Realism refers to two distinct concepts in art. Primarily, it was a revolutionary art movement that emerged in France in the 1840s in the wake of the 1848 Revolution. As a movement, Realism explicitly rejected the idealized subjects of Neoclassicism and the dramatic emotionalism of Romanticism . Instead, Realist artists sought to depict the world truthfully and objectively, focusing on the unvarnished realities of modern, everyday life. Led by the painter Gustave Courbet, the movement was grounded in the philosophy that artists should only paint what they could physically see and experience, a sentiment captured in his famous declaration, "I cannot paint an angel because I have never seen one."

Realist painters turned their attention to subjects previously considered unworthy of fine art: laborers, peasants, the provincial bourgeoisie, and mundane scenes. Works like Courbet's A Burial at Ornans and Jean-François Millet's The Gleaners treated common people and events with the grand scale and serious attention once reserved for historical or religious figures. This elevation of the ordinary was seen as a democratic, and often political, statement that challenged the hierarchical standards of the official French Academy. The movement's commitment to social observation coincided with the rise of realist literature in the works of authors like Flaubert and Balzac.

More broadly, the term realism (also known as naturalism or mimesis ) refers to a technical approach in art that aims for a precise, detailed, and accurate representation of the visual appearance of objects and scenes. This method is not tied to a specific period and can be seen in the art of various eras, from the Dutch Golden Age to the modern day. The 19th-century Realist movement, however, was defined as much by its choice of subject matter and social philosophy as by its technique. By grounding art in direct observation of the contemporary world, it laid the essential groundwork for future modernist movements, most notably Impressionism .

Many artists have made realist works of art. This list contains a few people who are well-known for it.