Realism in literature of the second half of the 19th century. Realism in Literature. Characteristic features and representatives of the direction Examples of works of realism in the literature of the 19th century

Realism is usually called a direction in art and literature, whose representatives strove for a realistic and truthful reproduction of reality. In other words, the world was portrayed as typical and simple, with all its advantages and disadvantages.

General features of realism

Realism in literature is distinguished by a number of common features. First, life was portrayed in images that corresponded to reality. Secondly, the reality for the representatives of this trend has become a means of knowing themselves and the world around them. Thirdly, the images on the pages literary works distinguished by the veracity of details, specificity and typification. It is interesting that the art of the realists, with their life-affirming positions, strove to consider reality in development. Realists discovered new social and psychological relations.

The emergence of realism

Realism in literature as a form artistic creation originated in the Renaissance, developed during the Enlightenment and emerged as an independent direction only in the 30s of the 19th century. The first realists in Russia include the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin (he is sometimes even called the founder of this trend) and no less outstanding writer N.V. Gogol with his novel Dead Souls". Concerning literary criticism, then within its limits the term "realism" appeared thanks to D. Pisarev. It was he who introduced the term into journalism and criticism. Realism in 19th century literature hallmark of that time, having its own characteristics and characteristics.

Features of literary realism

Representatives of realism in literature are numerous. The most famous and outstanding writers include Stendhal, C. Dickens, O. Balzac, L.N. Tolstoy, G. Flaubert, M. Twain, F.M. Dostoevsky, T. Mann, M. Twain, W. Faulkner and many others. All of them worked on the development of the creative method of realism and embodied in their works its most striking features inextricably linked with their unique authorial features.

Realism in literature is a direction, the main feature of which is a truthful depiction of reality and its typical features without any distortion or exaggeration. This originated in the 19th century, and its adherents sharply opposed the sophisticated forms of poetry and the use of various mystical concepts in the works.

signs directions

Realism in the literature of the 19th century can be distinguished by clear signs. The main one is the artistic depiction of reality in images familiar to the layman, which he regularly encounters in real life. Reality in the works is considered as a means of human cognition of the surrounding world and oneself, and the image of each literary character is worked out in such a way that the reader can recognize himself, a relative, a colleague or an acquaintance in it.

In the novels and stories of realists, art remains life-affirming, even if the plot is characterized by tragic conflict. Another sign of this genre is the desire of writers to consider the surrounding reality in its development, and each writer tries to detect the emergence of new psychological, social and social relations.

Features of this literary movement

Realism in literature, which replaced romanticism, has the characteristics of art that seeks and finds truth, seeking to transform reality.

In the works of realist writers, discoveries were made after much thought and dreams, after an analysis of subjective attitudes. This feature, which can be identified by the author's perception of time, determined features realistic literature beginning of the twentieth century from the traditional Russian classics.

Realism inXIX century

Such representatives of realism in literature as Balzac and Stendhal, Thackeray and Dickens, Jord Sand and Victor Hugo, in their works most clearly reveal the themes of good and evil, and avoid abstract concepts and show real life his contemporaries. These writers make it clear to readers that evil lies in the way of life of bourgeois society, capitalist reality, people's dependence on various material values. For example, in Dickens' novel Dombey and Son, the owner of the company was callous and callous, not by nature. It’s just that such character traits appeared in him due to the presence big money and the ambition of the owner, for whom profit becomes the main life achievement.

Realism in literature is devoid of humor and sarcasm, and the images of the characters are no longer the ideal of the writer himself and do not embody his cherished dreams. From the works of the 19th century, the hero practically disappears, in the image of which the author's ideas are visible. This situation is especially clearly seen in the works of Gogol and Chekhov.

However, the most obvious literary direction manifests itself in the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, describing the world as they see it. This was also expressed in the image of characters with their own strengths and weaknesses, a description of mental anguish, a reminder to readers of the harsh reality that cannot be changed by one person.

