Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet was best known as an innovator in Realism (and credited with coining the term), Courbet was a painter of figurative compositions, landscapes and seascapes. He also worked with social issues, and addressed peasantry and the grave working conditions of the poor. His work belonged neither to the predominant Romantic nor Neoclassical schools. Rather, Courbet believed the Realist artist's mission was the pursuit of truth, which would help erase social contradictions and imbalances.

Gustave Courbet was born in eastern France, the son of Eléonor-Régis, a prosperous farmer, and Sylvie Courbet. After attending both the Collège Royal and the college of fine arts at Besan?on, he went to Paris in 1841, ostensibly to study law. He devoted himself more seriously, however, to studying the paintings of the masters in the Louvre. Father and son had great mutual respect, and, when Courbet told his father he intended to become a painter rather than a provincial lawyer, his father consented, saying, “If anyone gives up, it will be you, not me,” adding that, if necessary, he would sell his land and vineyards and even his houses to help his son.

In 1847 his Wounded Man(Louvre) was rejected by the Salon, although two of his earlier pictures had been accepted. He first won wide attention with his After Dinner at Ornans (Lille) in 1849. The next year he exhibited his famous Funeral at Ornans (1849–50) andStonebreakers (1849, both: Louvre). For his choice of subjects from ordinary life, and more especially for his obstinacy and audacity, his work was reviled as offensive to prevailing politics and aesthetic taste. Enjoying the drama, Courbet rose to defend his work as the expression of his newfound political radicalism. His statements did nothing to recommend the work to his enemies.

In 1855, Gustave Courbet exhibited the vast Painter's Studio (Louvre). Attacked by academic painters, he set up his own pavilion where he exhibited 40 of his paintings and issued a manifesto on realism. While he continued to provoke the establishment by submitting works to the Salon that were twice rejected in the mid-1860s, within that decade he triumphed as the leader of the realist school. His influence became enormous, reaching its height with his rejection of the cross of the Legion of Honor offered him by Napoleon III in 1870. Under theCommune of Paris (1871), Courbet was president of the artists' federation and initially active in the Commune; he was later unfairly held responsible, fined, and imprisoned for the destruction of the Vend?me column. In 1873 he fled to Switzerland, where he spent his few remaining years in poverty. Although his aesthetic theories were not destined to prevail, his painting is greatly admired for its frankness, vigor, and solid construction.

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The Source

The Source

$97.16$56.3542% off
The Stone Breakers 1849
Calm Sea 1866

Calm Sea 1866

$133.88$77.6542% off
The Sleepers 1866

The Sleepers 1866

$108.63$63.0142% off
Woman With A Parrot 1866

Woman With A Parrot 1866

$105.57$61.2342% off
The Stormy Sea 1869

The Stormy Sea 1869

$112.46$65.2242% off
The Artist S Studio 1855
Bouquet Of Flowers

Bouquet Of Flowers

$120.87$70.1042% off
Basket Of Flowers 1863

Basket Of Flowers 1863

$107.10$62.1242% off
Chateau De Chillon

Chateau De Chillon

$117.05$67.8942% off
The Bathers 1853

The Bathers 1853

$133.88$77.6542% off
The Hammock 1844

The Hammock 1844

$115.52$67.0042% off
Chateau De Chillon 1873

Chateau De Chillon 1873

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After The Storm 1872

After The Storm 1872

$102.51$59.4642% off
Chateau Du Chillon 1874

Chateau Du Chillon 1874

$119.34$69.2242% off
Bay With Cliffs

Bay With Cliffs

$132.35$76.7642% off
Bouquet Of Flowers 1

Bouquet Of Flowers 1

$130.82$75.8742% off
Sleeping Nude Woman 1862

Sleeping Nude Woman 1862

$123.93$71.8842% off
Standing Fermale Nude

Standing Fermale Nude

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La Bacchante

La Bacchante

$126.99$73.6542% off
Bouquet Of Flowers 1862

Bouquet Of Flowers 1862

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Beach In Normandy

Beach In Normandy

$123.93$71.8842% off
Oil Reclining Nude

Oil Reclining Nude

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The Bathers 1858

The Bathers 1858

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Nude Reclining By The Sea
Sleeping Nude

Sleeping Nude

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The Happy Lovers 1844

The Happy Lovers 1844

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The Young Bather

The Young Bather

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Seascape 1874

Seascape 1874

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Boats On A Beach Etretat

Boats On A Beach Etretat

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Seascape At Saint Aubin

Seascape At Saint Aubin

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The Village Maidens 1852

The Village Maidens 1852

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Still Life Fruit

Still Life Fruit

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Red Apples 1871

Red Apples 1871

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The Vagabond 1845

The Vagabond 1845

$98.69$57.2442% off
The Chateau D Ornans

The Chateau D Ornans

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Chateau Du Chillon 1875

Chateau Du Chillon 1875

$130.82$75.8742% off
Peasant Wearing Madras

Peasant Wearing Madras

$127.76$74.1042% off
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