REALISM term papers and essays

Realism is a term primarily used in art, literature and philosophy to describe an appreciation or depiction of the world as it really is as opposed to the way it might ideally be or how the artist might imagine it to be. Realism in art is better understood as juxtaposed against the art that came before it. Prior to the Realism art movement in the mid-19th century, much art was based on religious themes, or portraiture or depictions of the lives of the elite. Not only were the themes grandiose, but the subjects were idealized exemplifying religious personages such as Moses and Jesus with the features of the European men that were painting them, rather than the Middle-Eastern features that they would have truly had. After 1850, realism in literature and art began to turn more toward every day events, as opposed to the more lofty topics of saints and royalty, such that the realness of life was examined and either celebrated or mourned. In 1941, the American poet, Eli Siegel, put forth his new philosophy called "Aesthetic Realism". Aesthetic Realism is the idea that opposites should be embraced and reconciled, rather than denigrated and scorned. Siegel believed that opposing forces exist in every individual - the desire to like the world and the desire to hate it. Those desires, said Siegel, should be married in art, literature and human existence.

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