Art History Lecture IV

Art History Lecture IV

Realism – it’s a category of art, just like Impresionism etc.

Mybridge was the first photographer who showed the actual leg movements of a horse in 1883. One photo, mid-gallop, showed all four feet off the ground.

Overnight, painters changed how they showed horses galloping.

Courbett’s painting of the small funeral of an unknown went against the idea of painting only big, important events. However, this might have been a small event, but he painted it on a massive scale to make a point.

Millet painted the reality of the back-breaking work of a gleaner in the field whilst Reid depicted labourers and landowners.

(Well, the labourers working whilst the landowners trolloped past on a hunt).

 

And Clausen painted really beautiful paintings of real workers.

          

They’re almost photographic in quality.

Constable was the first painter to pain plein d’or (outside) with new portable paints revolutionizing the industry.

‘Turner doesn’t paint with brushes, he paints with a mop’.

Turner would ask to be taken to the eye of a storm and strapped to the mast so he could really experience reality. His paintings were the result of this first hand experience.

In reaction to this kind of realism, the Pre-Raphaelites put together a manifesto in which they harked back to painters like Rapheal and Michelangelo. They loved Raphael’s drawing and clarity of colour.

They were quite religious (although that didn’t stop them having affairs) and secretive. They originally signed their painting ‘PRB’ which annoyed lots of people.

They spent hours painting things to make them look as real as possible, but used lots of classical stories as their inspiration. Eg Shakespeare and classic tales.

They seem to strongly divide opinion with people loving or hating their work. Personally I love it.

They were great storytellers in their work. Here, Jesus cutting his hand is a premonition of what is to come. People were outraged that this showed real people (eg a real carpenter modeled Joseph’s role).

They didn’t use black in their paintings which gives them a tremendous quality of light. (Shown particularly in purple velvet – the picture of which I can’t find).

At the same time as the Pre-Raphaelites were working, Impressionists were beginning to emerge in France.