Breaking Stones on the Road to Giverny
Wednesday, December 27th, 2006Written July 2003
The works of Gustave Courbet, Edouard Manet, and Claude Monet reflected French social, political, and economic conditions as well as artistic breakthroughs in the nineteenth century Realism and Impressionist movements. As the upper classes were attempting to stay in control and only valued art done in the academic tradition, these three painters pushed aside artistic boundaries and responded to a fading agrarian lifestyle, urban social unrest, and new awareness of the artistic reaction.