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PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION 02
03 NATURALISM
04 MUSEUM VISIT
05 LESSON SUGGESTIONS
10 BACKGROUND INFORMATION NATURALISM
CONTENTS
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At the end o the 19th century the work o numerous artists in
Europe and America displayed striking similarities. These paintings
were aithul representations o the visible world that highlighted
contemporary social issues and oten relied on photographs to
more closely approximate reality. Although these artists were
extremely popular in their lietime, they were later orgotten.
Nowadays they are counted as members o a movement called
Naturalism.
The general public in Western Europe became acquainted with
naturalist art primarily through the Salon exhibitions in Paris.
However, its appeal declined markedly in the course o the years.
Artists o avant-garde movements such as Impressionism are much
more amous now than the Academic artists who were so greatly
admired in the 19th century.
This teachers manual examines Naturalism rom various angles.
Not only are examples o Naturalist painting described, but also o
literature, photography and cinema. In addition, various themes
that occur in naturalist painting are discussed.
The subject o Naturalism is highly suitable or students with a study
ocus on culture, society, history and literature. Students will gain
knowledge and skills or courses on social studies, art, (art) history
and literature.
ViNCENT VaN GOGh aNd NaTuraliSmVincent van Gogh was amiliar with Naturalism, both in painting
and literature, and actually wrote about it to his brother Theo. The
excerpt below reveals that he considered Naturalism a movement
that did not solely render reality, but added something to it. For Van
Gogh the writings o the French naturalist author mile Zola also
had a romantic eel because o the creative liberties he took:
Romance and romanticism are our era, and one must
have imagination, sentiment in painting. HAPPILY,
realism and naturalism are not free of them. Zola
creates, but doesnt hold a mirror up to things, creates
them amazingly , butcreates, poetizes. Thats why its
so good. So much for naturalism and realism, which are
NONETHELESS related to romanticism.
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Nuenen, about 28 October 1885
NaTuraliSm
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rESErVaTiONSInormation or booking a visit to the Van Gogh Museum can
be ound at www.vangoghmuseum.com. Please note that
reservations are limited to 40 students at a time. For questions
about your reservation, you can reach us Monday through Thursday
rom 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm by calling the Van Gogh Museums
education number: +31 (0)20 570 52 46.
lENGTh Of ViSiT aNd COSTSA visit to the Van Gogh Museum lasts about one hour. Payment can
be made at the cash register on the day o your visit. For additional
inormation, please consult the museums website:
www.vangoghmuseum.com.
SChOOl SupErViSiONWhen you visit the exhibition with your students, the Van Gogh
Museum educator expects the group to be accompanied by at least
one school supervisor. Teachers and adult helpers are responsible
or their students at all times and must stay with their group.
ViSiTiNG addrESS pOSTal addrESSVan Gogh Museum Van Gogh Museum
Paulus Potterstraat 7 P.O. Box 75366
1071 CX Amsterdam 1070 AJ Amsterdam
TraVElliNG by CarThe Van Gogh Museum is on Museumplein in Amsterdam.
Ample paid parking is available in the Q Park Garage underneath
Museumplein. Follow the signs P Museumplein.
TraVElliNG by publiC TraNSpOrT Trams 2 and 5 run rom and to Amsterdam Central Station.
Tram 5 also runs rom Station Zuid WTC. Alight at the Van
Baerlestraat stop.
Tram 3 runs rom and to Muiderpoort Station. Alight at the
Museumplein or Van Baerlestraat stop.
Tram 12 runs between the Amstel Station and Sloterdijk
Station. Alight at the Museumplein or Van Baerlestraat
stop.
Busses 145, 170 and 172 stop at the museum. Alight at the
Museumplein stop.
muSEum rulES No touching the works o art.
Coats, bags, backpacks and umbrellas must be checked at the
cloakroom.
The use o cameras and audio/video equipment is prohibited.
Mobile phones and MP3 players must be switched o in the
gallery.
No eating, drinking or smoking.
No running or screaming.
QuESTiONSMail your questions to [email protected] . You can
also call the Department o Education and Visitor Services Monday
through Thursday rom 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, via the Van Gogh
Museums education number: + 31 (0)20 570 52 46.
muSEum ViSiT: praCTiCal iNfOrmaTiON
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lESSON plaNBegin a lesson on Naturalism by outlining the characteristics o
the era concerned, namely the end o the 19th century. Discuss
important social developments, such as industrialisation and the
ensuing urbanisation. You can also describe the position o ar tists
at the time. In this context, the dierence between Academic and
avant-garde artists is relevant. For background inormation on
Naturalism, see page 12 o this manual.
