Social Realism (Essay Sample)

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Social realism
Social realism describes both the attitude and the stylistic approach of the subject (Pease, 2001). The goals of social realism are not entertain, but to reveal to the observer immorality, wars, and other evils that happen in the society (Sayre-McCord, 2002). This art bases its approach on the fact that images and pictures have the ability to convey a certain message. The message conveyed by such images is clear as people can observe. However, the interpretation of the message conveyed by the image varies from one person to another. Social realists believe that paintings and images should express and describe people’s challenges and times (Pease, 2001).
Each of the four paintings has its own unique message. The first painting reveals so many characters about people. One can clearly see the expression of contentment. The face of that painting shows a person who is not eager to achieve more than what he or she has already achieved. The painting also describes the problem facing that society. In the painting, one can see an umbrella. This sign that rain in that society is eminent. However, judging by the look of that face, one can conclude that people in that society do not appreciate the occurrence of rain. This painting also describes the times. These are the traditional days where women wore the kind of clothes in that painting. However, the dressing can also represent a certain society of people. This can include a society with Muslim culture. This painting has some come features with the second painting. In this painting, one can clearly judge that the person is not happy. This is the same case when one looks at the first painting.
The third painting describes a society with poverty and other problems. Comparing this to the first painting, one can conclude that in both societies challenges are prominent. The background of the second painting speaks more of that society. One is lack of job opportunities in that society. This is because the man in the painting is idle. The other feature about this society is that poor housing facilities form a significant part of this society. The mode of dressing in both paintings reveals the traditional times where people had little regard about fashion.
However, the two paintings do have some contrast. The first painting represents a society of people of middle class. These people do not seem to have problems with clothing, food, and shelter. Moreover, they are people full of health. On the other hand, the third speaks volumes about the problems facing that society. The first message one learns from the painting is that the environment is not conducive. This is a contradiction to the first painting. The surrounding of that society is has a hot and dry climate. In the first painting, one can vividly see that the climate is favorable for growth of crops and for human survival. The other contradiction of the two society is that in one society idleness is dominant while in the other people are hardworking. The first painting one can that people are busy even when there is rain. Meaning that there are no hindrances for work. In the second painting, there no jobs so people idle around.
The second painting represents a society where technology is rampant. This is evident where people are watching movies. People in this society are sociable. The painting is a representation of a modern society. This is evident is the modern mode of dressing, the presence of social places such as dancing halls and public halls for the public meeting. Family bondage is also a concept revealed in the painting. This palpable as one can see members of the family showing a sense of unity.
The second painting shows a more advanced society unlike the other two paintings. Persons in the second picture are busy people. However, they do allocate have a leisure time, which they spend with their fr...