Since the invention of the camera in the 1820s, the task of painting to transfer the three-dimensional nature to the flat picture plane was at stake. If the painter’s primary task is to provide a faithful likeness of nature, a painting can hardly beat a photograph in capturing a likeness. Thus, the mechanical technology of photography provoked fundamental questions on the conventional meaning of representation: What is the ‘reality’ for the painter to represent? What is the role of the painter in representing the nature? What should the painter represent? And how should they do this? An assertive response to these questions on realism in painting can be seen in the work by the French Realists, who paid attention to the experiences and sights of everyday life. Realists focused on the present world, which was real and visible. They claimed that what people can see for themselves is ‘real.’ Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), the leading figure of the French Realist movement, stated in 1861: “An abstract object, invisible or nonexistent, does not belong to the domain of painting. . . . Show me an angel, and I’ll paint one.” Realists rejected faithful depictions of conventional objects and images, for example; mythological, religious, or historical themes, as idealization. Rather, they were interested in portraying subject matter that until then, had been regarded unworthy of depiction, including subjects considered mundane and trivial, such as peasants and working class laborers.

The Stone Breakers (Fig.1) by Courbet shows a concrete life-size depiction of two working males in the act of breaking stones. Their menial labor is depicted with directness and monumentality. The workers don’t show their faces to the viewer; they were nameless. Their depiction, in a palette of browns and greys, is not idealized or romanticized. Painted in 1849, the painting reflected the workers’ rebellion of 1848, which demanded better working conditions and a redistribution of property. This revolution brought the issue of labor to the center of a national concern. Placing stone breakers on center stage, both literally and symbolically, Courbet’s painting could be perceived as a political manifesto.

Like Courbet, Jean-Francois Millet (1814-1878) paid particular attention to country life. The Gleaners (Fig. 2) shows three peasant women who are gleaning the last wheat scraps. They were members of the lowest level of peasant society, who were allowed to pick up the remains left in the field after the harvest. It is noteworthy the way in which Millet places the three women in the painting. Against a broad and open sky, the monumental three figures are placed in the foreground. And their bent bodies stand below the horizon, identifying them with the land. Their solid and monumental depiction, suggests Millet’s sympathy for the farming poor. Millet commemorates the gleaners’ labor by portraying faceless and nameless workers in the manner of Michelangelo.

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), who boldly confronted authority with his social criticism and political protest, was once jailed. Daumier?painter, sculptor, and printer?defended the urban working classes. His unfinished The Third-Class Carriage (Fig. 3) shows the cramped and filthy third-class carriage, in which poor riders were crammed together on hard benches. In the foreground, there is a family group?a nursing mother, an old woman, and a sleeping child. Despite their low status, this group is depicted with solemn grandeur while forming a stable triangular composition in the work. The old woman in the center, who must be tired after a day’s dreary labor, looks assertive and demands the viewer’s attention. The little child, who has fallen asleep and is leaning against the old woman, might have joined her labor during the day. Daumier?master of caricature?depicted the crammed railway carriage with his uniquely spontaneous style, while effectively providing a glimpse of the dismal condition of the urban poor. In this work, he anticipated the honesty of scenes captured with the snapshot camera by the end of the nineteenth century. While his style is personal, his work is true to life in content.

In response to the challenging question of what is realism in art, French Realists in the nineteenth century paid attention to the reality of ordinary people, which had previously been ignored or underrepresented. Showing their respect for their labor, they commemorated the laboring poor on a monumental scale with a seriousness which was previously reserved for historical painting. Therefore, what reality meant for Realists was a social reality, rather than an illusionistic depiction.

Kim Hee-Young(Professor, Dept. of Fine Art)

hyaroma@hotmail.com