Realisme

Omkring 1840 blev realisme den mest udbredte retning i fransk maleri. Den var en reaktion mod klassicismens idealiserede skønhedsdyrkelse og romantikkens teatralske motiver langt fra det moderne liv. Den ønskede at gengive virkeligheden så realistisk og objektivt som muligt. Courbet erklærede, at maleriet kun måtte beskæftige sig med virkelige og eksisterende ting. De realistiske malere blev udskældt for deres dårlige manerer, deres usentimentale syn på kvindefiguren og deres lidenskab for den fysiske fremtoning.

About 1840 the Realism became the most well known style in French painting. It was a reaction against the idealised worship of beauty in the Classicism and the theatrical motifs in the Romanticism far from modern life. It wanted to describe reality as realistic and objectively as possible. Courbet proclaimed that painting should only be occupied with real and existing things. The realistic painters were severely criticized for their bad manners, their unsentimental view of the woman figure and their passion for the physical appearance.