Below are several suggestions for study options, questions
and creative activities for lessons. The suggestions are easily
adapted or expanded to suit your needs.
ViNCENT VaN GOGhWhile nowadays most people have never heard o the movement
called Naturalism, it was well known in the 19th century. Vincent
van Gogh was also amiliar with naturalist art. The ollowing excerpt
rom a letter he wrote to his brother Theo evidences this:
Romance and romanticism are our era, and one must
have imagination, sentiment in painting. HAPPILY, realism
and naturalism are not free of them.
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Nuenen, about 28 October 1885
Read the excerpt rom Vincent van Goghs letter. What does
Vincent mean by the statement: Romance and romanticism are
our era, and one must have imagination, sentiment in painting?
Van Gogh is pleased that Realism and Naturalism are not devoid
o Romanticism. What is Romanticism?
The ollowing excerpt is rom the same letter:
Zola creates , but doesnt hold a mirror up to things,
creates them amazingly , butcreates, poetizes. Thats why
its so good. So much for naturalism and realism, which
are NONETHELESS related to romanticism.
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Nuenen, about 28 October 1885
Van Gogh mentions Zola as an example. Who was he? Find
inormation on Zola and his work. Explain what Van Gogh
meant by his remark that Zolas work is not ree rom
Romanticism?
lESSON SuGGESTiONS
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SalON praCTiCESIn the 19th century it was important or artists to get their work
exhibited at the Paris Salon, the (bi-) annual show held by the
Acadmie des Beaux-Arts. Participation in these shows was
determined by a very strict and conservative jury, which only
selected works o art made in the Academic style. This meant that
there was no room or innovative art. Naturalist paintings were
displayed at the Salon and were critically acclaimed. The inuence
o the Salon diminished with the establishment o other venues
where artists could exhibit their work. Still, the Salon exhibitions
remained immensely popular: they aorded beginning artists the
best opportunity o garnering critical notice. Because the works
o art were hung above and below one another at the Salon,
admittance was no guarantee that a painting was easy to see. The
height at which a work was hung reected the jurys opinion o its
importance. I it hung at eye level, the artist was ensured greater
recognition.
Determine the criteria or Salon paintings at the end o the 19th
century.
The Salon des reuss was established in 1863. It presented
works o art that had been rejected by the other Salon.
Determine what kind o art was accepted at the Salon des
reuss and how it diered rom that shown in the ocial Salon.
Honor Daumiermade caricatures o the public at the Salon.
Find drawings by Daumier about the Salon on the Internet.
What point was Daumier trying to make with his caricatures?
Did he succeed? What can you learn about Salon practices rom
these drawings?
Honor Daumier made caricatures o the public at the Salon.
Find drawings by Daumier and naturalist paintings (or
example, via Google) on the Internet. Let them inspire you
to make a cartoon in response to a naturalist painting or an art
exhibition.
STOriESNaturalist paintings quite oten tell a story, one that can easily
be perceived by the viewer. A single painting oten includes so
many details that you can imagine an entire story. This diered
greatly rom the more modern paintings being produced. Still,
these two contrasting styles occurred side by side at the end o
the 19th century. The modern paintings gave the viewer much less
inormation or fguring out the given scene. Sometimes they did
not even have a story.
Select a naturalist painting. Write a story in which one o the
scenes you describe is the one depicted in the painting.
Select a naturalist painting. Find a more modern painting that
you believe tells a comparable story in ar t books or on the
Internet. Explain why you think the same subject is depicted as
well as the way in which the paintings diermost.
Select a naturalist painting. Describe the thoughts and eelings
o each character in the painting that he or she might have at
that moment.
iNduSTrialiSaTiON aNd rural lifE Some naturalist paintings criticised social developments, such
as the impact o industrialisation on rural lie. Is there an issue
in present-day society that you believe warrants critical
attention? How would you want to make this abuse clear?
Would you make a painting o it? What would it look like? Would
you choose another way to call attention to the problem?
Describe how you would go about doing this and/or actually do
it now.
