Realism

Realism (sometimes called naturalism) in the arts is generally the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding speculative fiction and supernatural elements. Realism has been prevalent in the arts at many periods, and can be in large part a matter of technique and training, and the avoidance of stylization.

In the visual arts illusionistic realism is the accurate depiction of lifeforms, perspective and the details of light and colour. Realist (or naturalist) works of art may, as well or instead of illusionist realism, be "realist" in their subject matter and emphasize the mundane, ugly or sordid. This is typical of the 19th-century Realist movement that began in France in the 1850s, after the 1848 Revolution, and also social realism, regionalism or kitchen sink realism.

The Realist painters rejected Romanticism, which had come to dominate French literature and art, with roots in the late 18th century.