Epochs · France
Realism
c. 1840 – 1890
Tour this roomYour taste…
Realists rejected idealised history painting and insisted on painting what they could see: peasants, labourers, prostitutes, the modern city. Courbet declared he could not paint an angel because he had never seen one. The movement's frankness shocked the Salon and paved the way for Impressionism.
Hallmarks
- Ordinary people as serious subjects
- Rejection of academic idealisation
- Social and political edge
- Earthy, sober palette
Artists here
- Jean-François Millet · 1814 – 1875
- Gustave Courbet · 1819 – 1877
- Édouard Manet · 1832 – 1883
- John Singer Sargent · 1856 – 1925
