Why are Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia significant to the
world of art?
6) What was the main goal of Realist art?
7) Why is The Burial at Ornans controversial?
8) Who is considered the father of the Realist movement?
9) What technological innovation fueled the Realist Movement?
10) Practice short answer:
◦ List the three innovations made to ballet during the Romantic
period.
◦ Explain why each of these innovations was made and how it reflects
Romanticism in dance.
1.) Why is this painting
Romantic?
A. Cleanliness of nature contrasts with the
filth of the city during the Industrial
Revolution.
B. The use of the Classical style in depicting
the human figure.
C. The focus on chivalry and the supernatural.
D. The ornamentation and bold colors that
the artist has incorporated to attract
attention.
2.)
2.) Both paintings were created during the Romanticism era and by
the same artist. Why are they so different?
A. The artist became mentally ill and wanted to share his
nightmarish visions with the world.
B. The artist lost favor with the royal family and wanted to depict
them being eaten.
C. The artist lost his hearing and as a result became very callous
and began creating nightmarish depictions to reflect his pain.
D. The above statement is incorrect and the painting on the left
actually belongs in the Baroque era.
3.) What is “gesamtkunstwerk?”
A. Wagner’s description of his vision of opera
as a perfect union of theatre, music, dance,
and visual art.
B. A synonym for polyphony combining two
different melodic lines simultaneously.
C. The aspects of music that determines the
variations in of loudness or softness.
D. A form of music in which a theme is
developed usually by counterpoint.

4.) Listening Check: Identify the composer
and the song title.
A. Ride of the Valkyries, Wagner
A. Kill Da Wabbit, Palestrina
B. The Wedding March, Wagner
C. Four Swans, Tchaikovsky
5.) Why are the above paintings significant to
the world of art?
A. They portrayed wealthy and influential
women of the time period.
B. They are the definition of what should be in a
Romantic painting.
C. They document important events of the time
period.
D. They represent the beginning of modern art.
6.) What was the main goal of Realist art?
A. To help people remember times when
life was simpler.
B. Provide an escape from the rigors of the
Industrial Revolution.
C. To give truthful/objective view of the
world, show the viewer things as they
actually appear.
D. To inspire emotions of awe and chivalry.

7.) Why is this painting controversial?
A. The man being buried was a known criminal and did
not deserve to be painted.
B. The Catholic church was angry that some of the
mourners were protestant and should not have been
included.
C. Conflicted with Romantic ideals of heroism and a
lack of respect for social hierarchy.
D. The artist failed to be a scientific observer of the
scene.
8.) Who is considered the father of the
Realist movement?
A. Bernini
B. Eakin
C. Courbet
D. Manet

Bellringer
What technological innovation fueled the
Realist Movement?
A. The Cotton Gin
B. The Telegraph
C. The Phonograph
D. The Camera