The nineteenth-century art movement developed in reaction to the idealistic subject matter of the French art academy in favor of commonplace, everyday, even ugly subjects.
romanticism
A European movement(late eighteenth to mid nineteenth centuries) that rejected a return to the classical ideals of neoclassicism. Romanticism emphasized emotion and spontaneous expression over reason. The subject matter was dramatic and usually painted in energetic, brillant colors.
impressionism
A late nineteenth-century French school that emphasized transitory visual impressions often painted directly from nature. Impressionists focused on the changing effects of light and color on natural objects.
symbolism
A painting movement that emerged in Paris in the 1880s. Subject matter was suggested, rather than presented directly, in stylized, evocative images.