Realism emerged in France during the 1840s as a direct challenge to the idealised subjects and emotional excess of Romanticism. Its practitioners insisted on depicting the world as it actually appeared: labourers breaking stones, peasants gleaning fields, ordinary funerals in provincial towns. Gustave Courbet, the movement's self-appointed leader,…
Works of Realism are held in 370 museums worldwide, including National Gallery of Art, Yale Center for British Art, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Key artists
Work by these painters is spread across the museums listed below.
🇦🇲 Armenia
1 museum
Also in ArmeniaNational Gallery of Armenia (131)
🇧🇪 Belgium
1 museum
Also in BelgiumMuseum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK) (39)
🇫🇷 France
4 museums
Also in FranceMusée d'Orsay (301)Louvre (59)Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris (38)Musée Fabre (36)
🇩🇪 Germany
1 museum
Also in GermanyAlte Nationalgalerie (82)
🇮🇪 Ireland
1 museum
Also in IrelandNational Gallery of Ireland (46)
🇳🇱 Netherlands
2 museums
Also in NetherlandsMuseum Boijmans Van Beuningen (77)Rijksmuseum (51)
🇳🇴 Norway
1 museum
Also in NorwayNational Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (198)
🇵🇱 Poland
2 museums
Also in PolandNational Museum in Warsaw (210)National Museum in Kraków (136)
🇷🇺 Russia
1 museum
Also in RussiaHermitage Museum (57)
🇸🇪 Sweden
2 museums
Also in SwedenNationalmuseum (298)Thiel Gallery (69)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
14 museums
Also in United KingdomNational Gallery (194)Tate (129)Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery (106)Victoria and Albert Museum (83)National Trust (77)Imperial War Museums (64)Birmingham Museums Trust (57)Royal Collection (54)Manchester Art Gallery (51)Fitzwilliam Museum (50)National Portrait Gallery (42)Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums collections (40)Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales (40)National Galleries Scotland (39)
🇺🇸 United States
20 museums
Also in United StatesNational Gallery of Art (5733)Yale Center for British Art (369)Metropolitan Museum of Art (342)Museum of Fine Arts Boston (235)Whitney Museum of American Art (225)Freer Gallery of Art (125)Art Institute of Chicago (117)Philadelphia Museum of Art (115)Vanderbilt Museum of Art (98)Clark Art Institute (86)Brandywine Museum of Art (48)Fogg Museum (43)Detroit Institute of Arts (42)Worcester Art Museum (42)Cleveland Museum of Art (40)Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (39)Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (38)Smithsonian American Art Museum (36)RISD Museum (35)Yale University Art Gallery (34)
320 more museums hold Realism works with smaller collections, not listed here.
Can't travel? Bring Realism home.
Browse Realism Prints →Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I see Realism paintings?
Realism works are held in 370 museums worldwide, including National Gallery of Art, Yale Center for British Art, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.How many museums have Realism artworks?
370 museums worldwide hold works by Realism artists.Which is the best museum for Realism?
National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. holds the largest Realism collection with 5733 works.