Top image: Nikolaj Kasatkin, Poor people collecting coal in an abandoned pit, 1894,
The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
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rEliGiONCompare Let the little children come to me by Fritz von Uhde with
the Pieta by Vincent van Gogh. Both paintings represent a story
rom the Bible. Even though they were made just a ew years apart
at the end o the 19th century, they nevertheless dier greatly.
List some dierences in the style in which the artists painted.
The way in which they wanted to tell the biblical story deviates.
What is the greatest dierence?
Van Goghs painting is entitled Pieta (ater Delacroix). Look up
Pieta on the Internet. You can fnd Van Goghs painting on the
Van Gogh Museum website. What does ater Delacroix mean?
Vincent wrote the ollowing about von Uhdes painting Let the little
children come to me:
Theo, you mustnt think that if I saw Uhdes painting
itself I would lose the impression I got of it. I say again
that I believe this man will go the same way as Knaus
and Lobrichon namely that after a few things full
of character, the very technique will play a dirty trick
on him, thats to say hell start working more and more
correctly and more and more drily.
Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, Nuenen, Monday, 6 July 1885
Vincent van Gogh mentioned Fritz von Uhde more than once
in his letters. Find the letters in which Van Gogh wrote about
Fritz von Uhde at www.vangoghletters.org . Use the search
term Uhde. Explain in your own words what Van Gogh thought
about this painting by von Uhde. Do you agree with him?
Explain why or why not.
Top let image: Fritz von Uhde, Let the little children come to me , 1884, Museum der
bildenden Knste, Leipzig
Top right image: Vincent van Gogh, Pieta (ater Delacroix), 1889, Van Gogh MuseumAmsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
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yOuThIn this painting The geography lesson The black stainmade by
Albert Bettannier in 1887, schoolchildren are being taught about
the conict surrounding Alsace-Lorraine.
Look up what the Alsace-Lorraine conict was all about. How
did the artist view it? And, how is this reected in the painting?
CiNEmaThe way in which naturalist painters conveyed their stories in a
single image greatly inuenced the cinema. These motion pictures
provided new possibilities or telling stories to the public and
were frst shown in the last decade o the 19th century. Some flm
directors used naturalist visual language to do so. This was done, or
example, in the flms that were made o the naturalist novels by the
French writer mile Zola.
Select a naturalist painting. Can you imagine that this painting
represents a scene rom a flm? What do you think would
happen in the next scene? And what happened previously?
Who are the leading characters? What is their story? Make a
storyboard: sketches o a sequence o scenes. The painting is
the middle scene. Draw two scenes beore and two ater
it. While making your storyboard think about zooming in, the
surroundings, and the development o the story. When you are
done, compare it to those o your classmates. Do you
understand each others stories? Are there comparable story
lines?
Select a naturalist painting. Make a short flm in which you
include the scene that you see in the painting.
O course, you can reverse the inuence paintings had on
flm. Select a scene rom one o your avourite movies and make
a painting o it.
Top image: Albert Bettannier, The geography lesson The black stain, 1887, Deutsches
Historisches Museum, Berlin
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phOTOGraphySome naturalist artists used photographs as the basis or their
paintings. Accordingly, their paintings make a very realistic
impression. Photographs allowed them to study reality very
closely. The French artist Jules-Alexis Muenieroten relied on
photographs when making his paintings. For Beautiul days he took
several photographs o his wie and young son. The other people
in the painting are not relatives, but were included to complete
the picture o a amily. For Muenier, photography had one great
advantage: he no longer had to make so much as a sketch beore
he started to paint. The photographs were his point o departure.
Nevertheless, some art critics noted that the use o photography
had disadvantages.
Write an essay deending the ollowing position: Artists who
rely on photographs to make their paintings are cheating.
Naturalist artists used photographs to make their paintings
more realistic. Ultimately, however, they did not paint reality
entirely aithully. Rather, they manipulated it or the sake o a
perect composition. This gave the artist a certain power over
reality. Experience this power or yoursel. Take a photograph
o an event in your lie and manipulate it to achieve an ideal
image. Perhaps a person is missing in your photograph, or you
wore the wrong clothes. This can be corrected by altering the
photo in a graphics-editing programme on the computer.
Select a naturalist painting. Take a photograph imitating the
scene in the painting as precisely as possible. Pay attention to
the surroundings, the clothing worn by the fgures, and the
lighting. You can also make a more modern version o
the painting, on the condition that you try to approximate its
atmosphere in your photograph.
