The realist movement was a movement that appeared right after the romantic movement. This movement was spearheaded by Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix. The romantic movement concentrated on paintings that were pleasing to the eye. Gustave brought a fresh approach.
The world of art and painting is as old as history. Since ancient times, painting and art have dominated the spirit of man. Thus, there are ancient cave paintings from prehistoric times to modern art of the present time. One aspect that has dominated the art is painting a nude woman. This is one of the greatest gifts of the gods and painters have obviously tried to do this aspect justice by painting nude women.
A look at the nude paintings of almost 2000 years and even more, you can see that 99% of them lacked human hair. The women were presented as porcelain models without hair. Thus, Greek and Roman paintings, including those from Egypt and India, showed women without hair. The famous paintings from the Greek period show the beautiful Greek goddesses as hairless beauties. Obviously, this was something unreal and a new generation of painters in France in the 19th century took it upon themselves to achieve realism in their paintings. One of these painters is Gustave Coubert (1819-77). Gustav was part of a new generation of painters who advocated a realistic approach to art. The realist movement in art owes much to him and to Eduard Manet, who in 1863 painted Olympia. This painting, when it was displayed at the art exhibition in Paris in 1863, needed two guards to protect it.
What was the realist movement? It was a movement that appeared right after the Romantic movement. This movement was spearheaded by Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix. The romantic movement concentrated on paintings that were pleasing to the eye. Gustave introduced the realist movement where he painted nudes, landscapes and still life as seen from the eyes of man. Obviously, this required the painting of subjects that some considered vulgar. Gustave painted the harshness of life and also painted women as he saw them complete with pubic hair. He called into question the ancient ethics of art.
In 1866 Gustave took over the church and prudery by painting one of his most notorious paintings in oil. Entitled L’Oringine du Monde (Origin of the world). The painting is currently on display at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris. The painting is a close up view of a woman naked and sleeping in a bed. Gustave’s painting is part of what he believed in: realism and can be described as erotic. Gustave used a live model for this painting, a girl named Joanna Hiffernan. She previously had a love affair with an American painter James Whistler, but after this painting, Joanna and Whistler parted ways.
The 19th century was revolutionary, as art took a 180 degree turn. The new generation of painter began to paint the slums and the poor as part of the realist movement. But we must give credit to Gustave Coubert for starting this movement. It no longer exists, but it did strike a major blow to art and truth.