This site is about 19th century realistic painting. A truly remarkable era of big political, scientific and cultural changes which also changed the art of painting.

From the official academy and salon, artists chose to liberate themselves from classical themes and styles and explored a vast new world. It was the era of realism, romanticism and orientalism. It was the time of plein-air painting and traveller-artists.

I have a preference for a realistic style which is broader than just the realism of Gustave Courbet. The neoclassicism of Jean Leon Gerome, the Biedermeier art of Carl Spitzweg, the romanticism of Caspar Friedrich, the Russian movement of the Wanderers and the Hudson River School are all represented along with a lot of other artists. More impressionistic styles are missing, it is more Manet than Monet.

In the sidebar you can search by genre theme.  In the top-menu you can search by country in which a selection of painters is discussed briefly and other painters are listed . Most works stem from the 19th century, I included some artists who shared the same spirit but lived before or after the artificial borders of the 19th century.

Have fun !