Make your own naturalist painting with the help o
photography. First, take a series o photographs and then use
them to determine your composition. To enlarge a photograph
to the size o your painting, try the trick that Jules-Alexis
Muenier probably used. Divide your photo into dierentsections. By dividing your canvas in the same way, you can
easily transer the sections in the photo to the corresponding
sections in the canvas.
rESulTSThe Van Gogh Museum would like to see the results o your lessons;
poems, photos and images o paintings can be sent to
[email protected] . Please include the name, age and
class o the student and the name o the school.
Top let image: Jules-Alexis Muenier, preparatory photo or Beautiul days, c. 1889,
collection amily o the artist
Top right image: Jules-Alexis Muenier, Beautiul days, 1889, Bradley P. Radichel
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The 19th century was a multiaceted period, in which the norms
and values o both society and the art world changed drastically.
It witnessed the shit o art education rom the atelier to the
academy, the opening o the frst public museums, and the growing
importance o artists as individuals.
Nineteenth-century artists and art movements have been studied
extensively; even so, some lacunas remained. For instance, Proessor
Gabriel Weisberg discovered the existence between 1875 and
1918 o a long unrecognised art movement, namely Naturalism. In
his bookBeyond Impressionism. The Naturalist Impulse, Weisberg
demonstrated that around the turn o the 20th century the work
o European and North-American artists was stylistically uniorm.
Interestingly there was no structured mutual collaboration or a joint
maniesto. However, through a common (unconscious) pursuit in
terms o style and content it can, in act, be called an art movement.
Although the name o this movement might suggest otherwise,
Naturalism does not mean that the paintings always strictly
reected reality. In contrast to realist painters, the naturalists took
creative liberties, transorming their works rom depictions o raw
reality into careully composed scenes that tell a story about society.
GENESiSA discussion arose in the mid-19th century regarding which
painting style could best convey modern lie. The popularity o
historical, mythological and allegorical scenes steadily diminished in
avour o scenes rom daily lie. Not only did the themes have to be
appealing, contemporary viewers also had to recognise themselves
in and learn rom them, which is why naturalist painters depicted
the lie o the common man. As a result, their work was ideally
suited or display in public spaces, such as town halls or universities.
Consequently, naturalist painters oten worked on commission or
the government. They scaled their works to show up well in the
large spaces where they came to hang.
ThEmESNaturalism addressed subjects in daily lie. These can be groupedinto several categories: rural li e, industry, politics, religion and
youth.
baCkGrOuNd iNfOrmaTiON ON NaTuraliSm
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rural lifENaturalist artists oten painted peasants in the countryside.
Sometimes they chose this subject to present an idyllic image o
rural lie. However, this changed with the advent o the industrial
revolution and artists were eager to immortalise this disappearing
way o lie. This can be seen, or example, in The haymakers by the
French artist Lon Augustin Lhermitte. Other artists captured the
raw side o rural lie and did not shy away rom social problems,
such as alcoholism.
The enormous painting Grimaces and miseryby Fernand Pelez
shows a group o travelling circus perormers. The harshness o their
lie is announced in the title and can also be sensed instantly in the
painting. The painter underscored a poignant irony: the acrobats
and clowns, who travel through villages and towns to entertain
others, themselves lead a bleak existence. The impression this work
made at the Salon was proound.
Top image: Lon Augustin Lhermitte, The haymakers, 1887, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam
(Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Bottom image: Fernand Pelez, 1848-1913, Grimaces and misery, 1888, Petit Palais, Muse
des Beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris
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iNduSTryAt the time o the naturalist movement, the consequences o the
industrial revolution were also recorded on canvas. Some ar tists
wanted to highlight the value o manual labour, others were more
interested in rendering the harsh reality o actory lie. One o the
paintings portraying actory workers is The ironworkers noontime
by the American artist Thomas Anshutz. Like his teacher Thomas
Eakins, he relied on photography to compose his paintings. Each
fgure in The ironworkers noontime seems to have been studied and
photographed in an atelier, and then incorporated in the painting.
However, no photographic evidence to this eect has ever been
ound.
The ironworkers noontime depicts workers at a nail actory in
Wheeling, West Virginia. Washed and stretching their muscles, they
are shown taking a break ater working hard, recalling images o
ancient Greek athletes.
