Final answer:
Artists like Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet captured life realistically, while Abstract Expressionists and Photorealists developed styles that either abstracted reality through color or mimicked photography to achieve high realism.
Step-by-step explanation:
The transition from realism to abstract art involved artists gradually moving away from capturing objective views of life, towards a focus on color, light, and form in a more subjective manner. Realist painters like Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet portrayed ordinary life and the natural environment with textured brushwork and realistic detail. Contrastingly, Abstract Expressionists such as Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman used color imaginatively to evoke emotional responses rather than depict reality. Photorealists combined the realism of photography with fine art, acknowledging their dependence on photographs to create exceptionally realistic paintings that often featured reflections of light on surfaces like steel, glass, and chrome.