Capturing realistic images on canvas has been a staple of Western art since the development of perspective during the Renaissance. At the end of the nineteenth century, however, artists attempted not only to paint realistically, but also to create images that reflected the reality of the newly industrialized world around them.
Ordinary people
At the heart of this naturalist art were the lives of ordinary people at a time of great social, economic and cultural transformation. Poverty and injustice were frequent themes, as were the social responses to these problems in the form of public education and newly energized religious faith. Likewise, many artists focused on the loss of traditional farming culture as well as the political upheaval caused by poor working conditions in the factories.
Naturalist art forms
Illusions of Reality traces the relationship between several art forms that utilized the naturalist aesthetic, including painting, photography, film, theatre and literature. This book offers a fresh interpretation of how the naturalist artists attempted to understand and explain the rapid and profound changes of their own time in ways that would deeply inspire modern artists in all media.