In painting, the trend toward realism was greatly influenced both by the development of linear perspective and the Industrial Revolution centuries later. Many realist painters in the 19th century focused on common subjects, such as field laborers or other workers. One of the most important works in early realism is Gustave Courbet's "A Burial at Ornans," which takes as its subject a funeral. While a Romantic painter may have portrayed this scene with over-the-top emotions, the realist approach is to depict the scene as the artist experienced it.
In literature realism emerged in the 19th century with important works such as George Eliot's "Middlemarch" and Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina." In these works the authors depicted not only characters and stories, but entire communities, using their novels to explore societal issues such as the development of the railroad or the conditions of society's lower classes. Realist authors focused on everyday experiences.
In film realism emerged as a reaction to escapist Hollywood films, including musicals, which did not reflect the experiences and concerns of viewers. In the mid-20th century several countries produced films in the realist style. The most notable of these, Italian neorealism, pioneered filming on location and using nonprofessional actors. Italian neorealism would be a major influence on the French New Wave and the generation of American directors who emerged in the late 1960s to create the New Hollywood movement.
While realism shifted with the emergence of modernism and postmodernism in art its influence can still be found in contemporary art, literature, and film. Many movements in contemporary art embraced classical realism and figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art and postmodernism. In literature, genres such as magic realism and hyperrealism emerged, which present versions of reality that incorporate elements of the fantastic or an overwhelming specificity of detail, respectively.