Realism - 1880
"Realist art depicts subjects as they appear in everyday life without embelishment or interpretation."www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Social_realism It attempts to reveal the truth but has been known to emphesise the ugly or sorded.
This artsist has also used this same "true-to-life" manner. He has used water colour to create this perfectly smooth looking skin of the subject in the painting. Her skin is extremely realistic as is the light shining on her body. Even though it is very accurate to real life, the water colour stops it from looking like a photograph. It gives it a softer feel. The colours that he has used are the exact same colours that we would expect to see of skin the that light and shade. He has painted a subject in a dark room with natural daylight shining on her through a window with blinds. His technique makes this very clear and believable. I can see the influences of romanticism in thsi peice. The woman looks very calm, peaceful and sat posing beautifully. The sheet is perfectly draped across the chair. This is a scene that i can imagine being painted in the early 1800's but in a more emotional way to match the romantic movement. Here the artist has discarded most of the theatrical drama that i saw in the romanticism art. The artist has successfully managed to show this ordinary woman and scene as worthy of art without added emotion and drama. The lines in the painting are also all very ordinary. The womans body is made up of slightly curving lines which are very soft in texture giving the painting a naturally calm flowing atmosphere without the artist distorting anything. The blackness of the background leaves the room that the subject is in to the viewers imagination. It also makes the subject appear closer to the viewer as we are drawn into her very private moment. The blackness also emphesises the glowing look the woman has, as do the natural rays of light decorate her. The fact that a photograph could have been taken here and the beams of ligth and dark surrounding would cause the same effects in the finished peice, lets me know that this is realism. The artist has accepted this scene as is literally is and painted accuratly what he saw. i think that the lack of emphesised emotion inthe painting sparks the imagination of the viewers and more of the audience can then draw their own conclusions as to what they should feel whilst looking at the piece and add their own emotions. The rule of thirds is clearly applied here and is used to show the straight line of the top of her body and draw the eye to her right hand and her head.
