GUSTAVE COURBET (1819 – 1877)

- the leader of Realism and the key figure responsible for the rise of
the movement

- shocked the art world through bold images which challenged the

boundaries of what was acceptable

- in his paintings, he depicted non-idealized peasants and workers

on a grand scale for religious or historical subjects; undertook
subjects which were considered vulgar; addressed social issues;
even painted a close-up view of the genitals and abdomen of a
naked woman

- “genius”, “terrible socialist”, “savage”

https://learnodo-newtonic.com/famous-realism-artists

Leland Bell (1922-1991)

- unique, rhythmic style that employed strong outlines, bold

sections of color, and an engaging
dynamism
- embraced the human figure as a primary subject when other
artists were moving away from figurative representation
- rejoiced in the simplicity of regular life and portrayed his
existence and its subjects with a unique dynamism. Hints of his
past as a jazz musician can be seen in the rhythmic fluidity to
his work that waffles between classical, abstract, and
representational.
 Croquet Party (1965)

https://www.theartstory.org/movement-
contemporary-realism-artworks.htm#pnt_1

https://www.theartstory.org/artist-bell-leland.htm

Jane Freilicher (1924 – 2014)

- painting urban and country scenes in the Contemporary

Realist style of documenting place from her own authentic
perspective of home in both Lower Manhattan and Walter
Mill, Long Island
- painted primarily still life, usually flowers, placed in front of a
window through which could be seen a cityscape or a
landscape

EARLY NEW YORK EVENING (1954)

https://www.theartstory.org/movement-contemporary-realism-
artworks.htm#pnt_1
http://www.polizzifineart.com/Jane%20Freilicher/bio.htm

Neil Welliver (1929 – 2005)

 -  known for his large-format landscape paintings and woodcuts
- Often depicting profound yet unassuming views of birches, streams, and
evergreens in rural Maine
- applied a methodology based in abstraction towards the translation of
atmosphere and light into paint
- “To imitate nature you need a tube of air or something and I don’t have a
tube of air, so I found something that makes it look like there’s air in the
color.” – Neil Welliver
-

Neil Welliver

 (American, 1929–2005)

Two Mergansers, 
1992

Prints and multiples, woodcut

30.5 x 32 in. (77.5 x 81.3 cm.)

http://www.artnet.com/artists/neil-welliver/two-mergansers-a-rqpYYOsZlLipmN4_LbNlfA2

https://www.theartstory.org/movement-contemporary-realism-artworks.htm#pnt_1