REALISM in 20TH CENTURY PAINTING

I have been reading a book written by Brendan Prendeville called ''REALISM in 20TH CENTURY PAINTING'' and I so far I have been blown by what I am learning about painting. The book goes through specific paintings and certain general issues about painting in the 20th century. But most importantly investigates the meaning of realism in the 20th century

The way paintings are interpreted is always important to any painter. I find it fascinating how certain details of a painting, whether intentionally done or not are interpreted. The size, rhythm and momentum of brush strokes, the thickness of the paint in a certain areas, the shadows etc.

''The world of realism is this world of appearance, of the present, of work and life'' 

'' The paint itself mimed the action of the waves, rather than merely recording their form''

''The big artist does not sit down like a monkey and copy a coal scuttle'' - for any worthwhile painter realism had to enter his painting through calculation and artifice rather than imitation. This raises the issue I had with appropriation and painting from other artists images without altering it.