
Realism

Contemporary artist Xu Bing connects his art training in China's rural areas with Millet's passion and respect for the farmer and nature in this painting

Daumier's Rue Transnonain stands alone for its brutal tone and unflinching commentary on a Parisian uprising that had occurred on April 13, 1834.
Daumier, Rue Transnonain

You've likely seen this glassy-eyed late 19th Century barmaid before, but what can we make of this painting today?
Better Know: Manet’s Bar

Manet turns the tables—or in this case, the bar—on how we view painting.
Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère

They wanted an epic Biblical image, or one from a Greek myth. He gave them a painting of a modern-day funeral.
Gustave Courbet, A Burial at Ornans

Manet decided to replace the idealized female nude with the image of a known prostitute. It didn’t go so well.
Édouard Manet, Olympia

The subject of this painting is breaking almost as many taboos as the artist who painted it.
Édouard Manet, Plum Brandy

The greenery surrounding this couple is lush and exotic, but it’s clear that there’s trouble in paradise.
Édouard Manet, In the Conservatory

This sentimental scene of a quiet moment of prayer in the fields reflects a nostalgia for religion in modern France.
Jean-François Millet, L’Angélus

Before the artist could paint this pastoral scene, she had to petition the government… for the right to wear pants.
Rosa Bonheur, Sheep in the Highlands

Rosa Bonheur defies the patriarchy, one masterfully painted ox at a time.
Rosa Bonheur, Plowing in the Nivernais (or ...

A waitress masters the modern art of multitasking in this lively, bustling bar scene.
Édouard Manet, Corner of a Café-Concert

This enigmatic portrait of a celebrated writer and critic does not provide the information we expect from it.
Édouard Manet, Émile Zola

Realism’s original bad boy put a naked woman in a picnic scene, and the critics were not happy about it.
Édouard Manet, Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon ...

This work celebrates the leisurely lifestyle of the urban bourgeoisie, but it also shows its more somber aspects.
Édouard Manet, The Balcony

Soft and lovely though it may be, this image struck fear in the hearts of urban elites when it was first exhibited.
Jean-François Millet, The Gleaners

Before childbirth prematurely claimed her life, Gonzàles painted contemplative views into her life in Paris.
Eva Gonzàles, A Loge at the Théâtre ...

Manet’s subject and technique reflect on the hectic, ambiguous, interconnected nature of modern life.
Édouard Manet, The Railway

The insults hurled at this “inappropriate” concert scene would set the tone for Manet’s controversial career.
Édouard Manet, Music in the Tuileries Gardens

Like a hipster on social media, Courbet uses this self-portrait to vaunt his progressive politics.