Realism (c. 1850 CE - 1900 CE)

Consider what the word "real" means to you. Many works of art not classified as Realist look very realistic, yet only some of this art is labeled as such.

Recall Charles Dickens's story A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge is a wealthy man visited by three ghosts who show him his greedy flaws. He is slow to heed the ghosts' advice, but Tiny Tim, the crippled son of Scrooge's poor employee Bob Cratchit, changes Scrooge for the better. Characters such as Tiny Tim were what separated the Realists from other realistic forms of art. While the subjects in other art are very realistic, they are also idealized; even if they were modeled after real people, they are often changed to fit an ideal of perfection. Realism in art shows real people and situations that mimick everyday life. Sometimes these depictions are even grittier than real life to contrast with the earlier focus on the opulent upper class world.

Look at the figures in Arbiter of Peace. An officer is settling a conflict between the local people to the left. Russian serfs had been freed in 1861, just 26 years before the painting was made. Russian artists, such as Kuznetsov, included these serfs and the industrial working class in their art. They also began making their art accessible to these groups of people.

Arbiter of Peace 1887
Nikolay Kuznetsov, (Ukrainian) Russian (1850-1930)
Oil on Canvas
25 inches H; 39 inches W
Gift of Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge
1946.002.005
World Events

1776 American colonies declare independence from Great Britain.

1789 The French Revolution breaks out in Paris.

1799-1815 The Napoleonic Wars take place.

1700s-1800s Industrial Revolution begins in Great Britain.



DARCY DISCUSSES: ARTISTS

Kuznetsov may have been part of a group of Russian artists known as "The Wanderers," who sought to provide art to more people through traveling exhibitions in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and smaller cities throughout the country.

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