Realism, sometimes called naturalism, in the arts is generally the attempt to represent the subject truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, or implausible, exotic and supernatural elements. Realism has prevailed in the arts in many periods, and it can be largely a matter of technique and training, and avoid stylization.
In visual arts, illusionist realism is the precise representation of life forms, perspective and details of light and color. But realistic or naturalistic works of art can, also or instead of illusionist realism, be "realistic" in their subject and emphasize the mundane, ugly or sordid. Realist painters rejected romanticism, which had come to dominate French literature and art, with roots in the late 18th century.
