The writings of Rousseau and the French Revolution, based on liberty, fraternity and equality can be seen in many works of the artists of the eighteenth century. Two such painters were Edouard Manet and Gustave Corbet. Their works were the beginning of realism in painting, in part to promote the principles of liberty, fraternity and equality, but also as a reaction against the Romantics before them who produced art that was pretty and erased all the less attractive elements of society. Manet’s paintings went against the typical subject matter of mythical or religious figures. His first work caused such a controversy that young painters hailed him as the leader against the academicians and critics of the times. Called Luncheon on the Grass, it pictured a picnic in the woods that involved two men and a fully nude female. This era of political liberalization also allowed for greater expression of realism in art, especially as opposed to classical art. Corbet’s works were also realistic and often depicted society with all its flaw intact. One such work is The Ladies of the Valley Giving Alms to a Cowherd in a Valley of Ornans. In this realistic painting, Corbet shows the contrast in French society between the wealthy, idle, aristocratic “ladies” and the poorly clad, constantly toiling “cowherd” whom they are giving alms.
Quarles, Benjamin. Frederick Douglass. New York: Da Capo Press, 1997.
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