Courbet's realism response to the revolutionary events of 1848. It is impossible to compare the canvases “Funeral in Ornans” and “Stone Crusher”, created by him in 1849–1850, with the romantic self-portraits and far-fetched compositions that he executed before 1848. It is characteristic that his contemporaries called the artist “the son of the revolution.” And he himself agreed with this opinion.
Courbet's democracy was brought up from childhood, among his family, among the people of the province of Franche-Comté, hardworking and honest. Throughout his life he carried his love for hometown Ornan. He often returned there, painted the surrounding areas with powerful trees, arable lands and vineyards, and created portraits of the inhabitants. He was greatly influenced by his grandfather, a participant in the Great french revolution, Jacobin. Gustave Courbet also adopted the ideas of his father, a liberal and supporter of the 1830 revolution.
Arriving in Paris, he reads books expounding the teachings of utopian socialists and considers himself their follower. In a late autobiographical note, the artist directly notes that for ten years, until the revolution of 1848, he advocated an active revolution. Articles under his signature appeared in the socialist newspaper Human Rights. The native of Ornans also accepted the ideas of the famous socialist Proudhon, the author of the sensational brochure “What is Property?”, with whom he later became very friendly. The combat poetry of Bérenger, the novels of Balzac and George Sand had an impact on the young man’s mentality. The artist’s freedom-loving character and unwillingness to take into account the norms of bourgeois “decent” behavior created legends; they talked about the “frantic provincial” everywhere. The cafe where Courbet visited with friends - the poet Charles Baudelaire, the critic Chanfleury and others - began to be called the “temple of realism.”
On February 22, 1848, a republic was proclaimed in France, which the artist passionately supported. Together with Baudelaire and Chanfleury, he participates in the publication of the newspaper “Public Salvation”, for which he makes a drawing representing a young standard-bearer on a barricade. At the same time he founded a socialist club. Courbet was destined to see how brutally the July uprising was suppressed by General Cavaignac. The painter is depressed by what he sees. Fearing persecution by the authorities, he leaves for Ornans.
The revolution contributed to the birth of the “new” Courbet. The “master from Ornans,” as they began to call him, appeared. He puts into practice the principles of realism he developed.
A rare ability to work distinguishes the artist. Behind short term a number of works were created, three of which were destined for world fame: “An Afternoon at Ornans”, “Funeral at Ornans” and “Stone Crusher”. Their importance is not diminished even among such masterpieces of the French school as David’s “Oath of the Horatii,” Gericault’s “Raft of the Medusa,” and Delacroix’s “Liberty on the Barricades.” Courbet inherits the great tradition of progressive art in France. In his searches, he also relied on the achievements of outstanding masters of the past: Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Velazquez and Zurbaran. He developed a completely new manner, which allowed him to say: “I am a courbetist!”
Here is the painting “Afternoon at Ornans”. In the dark gloom of the kitchen people are sitting around dining table and listen to the violinist. Dim light from the upper window, invisible to the viewer, falls on the white tablecloth. The sitting positions are free. The artist's father, who posed for this painting, is depicted closer to the viewer, with a glass of wine in his hand. Opposite was the author himself, next to him was his childhood friend. The son of a local organist plays the violin. In fact, the canvas is not only a genre scene, but also a group portrait. This is where the skill of a portrait painter, acquired by Courbet in Paris in the forties, came in handy! The piece is executed very skillfully, the figures are masterfully sculpted with color. Light and shadow are especially well distributed, emphasizing the plasticity of the bodies. Courbet is close to the epic artistic language.
The painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1849, where it attracted widespread attention. Delacroix directly said about its author: “Innovator, revolutionary!”
At the next Salon, which opened on December 30, 1850, the painting “Funeral at Ornans” was listed as number 661 in the catalogue. This gigantic canvas, rivaling the size of a fresco composition, was begun by Courbet back in 1849. Under a gray sky, against the background of a dull plateau, a funeral procession moves. The artist pointed out that this is a portrait of the “secular” society of Ornans, where the mayor, priest, judge, notary, the author himself, his father, sisters, clerks, and gravedigger are represented. Perhaps the scene represents the burial of the artist's grandfather. This is also evidenced by the images of two old men in costumes of the late 18th century standing in the center of the picture. Courbet himself calls them “the old men of 1794,” that is, participants in the Great French Revolution, comrades of his grandfather. One of them has a questioning gesture. He seems to be wondering who will replace the outgoing generation. All the faces in the procession are distinguished by prosaic expression. The grief of some seems feigned; the curate reads the prayer purely mechanically. The other clergy, judging by their red and grinning faces, are drunk. Only children look natural.
Inheriting the traditions of Rembrandt’s “Night Watch,” the artist skillfully creates the image of a crowd. Although people react differently to what is happening, in general there is indifference. The images of the clergy are depicted in a comical way; it is worth recalling that Courbet is an atheist.
In comparison with the paintings in the Salon’s halls, the painting “Funeral at Ornans” looked extremely unexpected. From the point of view of academic painting, Courbet’s painting is “anti-compositional”: there are no main characters, no perspective depth. In the original charcoal sketch, the procession passes by the viewer altogether. But then the artist decides to make him a “participant” of what is happening. Therefore, the figures of people are written in full height. The procession turns towards the center of the picture. All participants are seen from bottom to top, equal in size. Equality of heads, a technique familiar from Greek reliefs, was apparently deliberately used here by Courbet. The “funeral” color scheme, in shades of black and gray, also corresponds to the unity of the compositional structure. Only occasionally there are splashes of red, white, blue and green.
Courbet painted the picture under difficult conditions. The huge canvas barely fit in the small, poorly lit workshop. Only one charcoal sketch was made. Full-scale portrait sketches helped in the work. Perhaps, as auxiliary material, the master used popular prints that were in circulation among ordinary people as a "fine newspaper". The deeply national origins of the film are undeniable.
