Realism, Impressionism, and Nineteenth-Century Photography The Village Maidens

Artist

Gustave Courbet

Date the Piece was Created

Art Movement and/or Style Media

Realism / Oil Paint

Description and Analysis

This 1852 painting, which sparked the creation of a collection of pictures dedicated to women's lives, depicts the artist's three sisters -- Juliette, Zoe and Zelie -- taking a stroll along the Communal-- a little valley close to Ornans (their native village) (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016). Despite nothing of significance being depicted in this painting, it tells a story. Courbet uses a dark and dull color tone and the overall painting is neither overly dark nor overly bright. The weather may be taken to be pleasant and warm, considering the clear sky Courbet portrays in the painting's background. His brush strokes and paint choice impart a realistic texture and tone to the picture. As no activity is shown in the backdrop, the first and most overt element a viewer sees is the three ladies painted in bright colors. The painting shows a fine contrast, letting viewers know the position of the sun (shadows are being cast on the picture's right, indicating that the sun was positioned on the opposite side). Shapes are conveyed beautifully in this vast expanse of plain land, giving rise to a three-dimensional valley. The artist takes a modernist approach with this painting. Its focus is on what's happening at present rather than in the past. Courbet has captured...

In summer 1869, the artist was residing near this resort, with Camille, his mistress, and their son. Monet worked alongside Renoir to sketch the scenery in a rather direct and fresh manner, probably as a draft painting for a final one on a larger canvas, which might have been displaced over time (The National Gallery, 2016).
In this painting, which looks towards the northeast, the afternoon sun is shown to fall from behind him; this sort of lighting effect was probably inspired by Manet's work. But despite the use of full-face lighting, Monet takes care not to exploit it. The end result is an overall brilliance to the more open landscape. It was only during the 1870s that Monet started employing this device. Owing to the closeness of overhanging dense trees, the artist has generated alternating dark blocks, with patches of bright sunlight piercing them, leading to contrasts of shade and light, which was characteristic of Manet's 1860s' paintings. Another similarity with Manet's work is this painting's juicy paint quality. However, unlike Manet, this scene was…