Realism and Cubism Art Movements

Throughout history art is classified according to the common goal that artist of the time sort to meet. Although as some of the art movements evolved through the artists imagination and inspiration, some of them borrowed from previous art movements. The art periods would
incorporate their own ideas into the borrowed ideas to come up with an entirely new style of fulfilling their goal. Art did not develop in isolation and the relationship between different art movements and other fields such as philosophy is evident. A good example is the cubism movement that borrows from the realism movement. The neoclassical movement also borrows heavily from the classical movement.
Realism and Cubism Art Movements
Realism is an attempt through art to represent a particular subject matter in the most realistic manner. This is possible when the artist avoids creative conventions. Realism began in France during the 1850s as an artistic movement. This was after the 1848 French revolution. Unlike the previous era of romanticism that exaggerated the emotional and dramatic aspects of human life, realism sought to portray the everyday occurrences of human life in the most realistic manner. The discovery of photography, which happened around the same period, also increased the people interest in the realistic arts. An example of an artwork during the realism period is the painting, “Cliff Dwellers” by George Bellows of 1913 (Dabbs 34). The painting depicts a crowded New York street in the lower east side of the city on a hot summer day on an approximately 40 by 42 inch canvas. On the oil painting, the streets are crowded with people spilling out of the buildings with clothes hanging above and hawkers selling their merchandises from pushcarts. There is a trolley cart in the background heading towards Vesey Street on that hot summer day (Weidman 73).
Realism is a precise art of paying close attention to details to represent them in their most detailed and accurate manner in a painting. Realism is also referred to as naturalism. Naturalism is a result of guidance and the continual exercising of method. Artwork classified in the realism section is mostly because of the subject matter depicted rather than the close attention to detail the painter has paid to the subject matter. Realism as an art movement depicted people regardless of their social status in an equal manner and did not leave out any detail in the subject matter regardless of how ugly it was (Weidman 51).
Realism as a style of art shows immense commitment to the representation of reality as it is. The anatomy of man and that of animals is depicted with great accuracy. The painter pays great attention to the perspective of things, and brings out the effect of distance in the painting. This is possible by depicting objects closer as larger and those far as smaller. Light and color is expressed in detail to bring out the effects of both on objects. Realism painting pays great attention on the geometric shapes of objects such as buildings, ensuring that in the painting the objects maintain their geometry (Weidman 56). Landscape is another aspect in the paintings depicted with detail to bring out the most realistic impression. During the realism movement, a technique of painting had developed that allowed the painter to represent aspects, such as weather and light intensity in the most realistic manner. The development of the oil painting technique on the canvas enabled use of small brushes and several layers to represent such aspects (Weidman 59).
Realist painting includes normal people going about their daily lives. Most of the paintings in this period are of people carrying out activities, such as farming, walking, chatting, or normal social activities, such as walking in the streets and selling merchandise as in the example mentioned above. Realism played an important role in the social and political life of the people during the time. The painters represented major political events and landmark agreements. Social evils and realities are depicted in the paintings, bringing to attention the problems faced by the common person during the time (Weidman 61).
Cubism is an endeavor to express, in visual requisites, the notion of the four dimensions. Thanks to the contribution of Paul Cézanne, cubism began as an idea but later become a style. There are three main features of cubism; multiple views, geometry, and course. Pioneered by Braque George cubism started in the early 20th century. Cubism artwork entails the breakdown of objects and reassembling them in an abstract manner. The objects are depicted from more than one point of view thus creating greater context. The Spanish artist Juan Gris made remarkable contribution to art in this period through his work such as the, The Tea cups of 1914 (Cotter 29). Cubism originated in France and later spread to other European nations and the world at large. Trying to understand cubism from its name may be misleading. Paintings of this period do not attempt to paint using cubes but rather try to represent objects from multiple viewpoints. The result is a picture broken into many pieces possessing various shapes. Cubism itself as a period can be broken into two: analytical and synthetic cubism. Analytical cubism involves the painting of one image from many viewpoints with the image broken into various geometric shapes. Synthetic cubism mostly involved the decoration of the objects painted and often resulted in a more colorful painting than analytical cubism (Brown 15).
Cubism emerged at the beginning of the 20th century when nations were experiencing rapid industrialization and urbanization. The impacts of this on artistic expressions of the period is that most of the paintings done during this period involved still life, leisure, city life, and war. Painting war was common at the time, as major wars were fought throughout the world, including World War 1 (Brown 34). Realism describes objects and people as they genuinely appear in the real life. Realism as a movement describes the conditions of the political and social life of the common person during the period. Realism works of art reveal the true form and in some cases, the ugly is emphasized to bring out the true picture or to call attention to a particular aspect of life. Cubism, on the other hand, was a 20th century art movement that borrows from realism in that it represents the truth, as it is (Brown 48).
Similar to realism, cubism sort to represent the world in a new manner that was representative of the truth rather than mere appearance. Cubism, however, rather than paying close attention to the objects and persons appearances like realism, it sort to represent the situation. The painters mostly painted what they believed rather than what they saw like in the realism movement. Cubism deviates from realism as a form of painting objects in the most detailed manner but maintains the aspects of realism as a movement focusing on the situations that the middle and low-income earners experience during their everyday lives (Ahmad 23). Realism focuses on the conceptual and the perceptual realities expect for a few artist who unsuccessfully sort to limit the use of realism to perceptual reality. Cubism does not put much significance on the perceptual reality but rather emphasizes using deformations, geometry, and multiple views of the conceptual reality (Brown 15).
Conclusion
Realism influenced other forms of art through the emphasis of the representation of the truth effectively and acting as a lobby group for the weak in the society. The representation of objects and people as they are in the paints indicate the level of understanding, especially of spatial geometry that the artist had to master before being recognized. Cubism introduced a new concept into art that was applicable to all forms of art. The concept is that of breaking down a common element and reconstituting it to form an entirely new element to convey a particular message. Cubism continues to influence art even today. Cubism visual arts, however, have increasing become more abstract since the late cubism period in 1915. Today, some artists who practice cubism do not have specific forms in their artwork, an example is Taetzsch a New York based artist. Such work is however gaining popularity in today world, as it seems to represent a futuristic form of art. Cubism art seem to be taking the forefront in the visual arts arena with entire exhibitions in countries, such as the United States dedicated to the exhibition of abstract art.
 Works Cited

Ahmad, Salman. Realism to Calligraphic Cubism: The Legacy of Sadequain : from Paris to Pakistan. San Diego, CA: Sadequain Foundation, 2011. Print.
Brown, R. L. Ganesa statuary of the kadiri and singhasasri period: A study of art history. Journal of the American Oriental Society 116.2 (1996).
Cotter, H. When cubism fractured art's delicate world. New York Times, 2005.
Dabbs, J. K. Caravaggio: The art of realism. Choice, 44.6 (2007).
Weidman, J. Janson's history of art: The western tradition. Choice, 44.2 (2006).