Final answer:
Édouard Manet is often recognized for changing the focus of painting towards naturalism and emotion, inspiring future art movements like Impressionism and Realism. These movements emphasized capturing everyday life, the natural environment, and conveying emotion through innovative techniques like plein air painting, distinctive brushwork, and color interaction.
Step-by-step explanation:
The artist who is often credited with shifting painting from a symbolic and intellectual emphasis to a focus on naturalism and emotion is Édouard Manet. Manet was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism, and he revolutionized the art of painting by working directly onto the canvas without layering, emphasizing spontaneity.
The Realism art movement that preceded Impressionism aimed to capture the natural environment, and everyday tasks of people, often painting in studios after field sketches. The Realists employed thick and broad brushstrokes to create texture, highlights, and shadows. Manet, with his unique approach, inspired subsequent art movements, notably Impressionism, which embraced light, color, and innovative brushwork to convey the immediacy of the observed moment, transforming the art world significantly.
Following the Realists, the Impressionists further developed these techniques, painting en plein air (outdoors) and using light and color to portray the world around them vividly. The Post-Impressionists continued this evolution, expanding on the use of color and line to convey emotion and express artistic vision.
As the Abstract Expressionists emerged, they pushed the boundaries of what oil paint could do, focusing on the act of painting and the emotional experience it provides, while the Color-field painters aimed to distilled art down to its color interactions. These artistic developments reflected a broader shift towards representing life's realities and emotions in art, influenced by societal changes like industrialization, political revolutions, and transformations in the European economy during the 19th century.