Final answer:
Gustave Courbet's 'The Stone Breakers' depicts laborers in a rural setting, highlighting the Realism movement's focus on portraying unidealized everyday people and their toils, and reflecting the artist's socialist values.
Step-by-step explanation:
The subject matter of Gustave Courbet's painting 'The Stone Breakers' is option 1) Laborers in a rural setting. Created in 1849, this work is significant in art history as it reflects the Realism movement. The painting depicts two figures, laborers, engaged in the physically demanding task of breaking stones to build a road. This scene is set against a rural backdrop, typical of the French town of Ornan, where Courbet was raised.
Courbet's 'The Stone Breakers' is particularly notable for its rough brushwork and the choice of subject matter. The artist opts to paint everyday people and their labor in a style and scale that was traditionally reserved for religious or historical paintings. This was a radical departure from the highly polished Neoclassical style prevalent at that time.
The portrayal of the stone breakers also serves as a social commentary on the working conditions of the poor, reflecting Courbet's socialist values. The laborers are shown as being confined by their work, both physically and socio-economically, which aligns with the sentiment expressed in socialist writings like the Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels.