Although the scene is of the working class, the hardships of the class are not seen.

Farmers working in the hot sun are barely visible in the painting. It is, above all, a
landscape painting meant to show the beauty of nature and to evoke feelings from
the viewer, not a painting meant to show the unfairness forced on the working
classes. The Hay Wain shows onstable!s a"nity for the place where he grew up,
not acknowledging the hardships that must have been a large part of farm life.
#$osenblum, pg.%&'(%&)* In onstable!s letter to $ev. Fisher from %)+%, he e,plains
his reasons for painting the places that he does. -.till I should paint my own places
best/ painting is with me but another word for feeling, and I associate 0my careless
boyhood! with all that lies on the banks of the .tour/ those scenes made me a
painter12 #Holt, pg.%%&* His comment about painting being synonymous with
feeling is a perfect illustration of the main beliefs of the $omantic 3ovement.
The method of painting The Hay Wain was uni4ue in that the paint was partially
applied with a palette knife, but it was also di5erent because the brushwork was
speckled and the colors were so energetic that individual details were di"cult to
pick out. #$osenblum, pg.%&)* In another letter to $ev. Fisher from %)+&, onstable
writes about other artist!s opinions of his brushwork and color. -1Thought that as
the colors are rough, they should be seen at a distance. They found the mistake and
now acknowledge the richness of te,ture, and attention to the surface of things.
They are struck with their vivacity and freshness, things unknown to their own
pictures1it is worse that they make painful studies of individual articles singly, so
that they look cut out, without belonging to the whole. And they neglect the look of
nature altogether, under its various changes.2 #Holt, pg.%%6* This thought of
brushwork and color to portray nature and evoke feelings is central to the beliefs of
the $omantic painters.
In contrast to the $omantic genre scene by onstable, The .tonebreakers by
ourbet is a perfect e,ample of a $ealist painting. The actual painting itself was lost
during World War II, so all that remains of its e,istence are reproductions, mostly
from history books. It is a depiction of a real event that ourbet witnessed on the
road to 3ai7ieres. He saw two stonebreakers on the side of the road and had them
go to his studio in 8rnans to pose for him. As is inherent in $ealist art, there is no
emotion put into the painting. It is simply a straightforward recreation of a moment
in time. There is, however, a reference to the never(ending cycle of work for this
class of people. 9y putting an old man and a young boy in the same picture, he
emphasi7es the fact that the old man has been doing this hard labor all of his life
and also implies that the young boy is destined to live the same life. #$osenblum,
pg. ++:*
There are details in the picture that emphasi7e the adversity in the working class
society, but they are shown in an unbiased and emotionless way. For e,ample, the
baggy pants, torn sock, and worn shoes all show the hardships of this class of
people, but it is shown as simply a fact, not to evoke feelings as in $omanticism.
The thoughts of ourbet are the e,act beliefs of the $ealist 3ovement. In a letter to
a group of students in %)6%, he writes his basis for his ideas in art. -I deny that art
can be taught1art is completely individual1art or talent to an artist can only be #in
my opinion* the means of applying his personal faculties to the ideas and the
ob;ects of the time in which he lives1art in painting can only consist of the
representation of ob;ects that are visible and tangible to the artist1I believe that
the artists of one century are completely incompetent when it comes to depicting
the ob;ects of a preceding or future century, in other words, to paint either the past
or the future.2 #Holt, pg.<&%* ourbet!s paintings were ;udged as not =t for
e,hibition in France on political grounds. #Time maga7ine* These ideas of ourbet!s
are central to the broad beliefs of $ealism, although ourbet did not consider
himself to be of any particular movement. -I am ourbetist, that!s all. 3y painting is
the only true one. I am the =rst and uni4ue artist of the century/ the others are
students or drivellers.2 #Time maga7ine* $ealism does not strive for perfection, as in
$omanticism. It accepts the natural beauty of things, even if they are imperfect.
9oth of these pictures are characteristic of the time periods they come from. They
have more similarities than is apparent at =rst, however. The fact that the paint on
both pictures was applied in part with a palette knife is an important similarity. The
purposes of this techni4ue, however, were very di5erent. The Hay Wain had paint
applied in this way in order to evoke feelings from the viewer, while The
.tonebreakers was done in this way to make the picture look less like a painting and
more realistic. 9oth paintings also had the goal of =nding Truth, but in $omanticism,
truth was embodied by nature, in $ealism truth was found in everyday events and
normality. Although both of these paintings are of the working class, they make the
viewer feel very di5erent, which is what distinguishes the two periods
http>??':.6.+<).+&:?search?srpcache@eiABTF(
)CpAdi5erenceDEibertyDEeadingDtheDFeopleDand8athDofDtheDHoratiiCfrAmo7<
&CuAhttp>??cc.bing;.com?cache.asp,@
4Adi5erenceDEibertyDEeadingDtheDFeopleDand8athDofDtheDHoratiiCdA:G%%%G
+)%H):)6%<CmktAen(B.CsetlangAen(B.CwAFI+gHc+(
$6u&WhF.9JibB9GboI+KI,mCicpA%C.intlAusCsigA'w%cL6'H;;.4w4cbIvK;TA((
.