Life Through Their Eyes: Realism in 19th Century France

In the 19th century, life in France underwent dynamic change from revolutions, republics, empires, and industrialization. In the second half of the 1800s, the French people fought for democratic freedom and the right to live their lives without serving a monarch. Amid this struggle, realism was born as an art style that displayed the beauty of an everyday life that the common man was living. Artist Gustave Courbet was a leader of the movement and even wrote a manifesto in a letter for what the art of the realists stood for which landed in stark contrast to the classic and romantic styles that preceded it. In his letter, Courbet writes, “Above all, the art of painting can only consist of the representation of objects which are visible and tangible for the artist . . . painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist of the representation of real and existing things”. The paintings that resulted from this French realist movement hold the common theme of documenting the lives of the everyman. Rather than focusing on heroes of mythology or history, the French Realists depicted the lives they observed right in front of their eyes. While the Realists call us to view the beauty of common life, we can also recognize the beauty in the diversity of approaches and stylistic techniques, settings, and intentions different artists may have had when painting in a realist style. Therefore, this curation’s purpose is twofold: First, to recognize the beauty in every moment, not just the picturesque images from a regal party, but moments like doing a hard day’s work to provide for one’s family. Second, to notice the fascinating diversity of choices various realist artists made in representing the real and existing life they depicted in their artwork.

Gustave Courbet, The Stone Breakers, 1849

Oil on canvas, 165 x 257 cm, Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden, Germany

In this early realist painting Courbet depicts two men doing the backbreaking hard work of crushing stones using hammers. Due to his own Socialist leanings that he was later exiled from France for, many believe this work to be Courbet’s nod to Marx’s and Engel’s Communist Manifesto written the year before. The painting has a very rough texture, we can almost feel the unforgiving nature of the environment the men are working in through the prickly brushstrokes. Courbet tried to make a work sympathetic to the lower class’s economic entrapment by painting very unidealized peasants. It is interesting to note the torn clothing on the workers: throughout the rest of this curation’s paintings we will see other poorly dressed subjects, but not with physically destroyed clothes. Courbet’s approach in this painting specifically seems to be emphasizing the difficult reality of common life.

Jean-Francois Millet, L'Angélus (The Angelus), 1853

Oil on canvas, 55.5 x 66 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

 

As a founder of a Realist art school in the Barbizon countryside of France, we often see vast landscapes incorporated into his paintings. Here we see two farming peasants stopping their work to recite the Catholic Angelus prayer that is recited at morning, midday, and evening. Looking closely we note the potatoes and farming equipment they were using cast aside in reverence as they stop to pray. Millet displays the importance of religion to these lower-class people as they take this beautiful, reverent moment seriously, but he also portrays the patterned nature of everyday life. Seeing the farmers praying on a schedule can remind us of the scheduled nature of everyday life that can make one day blend into the next as we go about our own lives. Millet’s smooth lines and still scene gives us a feeling of peace even in their poverty as we observe the couple at prayer.

Honoré Daumier, The Laundress, 186[3?]

Oil on oak, 48.9 x 33 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art (47.122)

In this work, we see a more urban setting since Daumier’s daily life was in metropolitan Paris as opposed to the rural areas portrayed by Millet and Courbet. As the woman carries the large basket of laundry up the stairs, she takes the hand of a small child, helping them up the stairs with her. Daumier often worked as a lithographer, making political cartoons in newspapers that were often in support of the lower class and portrayed them as the real champions of France. It is interesting to note this work is painted on an oak panel demonstrating even mediums varied between Realists. The compassion we see the woman offering in the midst of hard work humanizes the lower class and makes us feel for their plight. Daumier is not as concerned with detail in this painting in comparison to the other Realists. Rather, he seems much more focused on the action of taking the child’s hand than even facial features.

Gustave Courbet, The Sleeping Embroiderer, 1853

Oil on canvas, 91 x 115 cm, Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France

In this less well-known work by Courbet, several years later into his realist endeavors, we see a woman probably middle or lower class based on her clothes, sleeping at a spinning wheel. The working-class woman is the only subject in this painting showing the hard work the lower class could be subject to even while indoors. Much more peaceful than The Stone Breakers, this work focuses strongly on the subject and her wheel allowing the background to fade away along with a vase of not so fresh flowers. Courbet’s brushwork in this painting is much more smooth and connected giving us a restful and drowsy feeling as we observe the Embroiderer nod off during her work.

Jean-Francois Millet, Les glaneuses (The Gleaners), 1857

Oil on canvas, 84 x 111 cm, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

Millet’s most famous work, The Gleaners celebrates the hard work of the lower class by setting them in contrast with the rich landscape behind them. In the upper right corner, we see a man on a horse sitting comfortably upright, most likely the owner of the land, in stark contrast to the doubled-over women gleaning the leftover wheat from the field. The scene is reminiscent of the Biblical story of Ruth who out of desperation and poverty picked up the scraps of leftover grain in Boaz’s fields after the harvest. In this scene, however, the landlord was not kind enough to leave behind ample grain to glean from the fields. Another notable item is the blue, white, and red of the peasants' hats and blouses that are reminiscent of the French tricolor flag perhaps hinting the coming liberation of the lower class.

Honoré Daumier, The Third-Class Carriage, 1862–64

Oil on Canvas, 65.4 x 90.2 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art (29.100.129)

Daumier’s incorporation of the railway cars and city environment of Paris provides an environment that very strongly incorporates the divide between rich and poor that can be diluted in the open space of the countryside. On the seats facing the viewer, we see our four subjects, all lower-class passengers, thrown into contrast with the better-dressed passengers behind them. Daumier’s expressive use of line reminiscent of his time as a lithographer is demonstrated in the faces of the subjects and the numerous wrinkles in the old woman's face. We see all four figures tranquil and calm in the midst of the crowded environment which starkly contrasts the discontented face of the woman in the background. The peaceful sleep Daumier chooses to paint his figures follows the realist tendency to heroize the working class seen throughout the movement, but in his own expressive style that stands out from other artists. 

Jules Breton, The Weeders, 1868

Oil on canvas, 71.4 x 127.6 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art (25.110.66)

A younger figure in the realist movement, Breton also paints the daily countryside life he views in his small village of Courrières. While capturing a similar scene to the earlier works of Millet like The Angelus and The Gleaners, Breton strongly incorporates the horizon in a way we have not seen before. With both the sun and moon visible, there is an almost heavenly element to this painting that would not usually be associated with the menial work of weeding a field. In his autobiography Breton wrote about this work saying, “their [the peasants] faces haloed by the pink transparency of their violet hoods, as if to venerate a fecundating star”. In Breton’s own words, the simple peasants that we once saw are really celestial bodies, fertilizing the ground through their care, which takes the realist celebration of the working class to a different extreme.