Naturalism is a term that describes an approach to art in which the artist endeavors to represent objects as they are empirically observed, rather than in a stylized, imagined or conceptual manner. It is a true-to-life distinctive style which involves the depiction, portrayal and representation of nature as well as humans with the least possible distortion, doctoring, altering and interpretation.

In reference to humans, naturalistic paintings depicted societal challenges and communal maladies through portraying humans in settings that showed how Mankind is a victim of social, economic, biological, economic and psychological forces.

In essence, the five characteristics that distinguish naturalist paintings are:

∙ Hopelessness of flesh

∙ Mankind’s determinism

∙ Detachment from science

∙ Poverty, misery and confusion in the world

∙ Humanity’s indifference, callous and hostile nature