Who is considered the father of the Realist movement in painting?

Who is considered the father of the Realist movement in painting? Gustave Courbet is the standard answer.

Courbet led the Realism movement in nineteenth-century French painting by rejecting idealized subjects and insisting that art engage with contemporary life. He favored ordinary people, rural laborers, funerals, and scenes from his native region rather than the heroic, mythological, or religious subjects traditionally ranked highest by academic institutions.

His large paintings, including The Stone Breakers and A Burial at Ornans, challenged the conventions of the Paris Salon. Courbet’s direct, sometimes rough handling of paint and unidealized figures made his work controversial, but also established Realism as a major force in modern art.

The title “father of Realism” is a conventional art-historical description, not a formal office. Other artists, including Honoré Daumier and Jean-François Millet, were also important Realists, but Courbet is the canonical single answer because he publicly championed the movement and gave it its defining cultural force.