This paper discusses Realism in nineteenth century
painting as part of a broader
movement which began in literature, became
associated with
painting, and then broadened to include theatre and later, film. In all its forms it was a rejection of the predominantly Classical vocabulary of art, and also of the Romanticism which prevailed in the 1800's. Artists wanted to paint the world as they saw it, which included warts-and-all portraits, and subjects that included peasants working the fields. However, Realist art and politics were inextricably bound up, first in the person of Courbet who founded the Realism
movement and later, in the Socialist Realism paintings of Russia.