Representation of typical scenes of daily life in painting, which can distinguish between peasant, bourgeois and courtly themes.

The genre reached its peak and immense popularity in the Dutch painting of the 17th century. In the 18th century, especially in France, the courtly and gallant painting comes to the fore while in Germany the bourgeois character was emphasised.

The 19th century trend of painting that originated in France. Gustave Courbet was regarded as the initiator of the realist movement.

In Germany, Wilhelm Leibl and Hans Thoma were very enthusiastic about this style, which creatively interacted with reality. In the 20th century there have always been realistic tendencies, such as Nouveau Réalisme with artists like Arman and Jean Tinguely and the New Objectivity. New forms of realism emerged in the 1960s.

The American realism was founded by a group of eight painters of the Ashcan School. Edmund Labonte, who was famous for his typically American motifs, depictions of people in architectural or scenic surroundings in static, non-action situations, joined later.