As a rule, realism in literature also affected the fate of representatives of the Russian nobility, as can be seen from the works of I. A. Goncharov. So, the characters of the characters in his works remain contradictory. Oblomov is a sincere and gentle person, but because of his passivity, he is not capable of better. Another character in Russian literature possesses similar qualities - the weak-willed but gifted Boris Raysky. Goncharov managed to create the image of an "antihero" typical of the 19th century, which was noticed by critics. As a result, the concept of "Oblomovism" appeared, referring to all passive characters, the main features of which were laziness and lack of will.

critical realism- the direction and art of a number of countries in Europe and America, which arose in mid-nineteenth v. At the same time, realism appeared in France as an important concept of aesthetic thought.

critical realism focused on direct image Everyday life people, mostly poor and destitute, opposed to the wealthy and idle sections of the population. The first signs of critical realism can be seen in the painting of the Italian Michelangelo Caravaggio and his followers - "caravagists", who showed in late XVI and in the 17th century. a keen interest in the life of the lower classes of society - beggars, vagabonds, robbers, often depicted in a fascinating romantic adventurous guise (painting by Salvatore Rosa, Alessandro Magnasco in Italy). In the 17th century Dutchman Jan Steen, in the XVIII century. the Italians Jacopo Ceruti, Gaspare Travers tried to depict without embellishment the unsightly aspects of the everyday life of their contemporaries. Artists of the 18th century Enlightenment (William Cogart In England.) criticized from the point of view of reason and justice the social foundations of the society of those years. Particularly sharp and fearless was the analysis of social contradictions in etchings and paintings. Francisco Goya in Spain at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. In painting and graphics 1st half of XIX v. ( Theodore Géricault, Eugene Delacroix in France) reflects the dramatic conflicts of everyday reality with energy and passion. Actually, social criticism became the dominant element in the work of graphic artists in the 2nd third of the 19th century. - Honore Daumier, Fields of Gavarnie, Jean-Isidore Granville who turned to a close study and analysis of deep social contradictions. Generalized images of the social forces of their time were created in the 19th century. artists Alexander Dean, Gustave Courbet , Jean Francois Mill e in France, Constantin Meunier in Belgium. Adolf Menzel, Wilhelm Leibl in Germany, Mihai Munkacsy in Hungary. In Russia, critical realism became widespread already in the middle of the 19th century. Image " little man”, which arose in the works of A. S. Pushkin, I. V. Gogol, was embodied in the genre scenes of P. A. Fedotov, in the cartoons and illustrations of A. A. Agin, P. M. Boklevsky, N. A. Stepanov, P. M. Shmelkova, A. I. Lebedeva. In the 2nd half of the XIX - early XX centuries. the Wanderers made critical realism the main method of their art. V. G. Perov, G. G. Myasoedov, V. E. Makovsky, N. A. Yaroshenko, I. E. Repin, A. E. Arkhipov, N. A. Kasatkin, L. V. Popov in their paintings criticized the unjust social structure, following the literature (I. S. Turgenev, L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky. A. P. Chekhov). The traditions of critical realism - satirical denunciation and analysis of the social situation - were constantly resurrected in the Soviet era: in the satirical graphics of Kukryniksy, B. I. Prorokov, L. V. Soyfertis, in the painting of E. M. Cheptsov, S. A. S. V. Nikritina, G. M. Korzheva, and at the end of the 20th century. in sarcastic art sots art .

Realism

“We are not talking about the search for “absolute” beauty. The artist is neither the history of painting, nor its soul ... And that is why he should not be considered either a moralist or a writer. He should be judged simply as an artist."

Thomas Eakins became the most famous realist painter in the United States, incorporating photographic research into his work and revealing the nature of subjects through careful observation. The Gross Clinic (1875), a portrait of Dr. Samuel Gross performing invasive surgery in an operating room, is depicted in incredible detail. His choice of a contemporary subject (surgery) follows the realistic belief that the artist must be from his time.

German realist Wilhelm Leibl met Courbet and saw his work when the French artist visited Germany in 1869. Recognizing his abilities, Courbet lured him back to Paris, where Leibl achieved significant success, and also met with Mane before returning to Munich to establish himself as the first realist painter of his country. He is best known for his depictions of peasant scenes such as Three Women in a Church (1881), which brought the overt naturalism of the Dutch and German Old Masters into the modern era. Although the somewhat outdated clothes worn by these three women indicate their low economic status (the new trends of the city have passed them by), the Label ennobles them with patience and modesty.

Christina's World, by one of the leading American artists of the time, is among the most celebrated American paintings of the mid-20th century. It depicts a woman lying on a field and looking at a gray house on the horizon. The woman in the painting is Anna Christina Olson. She was Wyeth's neighbor in South Cushing, Maine and suffered from degenerative muscle tissue that left her unable to walk. Wyeth was inspired to create a masterpiece when he saw from the window how she crawled across the field. Despite the fact that the first show received little attention, the popularity of Christina's World has grown over the years. Now the picture is considered an icon of American art and one of the most important works of American realism.

