Realism is a form of art where artists portray a truthful and objective vision of contemporary life. It emerged in the aftermath of the French Revolution in 1848, until then art was predominantly in the form of Classicism and Romantic subjectivism. As French society fought for democracy, artists democratized art with a vision that the knowledge derived from science and scientific objective methods could solve all human problems. In England realism depicted a social liberation of the middle and lower classes by acting against Victorian materialism. The introduction of realistic elements into art marked a new era, the positivist age. The great realist painters like Gustave Corbet, Edgar Degas, Theodore Rousseau, Rembrant van Rijn (and many more) emphasized on the phenomenon of light in their work. They canvassed the lives, appearances and problems of the unexceptional, the ordinary middle and lower classes. They brought to light the humble aspects of contemporary society, which was absent in the artificiality of Classicism and Romanticism.
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| Maleki, Sisters and a book (1997) |
Over time the art of Realism spread into branches - Classical realism, Socialist realism, Fantastic realism, Heroic realism - a few to name. The socialist Realism (the sect emphasizing on working-class attributes) paved the way for the Barbizon School (a group of French landscape artists), the Impressionists (Claude Monet, the fecund impressionist), the avant-garde movements in England and others. To date there are numerous schools of Realist art run by a diverse group of international artists. Meet my favorite contemporary realist painters (if you have not come across their work yet!). Richard Schmid, an American painter, and Iman Maleki, an Iranian painter. Let the paintings speak of their class.
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| Maleki, Sunlight (2004) |
To see more of Iman’s paintings, click http://imanmaleki.com/en/Galery/
To view Richard Schmid’s gallery, click http://www.richardschmid.com/gallery2_page.htm
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