Anshutz grew up near this actory and was ully aware o the
diculties acing this industry through overproduction: i the
actory were orced to close, the small town o Wheeling would
probably also disappear. On the one hand, this painting can be
considered a tribute to the actory worker, and on the other it may
have been intended as a monument to a way o lie on the verge o
extinction.
The Finnish artist Eero Jrneelt made a darker image o the eects
o industry. In his painting Under the yoke (Burning the brushwood)
we see labourers clearing a wooded section o land. Their clothing
and circumstances betray just how heavy and dangerous this work
is. Particularly the exhausted child staring ahead was meant to make
viewers question the quality o these peoples lie.
Top image: Thomas Anshutz, 1851-1912, The ironworkers noontime, 1880, Fine Arts
Museums o San Francisco, git o Mr and Mrs John D. Rockeeller 3rd
Bottom image: Eero Jrneelt, 1863-1937, Under the yoke (Burning the brushwood) , 1893,
Ateneum, Art Museum Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki
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pOliTiCSNaturalist artists depicted political events in a penetrating and
at times biased manner. For example, in The strike at Le Creusot
by Jules Adler, the artists sympathies clearly lie with the striking
labourers. This painting was exhibited in the Salon in 1900. It
presents a mass o people moving as a single entity in protest
against the repression o their employers. The painter probably
went to Creusot to gain a realistic idea o the strikers grievances frst
hand.
Top image: Jules Adler, The strike at Le Creusot, 1899, Muse des Beaux Arts, Pau
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rEliGiONReligion was also oten the subject o naturalist paintings, but then
rendered in a dierent, untraditional way. This genre was adapted
to the demands o modern times. The lie o Christby Ernest Renan,
o 1863, inuenced the way in which Christ was depicted. In this
book, Renan wanted to humanise Christ, so that anyone could
identiy with him. In paintings Christ was given human traits and
shown participating in daily l ie. An example o this is Fritz von
Uhdes Let the little children come to me, in which Christ is shown
in a 19th-century interior as an ordinary man without a halo and
approachable or the children surrounding him.
The religious eelings and experiences o the common man were
also conveyed in naturalist paintings. In these works, humble
human beings were endowed with saintly characteristics: a praying
labourer could be depicted as though he were a devout saint. Using
Christian subjects, attention could be ocused on contemporary
issues o injustice. For instance, a painting o the Good Samaritan by
Aim-Nicolas Morot became an exhortation to care or the sick and
needy.
Top let image: Fritz von Uhde, 1848-1911, Let the little children come to me , 1884, Museum
der Bildende Kunste, Leipzig
Top right image: Aim-Nicolas Morot, The Good Samaritan, 1880, Petit Palais, Muse des
Beaux Arts de la Ville Paris, Paris
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yOuThIdeas on the education and the raising o children changed in the
19th century. This, too, was expressed in naturalist art. An example
o this is The geography lesson The black stain, in which a class is
being taught about a conict between France and Germany. In the
painting a teacher points his stick at a large black area on a map.
Ater the Franco-German War (1870-1871), this territory - Alsace-
Lorraine, which originally was part o France was annexed by
Germany. The message o the painting is easily understood: French
youngsters had to learn that this territory belonged to France and
would one day be returned it.
Top image: Albert Bettannier, The geography lesson The black stain, 1887, Deutsches
Historisches Museum, Berlin
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ThE iNfluENCE Of phOTOGraphy ONNaTuraliST paiNTiNGSVarious naturalist painters relied on photographyin making a
painting. They would manipulate the fgures and the setting in
a photograph to arrive at the best composition. Because o their
realistic rendering, such paintings made a great impression on the
public. Some artists even became avid amateur photographers,
including Jules-Alexis Muenier and Thomas Anshutz.
Another development was emerging at the same time: photography
began to evolve into an art orm. In 1886, an English painter and
photographer, Peter Henry Emerson, wrote an inuential book
entitled Naturalist Photography or the Art Student. He argued that
photography should not be staged, but be real. The advent o
photography as an art orm prompted a discussion about the role o
painting in rendering reality.
The eect photographs had on the making o paintings varied.
For example, in the paintings the fgures sometimes seem oddly
situated in their surroundings. Another eect is evident in the
paintingAll Saints Dayby mile Friant, in which a amily visiting
a cemetery is portrayed. A young girl oers a coin to a beggar
seated at the entrance. She is depicted in suspended motion, her
oot hovering just above the ground and her arm outstretched.
