The Age of Enlightened Realism?

Saint Cecilia - Guido Reni (1606)
by Stark_Raving_Realist

During the 1850s, art took a cultural turn. Something clicked in the mass consciousness of the new generation of artists that said “We want perfection”. The realism art movement came into being when artists decided that they needed to mirror the world around them in such absolute detail, that you could feel yourself in the painting, alongside its subject in real life. After the French Revolution in 1848, the Romanticism art movement became out of favour. It depicted “far out” scenes of high fantasy and whimsical, twee scenarios which didn't reflect the mood of the time. Finding the way to convey the true feeling of the people required a shift in artistic direction.


Perhaps the next generation of realism in the art world, the well made infographic is a masterpiece of art, design, and communication. Finding useful ways to demonstrate knowledge using artistic references alongside notes is not easy. We all tend to be superfluous and in an effort to ensure we are truly understood, make a point several times in various ways in order to let it really sink in. Combining images and short phrasing works in the way that it appeals to two distinct parts of the mind. We see the picture, we read the words, and we form a connection from the two. This double anchoring helps us to learn.

In a world of fake news and out of proportion media reporting, perhaps like the French over a century ago, we're maybe a bit fed up of the "far out" and overly emotive art works and media sources that bombard us. Please, just bring back the sanity!

By simplifying things to a degree that concentrates knowledge without losing any of its key ingredients, much like a well made fruit squash, when we absorb the wisdom and apply it to our life (the water), we receive the benefits of the thick and rich, shot glass education. Knowing where to put the facts and figures in the infographic so that one thing naturally leads to another requires an eye for artistic design. Knowing what to put in the information and how to best show it in pictorial form requires focussed and well sourced knowledge. Unifying these sometimes very separate worlds can create extremely useful nuggets of proverbial gold.


Take a look at the world of chemistry, summed up on an infographic created by Dominic Walliman.

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