Nowadays, different techniques are used by practitioners of this activity to translate the reality of social facts. The language of one of these attitudes is to represent the real aspects of precariousness in a community, which is none other than miserabilism. To understand the etymology of the term, it is sufficient to break down the word to its constituents, reflect on its appearance in modern painting and its logic in the current art world.
Origin of the language of miserabilism in art
Towards the beginning of the twenty-first century, sociologists tried to develop this notion in a new perspective to say that it is a pejorative view of poverty. On the one hand, this approach will define poverty in society as nothing more than the precarious condition in which a community tries to thrive in total or partial deprivation. For more information, see estades.com. On the other hand, it will emphasise the character of a population that is a victim of its own fate and has no means of escape. In the analysis of this practice, there is a responsibility held by the group of people concerned and the social injustices that are already pre-existing and without real resolution. In particular, painting as well as the field of literature or other fields are concerned and they do manifest the use of the tendency of an alternative vision.
The notion of miserabilism in painting
As far as the interpretation of miserabilism in painting is concerned, the explanation of misery through its deplorable aspect is present. The pure state of the situation is represented through oil or acrylic canvases showing a reduction in the work of illustrative details, but also the attenuation of the colours granted, namely: black, grey, bistre and green which are the references of the practising experts. In its singularity and authenticity, in painting, miserabilism seeks to sublimate this deplorable aspect of poverty. Through faces, alleys, events, painting introducing miserable situations may have been the source of various criticisms, but also brings a more unusual, innovative aspect to the artistic practice.
Miserabilism and modern painting
In the world of modern art, the practice of miserabilism presents itself as a considerable artistic heritage. Paintings, polyptychs represent it with a more abstract approach to the figures that are painted. In a more contemporary world, figurative art and realism is more accepted by public opinion which makes the practice influential at the moment and succeeds in seducing art professionals.