This suggestion o movement recalls photography. The painting
elicited a note o criticism: a caricature oAll Saints Daywas made
in which the beggar is shown with a camera in his lap. The use o
photography as a tool to acilitate the painting process was thus not
always viewed in a positive light.
Top let image: mile Friant, All Saints Day, 1888, Muse des Beaux Arts, Nancy
Top right image: Caricature o All Saints Day, Le Journal Amusant, 1889, Bibliothque
Nationale de France, Paris
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milE ZOla: NaTuraliST liTEraTurE,ThEaTrE aNd CiNEmaNaturalism was not only a movement in the visual arts, but also in
literature, photography and cinema. One o the leading proponents
o Naturalism was not a painter, but a writer: mile Zola. Zola was
instrumental in the development o a new naturalist writing style.
Preparatory to his novels he flled notebooks with his observations
on the basis o which he hoped to portray his characters objectively.
This is comparable to the studies made by painters, who use
sketches (and possibly photographs) as tools or observing reality.
In his novels, Zola levelled criticism at the dark side o man and
society. He broke through taboos, writing about incest, prostitution,
rape and alcoholism. In a precise style he ruthlessly described
the shortcomings o his main characters. He set his stories in
surroundings recognisable to his readers; or example, a rural or
industrial environment. This choice also had a bearing on painting.
Zola aimed to describe the lie o peasants and labourers and
painters ollowed suit.
Zola wanted his novels to reach as many people as possible. To this
end he published them in serials in newspapers. He also ensured
that inexpensive paperback editions were available on the market.
He enjoyed giving interviews, which in turn drew great attention to
his books. In order to bring his novels even closer to the pubic, he
made stage adaptations o some o them. In these plays, as in his
novels, Zola attempted to approximate reality. This impacted the
dcor o his plays: the customary painted backdrops were replaced
with real objects. The theatre critics were not enthusiastic, however.
They ound Zolas plays banal.
The next step or Zolas stories was cinema, a new medium frst used
in the last years o the 19th century. This technique opened up new
possibilities or presenting stories to the public.
The early cinematographers undoubtedly saw the impressive
naturalist paintings at the Salon and could also draw a great dealo inspiration rom the theatre. However, while in the theatre an
attempt was made to create the most realistic possible setting,
flmmakers could actually go to the places where the story took
place.
Zolas novel Germinalwas shot on location in 1913. The director
Albert Capellani flmed the conict between an employer and his
employees in a very naturalist manner. Germinalis about wealthy
capitalists in the mining industry and the power they wield over
poor labourers. Nevertheless, these labourers also have power,
namely by going on strike they disrupt the dominion o the rich.
Capellani conveyed his view on power relations through subtle
visual clues. For example, hanging in the residence o the mines
owner is a painting that reers to a work oConstantin Meunier. This
artist was known primarily or his heroic portrayal o labourers, and
mine workers in particular. An eye or detail is also characteristic
o naturalist paintings. This gives the viewer more background
inormation about the story, which in a painting, ater all, has to be
told in a single image.
Top let image: Hubert von Herkomer, On strike, 1891, Royal Academy o London, London
Top right image: Film still Albert Capellani, The strike /The charge, Germinal, 1913,
Gaumont-Path Archives, Saint-Ouen
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iN CONCluSiONNaturalist art aords an image o society in the period 1875 1918.
Artists at the time oten added an extra dimension to their works,
however: they did not just depict what they saw, but used and
adapted reality to say something about society. By showing daily
lie, they wanted people to reect on social issues. By the end o
the 19th century, avant-garde movements took the lead, fnding
new ways to depict lie. Naturalism no longer dominated and the
movement was subsequently orgotten.
addiTiONal rEadiNGThe exhibition Illusions o reality: Naturalist painting, photography
and cinema, 1875-1918 is accompanied by a catalogue o the same
title. It is available in the Van Gogh Museum store, via the Van Gogh
Museums online shop, and in quality bookstores.
www.vangoghmuseumshop.com
Gabriel P. Weisberg, Beyond Impressionism: The Naturalist Impulse,
New York 1992
Top image: Albert Edelelt, Conveying the childs cofn, 1879, Ateneum Art Museum, Finnish
National Gallery, Helsinki
PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION