Naturalism (arts) Facts for Kids

Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet, 1854. A Realist painting by Gustave Courbet

Realist or illusionistic detail of the convex mirror in the Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck, 1434

Naturalism in art refers to the depiction of realistic objects in a natural setting. The Realist movement of the 19th century advocated naturalism in reaction to the stylized and idealized depictions of subjects in Romanticism, but many painters have used a similar approach over the centuries. One example of Naturalism is the artwork of American artist William Bliss Baker, whose landscape paintings are considered some of the best examples of the naturalist movement. Another example is the French Albert Charpin, from the Barbizon School, with his paintings of sheep in their natural settings.

Naturalism began in the early Renaissance, and developed itself further throughout the Renaissance, such as with the Florentine School.

Naturalism is a type of art that pays attention to very accurate and precise details, and portrays things as they are.

Images for kids

Francisco Goya, Charles IV of Spain and His Family, 1800–01
Eilif Peterssen, The Salmon Fisher, 1889
Henri Biva, c. 1905–06, Matin à Villeneuve (From Waters Edge), oil on canvas, 151.1 x 125.1 cm.
Lord Leighton's Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna of 1853–55 is at the end of a long tradition of illusionism in painting, but is not Realist in the sense of Courbet's work of the same period.
Bas-de-page of the Baptism of Christ, "Hand G" (Jan van Eyck?), Turin-Milan Hours. An advanced illusionistic work for c. 1425, with the dove of the Holy Ghost in the sky.
Woodcutting, miniature from a set of Labours of the Months by Simon Bening, c. 1550
Late Gothic Pietà from Lubiąż in Lower Silesia, Poland, now in National Museum in Warsaw
Jean-François Raffaëlli, Outskirts of Paris, 1880s
William Bliss Baker, American Naturalist painter, Fallen Monarchs, 1886
Pekka Halonen, Finnish Naturalist, Pioneers in Karelia, 1900
Diego Velázquez, The Farmers' Lunch, c. 1620
Adriaen Brouwer, Interior of a Tavern, c. 1630
Quiringh van Brekelenkam, Interior of a Tailor's Shop, 1653
Giacomo Ceruti, Women Working on Pillow Lace, 1720s
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Woman Cleaning Turnips, c. 1738, Alte Pinakothek.
Jean-Baptiste Greuze, The Laundress, 1761
Sir Luke Fildes, The Widower, 1876
William Bell Scott Iron and Coal, 1855–1860
Juan Manuel Blanes, Yellow Fever Episode. 1871
Albert Edelfelt, The Luxembourg Gardens. 1887
Gustave Courbet, The Stone Breakers, 1849
Jean-François Millet, The Gleaners, 1857
Honoré Daumier, The Chess Players, 1863
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Young Girl Reading, 1868
Jules Bastien-Lepage, October, 1878, National Gallery of Victoria
Aleksander Gierymski Feast of Trumpets, 1884
Vladimir Makovsky, "Philanthropists", 1874
Ilya Repin, Religious Procession in Kursk Province, 1880–1883
Hubert von Herkomer, Hard Times 1885

Naturalism (arts) facts for kids

Images for kids

See also