Famous French Realist Painters

This ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.

Gustave Courbet

(French Painter and Leader of the 19th Century Realist Movement)

Birthdate: June 10, 1819

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Ornans, France

Died: December 31, 1877

Born to a farmer in eastern France, Gustave Courbet was initially gearing up to study law but later deviated to art. He started by copying Spanish painters and later rebelled against Romanticism, focusing on real-life subjects around him instead and thus developing 19th-century Realism.

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

(French Academic Painter Best Known for His Works: ‘The Birth of Venus’ and ‘The Bohemian’)

Birthdate: November 30, 1825

Sun Sign: Sagittarius

Birthplace: La Rochelle, France

Died: August 19, 1905

William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a French academic painter who enjoyed significant popularity in the United States and France. Renowned for his realistic genre paintings, which focused on the beauty of the female human body, Bouguereau received top prices for his paintings and numerous official honors during his lifetime.

Jean-François Millet

(Artist)

Birthdate: October 4, 1814

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Gréville-Hague, La Hague, France

Died: January 20, 1875

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Joseph Ducreux

(Former Painter who was a successful portraitist at the court of Louis XVI of France)

Birthdate: June 26, 1735

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Nancy, France

Died: July 24, 1802

Gustave Caillebotte

(Painter)

Birthdate: August 19, 1848

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Paris, France

Died: February 21, 1894

Camille Corot

(French Landscape and Portrait Painter)

Birthdate: July 16, 1796

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Paris, France

Died: February 28, 1875

French painter Camille Corot is remembered for his landscape paintings that paved the path for the Impressionist movement. Born into a milliner’s family, Corot was a poor student and shunned his family business to learn painting at 25. His works, however, were easy to replicate and led to many forgeries.

James Tissot

(Painter)

Birthdate: October 15, 1836

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Nantes, France

Died: August 8, 1902

Jules Bastien-Lepage

(Painter)

Birthdate: November 1, 1848

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Damvillers, France

Died: December 10, 1884

Théodore Rousseau

(Painter)

Birthdate: April 15, 1812

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Paris, France

Died: December 22, 1867

Mati Klarwein

(Painter)

Birthdate: April 9, 1932

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Hamburg, Germany

Died: March 7, 2002

Émile Friant

(Former Artist known for painting, sculpture)

Birthdate: April 16, 1863

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Dieuze, France

Died: June 9, 1932

Carle Vernet

(Painter)

Birthdate: August 14, 1758

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Bordeaux, France

Died: November 17, 1836

Gaspard Dughet

(Painter)

Birthdate: June 15, 1615

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Rome, Italy

Died: May 27, 1675