Movements in Art
1800-1900 Artistic Movements - Realism
In the 1870s and 1880s new artistic styles swept across Europe. They were represented in the work of artists of the French Barbizon School. Their Realist paintings, studies of ordinary people in ordinary settings, made poor working class into heroic figures. Many of the Realist artists were inspired by a belief in socialism.
The Realism of these French artists became popular with many young British painters. They turned their backs on the storytelling themes of Victorian Art which portrayed classical heroes and Shakespearean heroines. Instead they tried to capture a moment in ordinary life such as farm workers, fisherfolk or farm animals.
