the stone breakers

artist

Courbet

year

1848

style

realism

used for

French

realism

painting of working life

social commentry

avants garde

depicts

2 stone breakers in a rural setting, breaking up large rocks to link rural roads

points for realism

• photographic accuracy, shadow on the hill = morning = men working all day due to social issues of money at the time “portrayal of social injustice”

• detail in the clothing, man in school uniform, with creases in trousers and torn t-shirt = taken out of education. man in wooden clogs

• use of colour, muted and dull colour, with men that blend into background = harsh reality of working conditions and men disregarded in society as they blend in

• contemporary subject, can’t see the mens faces = no individuality= they’re only seen as workers, referencing the social issues at the time = the abuse and deprivation that was a common feature of mid-century French rural life.

• everyday life, men doing tiresome tasks. the young man is in a kneeling position, visually linking into how he’s going to be doing this till he’s old, like the man besides him.

points for avant garde

• rough application of paint, uses a palette knife to create texture = anti-academic,

• cropped, can’t see the full extent of the work the men are doing = anti academic

• paints a working class scene, man in school uniform suggesting he’s been taken out of education,

• heavy outlines around the forms, such as the stones, but also the mens backs = emphasis on they postures, showing the gruelling work they do.

working life

social commentary

• everyday life, men doing tiresome tasks. the young man is in a kneeling position, visually linking into how he’s going to be doing this till he’s old, like the man besides him.