Around 1840 -1940 · Face, work and social environment without obligatory idealization

The realistic portrait looks at the person in their world: clothing, interior, profession, fatigue and tension become as important as the resemblance of the face.

From the mid-19th century, many artists refused to allow the portrait to be anything other than a flattering tribute. Courbet shows himself in The Desperate with a proximity that transforms the self-portrait into a physical crisis. Whistler reduces the story around his mother to an austere organization of profile, black dress and gray. Thomas Eakins places Max Schmitt in his skiff: the portrait becomes a study of a trained body, a precise place and a modern activity. In the 20th century, Grant Wood places American Schmitt in his skiff: the portrait becomes a study of a trained body, a precise place and a modern activity. In the 20th century, Grant Wood places Max Schmitt in his skiff: the portrait becomes a study of a trained body, a precise place and a modern activity. In the 20th century, Grant Wood places Max Schmitt in his skiff: the portrait becomes a study of a trained body, a precise location and modern activity. In the 20th century, Grant Wood places Max Schmitt in his skiff: the portrait becomes a study of a trained body, a precise location and modern activity. In the 20th century, Grant Wood places Max Schmitt in his sk other relationships between psychology, light and social condition. Realism therefore does not mean photographic neutrality. It is based on choices of framing, material and context which make the model a situated person rather than an ideal type. The "Realistic Portraits" selection notably compares American Gothic and Whistler’s Mother, Arrangement in Gray and Black n°1. His reading favors light.

The realistic portrait does not promise the absence of staging: it makes the staging concrete enough for the environment, body and character to become readable together.