I.

Introduction

Realism, in art and literature, an attempt to describe human behaviour and surroundings or to represent figures and objects exactly as they act or appear in life. Attempts at realism have been made periodically throughout history in all the arts; the term is, however, generally restricted to a movement that began in the mid-19th century, in reaction to the highly subjective approach of Romanticism. The difference between realism and naturalism is harder to define, however, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. The distinction lies in the fact that realism is concerned directly with what is absorbed by the senses; naturalism, a term more properly applied to literature, attempts to apply scientific theories to art.

II.

Art

In art, although a clearly defined realist school has never evolved, a realist approach has been manifested in different ways at various times. The term realist, used to describe a work of art, has often simply meant that “ugly” objects or figures are represented, as opposed to those considered “beautiful”. Frequently used to describe scenes of humble life, the term implies a criticism of social conditions. Thus, some of the work of the French artists Gustave Courbet (for example, The Stonebreakers, 1850), Honoré Daumier, and Jean-François Millet has been described as social realism.

In the United States, William Sidney Mount's quiet Long Island scene Eel Spearing at Setauket (1845) is in the realist style; the artist portrays his subjects with simplicity and respect but little elaboration. Mount diverges in style from the Romanticism of his contemporaries of the Hudson River School. American realist painting also includes the honest, matter-of-fact portraits by Thomas Eakins, of his contemporaries, and the works of the American artists known collectively as the Ashcan School or The Eight, who at the beginning of the 20th century attempted to paint the American urban scene as it really was (see American Art and Architecture).

III.

Literature

Realist literature is defined particularly as the fiction produced in Europe and the United States from about 1840 until the 1890s, when realism was superseded by naturalism. This form of realism began in France in the novels of Gustave Flaubert and the short stories of Guy de Maupassant. In Russia, realism was represented in the plays and short stories of Anton Chekhov. The novelist George Eliot introduced realism into English fiction; as she declared in Adam Bede (1859), her purpose was to give a “faithful representation of commonplace things”. Mark Twain and William Dean Howells were the pioneers of realism in the United States. One of the greatest realists of all, the Anglo-American novelist Henry James, drew much inspiration from his mentors, Eliot and Howells. James's concern with character motivation and behaviour led to the development of a subgenre, the psychological novel.

In general, the work of these writers illustrates the main tenet of realism, that writers must not select facts in accord with preconceived aesthetic or ethical ideals but must set down their observations impartially and objectively. Concerned with the faithful representation of life, which frequently lacks form, the realists tended to downplay plot in favour of character and to concentrate on middle-class life and preoccupations, avoiding larger, more dramatic issues.