4. Gatherers

French title: Desglaneuses

Artist: Jean Francois Millet

Year: 1857

Jean-Francois Millet's best-known works are his trio of paintings depicting humble peasants in an unparalleled heroic and sympathetic manner. "The Gatherers" is the most famous of three paintings, and she influenced several later artists, including Pissarro, Renoir, Seurat, and Van Gogh. It depicts three peasant women picking up or collecting the remains of the harvest from the field of scattered grains after the harvest. Depicting the underclass of rural society in a sympathetic light, the painting was heavily criticized by the French upper classes when first shown. The painting is 33 by 44 inches (84 x 112 cm) and it was main subject dispute, since such a huge amount was usually reserved for religious or mythological stories.

3. "Funeral in Ornan"

French title: Un enterrement a Ornans

Artist: Gustave Courbet

Year: 1850

This painting depicts the funeral of Gustave Courbet's great-uncle in the small town of Ornans in France. Courbet "wrote those people who were present at the burial, all the townspeople." "The Funeral at Ornans" caused a storm at the first exhibition at the Paris Salon of 1850-1851. First, it is a huge work, measuring 10 by 22 feet (305 x 671 cm); such a huge scale was traditionally reserved for heroic or religious scenes in history painting; secondly, his unsightly realism without any sentimental narrative shocked the art world. Initially condemned by the critics, Burial at Ornan was one of the main works, thanks to which the public moved away from romanticism and became interested in a new realistic approach. It is considered one of the major turning points of 19th-century French art, and Courbet said, "The Burial at Ornans was really a Romantic burial."

2. Night owls

Artist: Edward Hopper

Year: 1942

Edward Hopper known for revealing loneliness modern life and forces the viewer to take a more active role in completing the storytelling of the works. This painting of people in a downtown diner late at night was inspired by a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue near the artist's home in Manhattan. It has been interpreted as an illustration of the negative impact of World War II, and as a depiction of the isolation of the individual against the backdrop of the hustle and bustle of New York. The most notable work Hopper, Night Owls is one of the most recognizable paintings in American art. She influenced many future American artists and is widely referenced and parodied in popular culture.

1. "Olympia"

Artist: Edouard Manet

Year: 1863

Édouard Manet, although often considered an Impressionist, called himself a realist. His first works include some of the most significant works of realism, among which is Olympia. The painting depicts a reclining naked woman, who is served by a maid. When it was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1865, it caused a huge controversy; not because of Olympia's nudity, but because there are several details in the painting that indicate she is a prostitute. These include: an orchid in her hair, a bracelet, pearl earrings and an oriental scarf on which she lies. In addition, there is a black cat in the painting, which has traditionally symbolized prostitution. Olympia was inspired by Titian's Venus of Urbino and several other paintings; but unlike these works, he did not depict a goddess or a court lady, but a prostitute high class. The most famous aspect of the painting is the cheeky look of Olympia; which is often referred to as the pinnacle of defiance of patriarchy. "Olympia" Manet - the most famous picture realism and perhaps the most famous nude figure of the 19th century.

From: Sholokhova E., -

What is actually painted on famous Russian paintings.

Nikolai Nevrev. "Bargain. Scene from the fortress life. 1866

One landowner sells a serf girl to another. Imposingly shows the buyer five fingers - five hundred rubles. 500 rubles - the average price of a Russian serf in the first half of the 19th century. The seller of the girl is a European-educated nobleman. Pictures on the walls, books. The girl dutifully waits for her fate, other slaves crowded in the doorway and watch how the bargaining ends. Yearning.

Vasily Perov. "Rural religious procession at Easter". 1861

Russian village 19th century Orthodox Easter. Everyone is drunk as hell, including the priest. The dude in the center carries the icon upside down and is about to fall. Some have already fallen. Fun! The essence of the picture is that the commitment of the Russian people to Orthodoxy is exaggerated. Addiction to alcohol is clearly stronger. Perov was a recognized master of genre painting and portraiture. But this picture of him tsarist Russia was banned from display and reproduction. Censorship!

