Realism and Early Avant-Garde: Option 2

Bargehaulers on the Volga by Ilya Repin

Marie-Camille de G. called for art to show the oppression of society, of  age,  of gender, and of race. Her ideas  consisted of exposing the wrongs of society and making them known to everyone. In the picture above, it illustrates just what Marie-Camille de G. wanted. This picture shows lower class people, peasants to be exact, and shows them pulling in a ship. However, with a twist of the picture a young child stands among the older men. This picture shows that this child is essentially going to end up exactly like the other older men pulling the ship. The pictures also displays the realization that is how life is in that moment, and that once in a social class one is basically trapped there. The boy is trapped in the bonds pulling the ship, just like the older men, showing his oppression against a better living. Thus showing the oppression of peasants during that time. The picture though accurately fitting what Marie-Camille de G. wanted people to portray in their art, the picture still is missing something to accurately portray oppression. One way to modify the picture to accurately show oppression is by portraying people from an upper class status. Showing people from an upper class status with peasants and how the peasants were treated would create a perfect portrayal of the reality of that time as well as the oppression of those who were lower in class standing.

Avant-Garde Challenge?

When something is Avant-Garde it means that it is different, that it goes beyond the borders of normality and what is acceptable by society. Avant-Garde challenges the viewers of the piece of art to look outside what society says is right and wrong, acceptable and not. Avant-Garde can appear to be confusing, and even mind boggling because of how strained a story might appear within the art work. Yet the art work tells a story in an abstract way, one to make people think and wonder why it was painted and what the meaning really is.

Manet's painting challenged the viewer to look beyond the whole canvas and instead look at details and hints of what the artwork could be about. In the clips , Manet's woodland background was described as a "back drop because there is no depth to the woods." In the second clip it was shown that Manet "incorporated a message in his art by painting a frog that was looking away from the picnic."  Manet's painting is not all that obvious when trying to see why there is a naked woman in the setting. However, upon search and looks given by the naked woman, it almost appears like she is the mistress to the man.