Final answer:
Nineteenth-century academic painting was popular due to its Interest in Realistic Representation, focusing on everyday life and social conditions in the wake of the industrial revolution. Realists depicted the world truthfully, a contrast to later movements like Abstract Expressionism.
Step-by-step explanation:
Nineteenth-century academic painting was popular primarily because it had an Interest in Realistic Representation. This period marked a movement away from the romantic portrayals to Realism, a style that depicted the poverty of the people and their hardships in stark contrast to the previous romanticism. Realists like Rosa Bonheur and Jean-François Millet depicted everyday life in its true form, often capturing rural and urban settings alike with careful attention to detail.
The artists of this time were influenced by the dramatic shifts occurring during the industrial revolution and often sought to portray the resulting social conditions. This marks a significant departure from other art movements such as Abstract Expressionism, Surrealism, and Cubism that are characterized by their abstract qualities and were predominant in the later 19th century and throughout the 20th century. Instead, Realism focused on direct observation and attempted to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic, and supernatural elements.