Notable artists

• Georges Seurat

• Paul Signac

• Henri-Edmond Cross

• Charles Angrand

• John Roy

• Maximilien Luce

• Vincent van Gogh

• Camille Pissarro

• Théo van Rysselberghe

• Chuck Close

• Georges Lemmen

Detail from Seurat's La Parade de Cirque(1889), showing the contrasting dots of paint used in pointillism.

Tihonov Victor «On the river Vymyanka», 2011

Maria Smolkina

Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation and “in accordance with secular, empirical rules”. Such reality is ontologically independent of man’s conceptual schemes, linguistic practices and beliefs, and thus can be known to the artist, who can in turn represent this “reality” faithfully. As Ian Watt states, modern realism “begins from the position that truth can be discovered by the individual through the senses”.

Realism often refers more specifically to the artistic movement, which began in France in the 1850s. Realism in France appears after the 1848 Revolution. These realists positioned themselves against romanticism. Realists believed in the ideology of objective reality and revolted against the exaggerated emotionalism of the romantic movement. Truth and accuracy became the goals of the Realists. Many paintings depicted people at work, underscoring the changes connected with the Industrial and Commercial Revolution. The popularity of such “realistic” works grew with the introduction of photography- a new visual source that created a desire for people to produce representations which look “objectively real”.

In general, realists render everyday characters, situations, dilemmas, and objects, all in a “true-to-life” manner. Realists tend to discard theatrical drama, lofty subjects and classical forms of art in favor of commonplace themes.

Realism has different types, for example, social realism, which is an artistic movement which depicts working class activities. There is also socialist realism, a style of propaganda art associated with Communism.

Magic realism is an artistic genre in which magical or impossible elements appear in an otherwise realistic setting.

Critical realistic art aims at creating a dialogue about real issues in life, to discuss the human condition, our outlook to the future and the present sociological/ political landscape.