„To be not only a painter”. The artistic discourse on realism in the 19th century French painting

Abstract

Realism that began in the 1840s developed in the period of the radical changes of the society and civilization. The exponents of the realistic movement not only aimed to depict the contemporaneity but also intended to express their critical approach, which was the consequence of the observation of reality they undertook as well as the effect of the influence of progressive social thoughts. In the article we attempt to present the main topics of the 19th century artistic discourse which emerged in the context of the aesthetics of realism. For this purpose we trace the main inquiries expressed by French art criticism of the second half of the 19th century. Our intention is to include both enthusiastic and critical opinions since the questions they raised seem to be of major significance to the artistic movements of the 20th century as the echo of realism that was proposed by Courbet can be traced in the art of that period. Some of the inquiries remained important and are considered by the art today.