Grigory Myasoedov. "The land is having lunch." 1872

Times of Alexander II. Serfdom cancelled. Introduced local self-government - zemstvos. Peasants were also chosen there. But there is an abyss between them and the higher classes. Therefore, lunch apartheid. Gentlemen - in the house, with the waiters, the peasants - at the door.

Fedor Vasiliev. "Village". 1869

1869 The landscape is beautiful, but the village, if you look closely, is poor. Wretched houses, leaky roofs, the road is buried in mud.

Jan Hendrik Verheyen. "Dutch village with figures of people." 1st floor 19th century.

Well it is, for comparison

Alexey Korzukhin. "Return from the city". 1870

The situation in the house is poor, a child crawls on the shabby floor, the father brought a modest present from the city for an older daughter - a bunch of bagels. True, there are many children in the family - only in the picture there are three of them, plus perhaps one more in a makeshift cradle.

Sergei Korovin. "On the world". 1893

This is a village of the late 19th century. There are no more serfs, but a stratification has appeared - kulaks. At a village meeting - some kind of dispute between the poor and the kulak. For the poor man, the topic, apparently, is vital, he almost sobs. The rich fist neighs over him. The other fists in the background are also giggling at the rogue loser. But the comrade to the right of the poor man was imbued with his words. There are already two ready-made members of the committee, it remains to wait for 1917.

Vasily Maksimov. "Auction for arrears". 1881-82

The tax office is freaking out. Tsarist officials sell samovars, cast-iron pots and other peasant belongings under the hammer. The heaviest taxes on peasants were redemption payments. Alexander II "The Liberator" actually freed the peasants for money - then for many years they were obliged to pay their native state for the plots of land that they were given along with their will. In fact, the peasants had this land before, they used it for many generations while they were serfs. But when they became free, they were forced to pay for this land. The payment had to be made in installments, right up to 1932. In 1907, against the background of the revolution, the authorities abolished these requisitions.

Vladimir Makovsky. "On the boulevard". 1886-1887

At the end of the 19th century industrialization came to Russia. The youth are moving to the city. She has a roof over there. They are no longer interested in their old life. And this young hard worker is not even interested in his peasant wife, who came to him from the village. She is not advanced. The girl is horrified. Proletarian with an accordion - all according to FIG.

Vladimir Makovsky. "Date". 1883

There is poverty in the village. The boy was given "to the people." Those. sent to the city to work for the owner, who exploits child labor. The mother came to visit her son. Tom obviously has a hard time, his mother sees everything. The boy greedily eats the brought bun.

And Vladimir Makovsky. Bank crash. 1881

A crowd of deceived depositors in the bank office. Everyone is in shock. A rogue banker (on the right) quietly dumps with a loot. The cop looks the other way, like he doesn't see him.

Pavel Fedotov. "Fresh Cavalier". 1846

The young official received the first order. Washed all night. The next morning, putting the cross right on the dressing gown, he demonstrates it to the cook. Crazy look full of arrogance. The cook, personifying the people, looks at him with irony. Fedotov was a master of such psychological pictures. The meaning of this: flashing lights are not on cars, but in their heads.

More Pavel Fedotov. "Breakfast of an Aristocrat" 1849-1850.

In the morning, the impoverished nobleman was taken by surprise by unexpected guests. He hastily covers his breakfast (a piece of black bread) with a French novel. Nobles (3% of the population) were a privileged class in old Russia. They owned a huge amount of land around the country, but they rarely made a good farmer. Not a bar business. As a result - poverty, debts, everything is mortgaged and re-mortgaged in banks. At Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" the estate of the landowner Ranevskaya is being sold for debts. Buyers (wealthy merchants) are tearing up the estate, and one really needs the master's The Cherry Orchard(to resell for dachas). The reason for the problems of the Ranevsky family is idleness in several generations. Nobody took care of the estate, and the mistress herself lived abroad for the last 5 years and wasted money.

Boris Kustodiev. "Merchant". 1918

The provincial merchant class is Kustodiev's favorite topic. While the nobles in Paris were squandering their estates, these people rose from the bottom, making money in a vast country where there was where to put their hands and capital. It is noteworthy that the picture was painted in 1918, when the Kustodiev merchants and merchants throughout the country were already in full swing against the bourgeoisie.

