College 5
Painting from Life; From Bourgeois Realism
to Courbet and Manet
Rachel Essner
, Introduction
Contents: +- 1830-1860
I will talk about:
• Bourgeois Realism
• The Discovery of Landscape
• The Painting of Modern Life I: Courbet and Manet
(this is the key-word for what art became about during the era of impressionism (which
was the real first avantgarde))
What is ‘realism’?
It can mean many different things. A complex term. Realism in art is:
• Like romanticism, it is an idea, but also a style.
• Realism has all kinds of different manifestations: it can treat the present but also the past
• Realism can be seemingly politically neutral (like landscapes), but also politically
engaged (like a plee for social consciousness)
• Sometimes real(istic) elements can be combined with allegorical ones (think about the
raft of Medusa by Gericault)
(Remember though: Artist are not photographers; they always mediate what they seeing – they
are depicting the ‘real’ in a certain way. Very often artists present an illusion of the ‘rea’ in
order to convey a certain idea to the viewer.)
, 5.1. The Beginning: The Rise of Bourgeois Realism
The July Revolution: period of rise, expansion and empowerment of middle class.
King LP wanting to ‘be king of the people’
We’ll first talk about early manifestation of a kind of realism (not the later bourgeois realism!) - a
continuation of what we saw with Gericault (combining real elements with allegorical elements)
This rise of realism is associated with this period around 1830: this was the rule of king Louis Philip. He
ruled in the July monarchy, after the constitutional monarch Charles X fell during July revolution of
1830. This was an uprising of 3 days which overthrew the bourbon monarchy forever and installed
constitutional monarch. This July revolution is commemorated in this painting by Eugène Delacroix.
Eugène Delacroix Liberty Leading the People, 1830
Contemporary event on a large scale (usually this scale only for great history-moments)
Combining realistic and allegorical elements
• Delacroix paints real people who have taken their destiny in their own hands (not like the victims in the
raft of Medusa)- combined with an allegorical figure: lady liberty.
• NEW: Liberty looks like one of the revolutionaries herself -a modern woman with large breasts and
armpit hair-, while at the same time being an allegorical figure (standing for an idea). This too is of
combination of the realistic elements and (elevating them with) allegorical elements.
Reflecting LP’s ideology: king of all people
Also interesting: Painting tries to celebrate the rev in a particular way; shows that the revolution was
carried out by all classes in French society: you have bourgeois, workers, sailors etc. - everyone pushed
for a change of government. This was part of the ideology of revolution, but also part of the ideology of
the type of king Louis Philippe wanted to be; he wanted to be king of the people (‘the king of the French,
not of France’) - not placing himself as a divine figure.
, Being ‘king of the people’, LP sought reconciliation / unification,
! this is also reflected in art: bringing neoclassicism and romanticism together
Revolution of 1830 ushered in a important period in French history which witnessed the rise, expansion
and empowerment of middle class -culturally and economically. In this period of 1830 till 1848
revolution, the middle class values and taste were determining.
King Louis Philippe wanted to be king of the people, and wanted to show the rev as having been about
reconciliation. He tried to bring together / reconciles all different factions in politics and society: he
sought: the ‘juste milieu’: the golden middle: finding compromises were found on all fronts, such as:
- Old partisans of revolution of 1789
- People who supported an abs monarchy
- Leftover Bonapartes
This was reflected in art and produced a new type of painting! As seen in this work, it was about:
Bringing together some elements of neoclassicism and some of romanticism, as seen here in this painting:
Thomas Couture, The Romans of the Decadence, 1847
• Subject; roman, (neo-class) but not drawn from any
literary source –the scene is made up (romanticism)
• Decadence and downfall (romantic)
• Setting; classical setting (neo-classicism)
• composition: freeze like composition without depth
(neo-classicism)
• But a warm palette and broken brushwork and
illegible (romantic)
→ eclecticism
Rise, expansion and empowerment of middle class ->
New audience of SALON! -> Art had to Change
Because of the rise of the middle class: public art
(Public art = Spreading to new segments of the population through lithographs, prints, magazines and
photography after 1838. BUT ALSO: at the Salon: tatataaa…..:)
The French Salon was a yearly exhibition organised by the state to show contemporary art production.
In the beginning –they started in late 17th already– it was the province of the aristocrats and upper classes
(see image below, top left, 1699 salon: type of people: wigs, fancy dresses):
But during and after the July monarchy (around and from 1830 on!), the middle class emancipated
culturally and economically ! Now middle class (bourgeois) started to go to the salon as well.
,In this period there were very few commercial galleries. If you wanted to sell art, you HAD to go to the
salon, and you HAD to adjust to what the public wanted. Now artists had to appeal to this MC public.
Middleclass wanted something that suited their interest and lifestyle (no moralizing stories of neoclassicism,
or gruesome romantic images). Therefore composition, style and subject in most French artworks changed.
Soon the salon was filled with works David would have hated.
That’s why Rachel calls these new works (reflecting taste of middleclass) ‘bourgeois realism’
, 5.2. Bourgeois Realism: Types of Works
Bourgeois realism was meant to appeal to this new MC audience, and reflected their taste and interests.
Historical Genre Painting
One type of painting which was very popular in this period, reflecting this new public’s interest, is the
style known as Historical Genre-Painting = scenes from historical past but realistically painted. In other
words: artist painted (almost fictional) events from the past in a realistic style. (They were meant to
appeal to the same people who liked those kind of novels (e.g. Victor Hugo, Walter Scott))
EXAMPLE: Paul Delaroche, The Children of King Edward in the Tower of London, 1830
Realism, because: historical details correct:
late renaissance period, realistically painted
(artist studies artefacts of the past in order to
reproduce)- but its visualized like a movie
scene -> it’s the moment just before they are
taken away… they’re hearing something… a
moment of tension, suspense, waiting, fear...
! Meant to be relatable (we feel the fear)
and meant to appeal to our sentiment and
curiosity toward things of the past.
A New Realism’s Character of Orientalism
Another new type of painting, meant to appeal to MC, was orientalism.
New character, because: colonies: artists could actually go there, travel, study, which gave orientalism a
new realistic turn. These faraway places they now could study and paint daily life there.
Nonetheless, despite the realistic details, these works very much carry stereotypes of course, like how
ferocious the Turks were.
Nonetheless it’s realism, because of the study of these places, their local details in their everyday life.