Ilya Repin. Religious procession in the Kursk province. 1880-1883

Different strata of society come to the procession, and Repin portrayed them all. A lantern with candles is carried in front, followed by an icon, then the best people go - officials in uniforms, priests in gold, merchants, nobles. On the sides - security (on horseback), then - the common people. The people on the roadsides periodically rake, so as not to cut off the authorities and not climb into his lane. Tretyakov did not like the constable in the picture (on the right, in white, with all his foolishness he beats someone from the crowd with a whip). He asked the artist to remove this Cop lawlessness from the plot. But Repin refused. Tretyakov bought the painting anyway. For 10,000 rubles, which was just a colossal amount at that time.

Ilya Repin. "Convergence". 1883

But these young guys in another picture of Repin - no longer go with the crowd to all sorts of religious processions. They have their own way - terror. This is Narodnaya Volya, an underground organization of revolutionaries who assassinated Tsar Alexander II.

Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky. "Verbal counting. V public school S.A. Rachinsky. 1895

Rural school. Peasant children in bast shoes. But the desire to learn is there. The teacher is in a European suit with a bow tie. This real person- Sergey Rachinsky. Mathematician, professor at Moscow University. On a voluntary basis, he taught at a rural school in the village. Tatevo (now Tver region), where he had an estate. Great deal. According to the 1897 census, the literacy rate in Russia was only 21%.

Jan Matejko. "Shackled Poland". 1863

According to the 1897 census, there were 21% of literate people in the country, and 44% of Great Russians. Empire! Interethnic relations in the country have never been smooth. The painting by the Polish artist Jan Matejko was painted in memory of the anti-Russian uprising of 1863. Russian officers with vicious mugs shackle a girl (Poland), defeated, but not broken. Behind her sits another girl (blonde), who symbolizes Lithuania. Another Russian paws her dirty. The Pole on the right, sitting facing the viewer, is the spitting image of Dzerzhinsky.

Nikolay Pimomenko. A victim of fanaticism. 1899

The picture depicts a real case, which was in the city of Kremenets (Western Ukraine). A Jewish girl fell in love with a Ukrainian blacksmith. The young decided to get married with the bride's conversion to Christianity. This disturbed the local Jewish community. They behaved extremely intolerantly. The parents (on the right in the picture) disowned their daughter, and the girl was obstructed. The victim has a cross around his neck, in front of him is a rabbi with fists, behind him is a worried public with clubs.

Franz Rubo. "The assault on the village of Gimry". 1891

Caucasian war of the 19th century Hellish batch of Dags and Chechens by the tsarist army. The aul of Gimry (Shamil's ancestral village) fell on October 17, 1832. By the way, since 2007, the counter-terrorist operation regime has again been operating in the aul of Gimry. The last (at the time of writing this post) sweep by riot police was on April 11, 2013. The first one is in the picture below:

Vasily Vereshchagin. "Opium eaters". 1868

The picture was painted by Vereshchagin in Tashkent during one of the Turkestan campaigns of the Russian army. Central Asia was then annexed to Russia. How the participants in the campaigns of the ancestors of the current guest workers saw - Vereshchagin left paintings and memoirs about this. Dirt, poverty, drugs ...

Peter Belousov. "We'll go the other way!" 1951

And finally, the main event in the history of Russia in the 19th century. On April 22, 1870, Volodya Ulyanov was born in Simbirsk. His elder brother, a Narodnaya Volya member, tried himself, it was, in the sphere of individual terror - he was preparing an attempt on the tsar. But the attempt failed and the brother was hanged. That's when the young Volodya, according to legend, said to his mother: "We will go the other way!". And let's go.

General features of realism

Realism in literature is distinguished by a number of common features. First, life was portrayed in images that corresponded to reality. Secondly, the reality for the representatives of this trend has become a means of knowing themselves and the world around them. Thirdly, the images on the pages of literary works were distinguished by the truthfulness of details, specificity and typification. It is interesting that the art of the realists, with their life-affirming positions, strove to consider reality in development. Realists discovered new social and psychological relations.

The emergence of realism

Realism in literature as a form of artistic creation arose in the Renaissance, developed during the Enlightenment and manifested itself as an independent trend only in the 30s of the 19th century. The first realists in Russia include the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin (he is sometimes even called the founder of this trend) and no less outstanding writer N.V. Gogol with his novel Dead Souls. As for literary criticism, the term "realism" appeared within it thanks to D. Pisarev. It was he who introduced the term into journalism and criticism. Realism in the literature of the 19th century became a hallmark of that time, having its own characteristics and characteristics.

Features of literary realism