Simplicity, laconism, and deep exploration of the theme make Courbet’s canvas a notable milestone in the history of art. The artist himself called the “Funeral in Ornans” a historical scene. He wanted to say that the plot is from modern life, shown so realistically, deserves the same respect as other genres once considered sublime. This work can be considered as an artistic document of the era. One of his contemporaries, the critic Castagnari, said that the picture shows the bourgeoisie as it is “in full growth, with its oddities, ugliness and beauty.”
The plot of another painting, “Stone Crusher,” created in 1849, was observed by the artist in reality. He dared to make the theme of the painting an extreme expression of poverty, “modern slavery,” as his friend Proudhon would say. An old man crushes a stone, a boy with a basket in his hands pours rubble into a pile. Their clothes are poor, their shoes are worn out. The skin of the face and hands darkened and became rough from the sun and dust. The dull and monotonous work seemed to lull their consciousness.
The future does not promise anything good for them. That’s why Courbet shows people of two ages. The coloring of the painting, as can be judged from the reproductions (the work was lost in Dresden in 1945), is based on a single brown tone, which is not animated by anything. The colors are as dull as the environment and the people.
Courbet's paintings sounded, according to contemporaries, like a cannon shot. “The Artist of 1848,” as he called himself, raised a social issue in his art. During the years of reaction, it seemed unusual that subjects unthinkable for “great” art became favorites in his painting. On December 2, 1851, the Republic fell. And what? Visitors to the Salon are reminded of what they don’t want to know about, don’t want to remember. This is insolence! Courbet consciously went towards this. He believed that his paintings should become an expression of the revolutionary principles of humanistic painting. In 1851, he said: “I am a socialist, democrat, republican, in a word, a supporter of any revolution, moreover, I am also a realist, that is, a sincere friend of genuine truth.”
Paris. World Exhibition of 1855. Near its territory, Courbet is building a pavilion, which he called “Realism.” The fact is that the jury of the art department of the World Exhibition refused to accept a number of his works, relying on such masters as Ingres and Delacroix, associated with the traditions of romanticism. Realism was alien to the jury, and it agreed to exhibit only a few paintings by Courbet, rejecting the works that he considered the most important. And so the master from Ornan staged a kind of anti-exhibition, showing the public forty old and new canvases. The main attention was attracted by a huge canvas, six meters long and four meters high, called “The Artist’s Workshop”. However, it also had a second title: “Real Allegory.” What did the painter mean by this? Are allegories depicting abstract concepts real? Obviously, he did not strive to abandon the depiction of reality and did not want to go into the world of conventional images generated by the mythology of the ancients. The master comprehended a lot of life material related to creative practice. He called such a generalization an allegory, the meaning of which was fundamentally different from the allegories of classicist painting.
The thirty characters in the painting tell, as Courbet explained, “the moral and physical history of his workshop.” Therefore, the second title of this work sounds more complete: “A real allegory that defines the seven-year period of my artistic career.” But this seven-year period of the artist’s life opens with 1848. The revolution turned out to be decisive in the development of Courbet. Considering that the pavilion where the painting was shown was called “Realism,” we can say that he decided to make public his idea of how to create a realistic painting. In the preface to the catalog of his exhibition, the painter noted not only the importance of demonstrating “individuality in relation to traditions,” but also the requirement to create “living art.” “There are no other teachers except nature!” he exclaims.
The composition of the canvas is divided into three parts, each of which is to a certain extent independent, but all are connected by semantic unity. The artist’s workshop, where there is an easel with a painting, painting accessories are visible, and the works of the owner himself hang on the walls, is full of people. This interior shows the artist’s original autobiography in paint. In the center, Courbet depicted himself, confident and proud. He paints a landscape. The appearance of the area seems familiar - this is the artist’s native place in Franche-Comté. But the basis of his creative method is working directly from nature. What's the matter? The landscape symbolizes nature; the artist worshiped it alone. Next to him is the nude figure of a model with a beautiful pink drapery falling in waves to the floor: this is a kind of “muse” of realism. The work is watched by a village boy - the personification of direct perception of beauty. Behind the easel is a mannequin representing Saint Sebastian. The fact that he is shown in the shadow is, of course, no coincidence: the figure of the saint clearly signifies the traditions of academic art.
Courbet is decisively against them, and this can be clearly read in the picture. Next to the mannequin there is a newspaper on which lies a skull - a common attribute of artists' workshops, necessary for studying anatomy. But the fact that it lies on the newspaper is not accidental. The bourgeois press of that time was, in the apt expression of O. Balzac, “cemeteries of ideas.”
On the sides of the canvas there are two groups. These are, as the author himself said, “my friends: workers and art lovers.” On the right are specific images, most of them are portraits. Here the viewer can see Baudelaire, personifying poetry, Proudhon, the “spirit of philosophy,” Chanfleury, the art critic who defended realism in the press, and the collector Bruas. A boy is seen sitting on the floor, drawing. This is the future of art. So, on the right, creativity, silence, and the world of reflection reign.
It’s different in the opposite part of the picture, where symbols of poverty, wealth, labor, and religion are given. As Courbet himself emphasized, he portrayed the exploited and the exploiters. All of them - a hunter, a farmer, a worker with his wife, a textile merchant, a poor Irish woman with a child - are presented in characteristic poses. Their gestures are varied and characteristic. But the figures are less connected to each other than on the right side of the picture, as if each character lives an independent life. It is possible that many had real prototypes. Thus, in two images one can discern the features of the critic Theophile Sylvester and the revolutionary Garibaldi. They represent active life, which has social significance, a realist artist should be interested in their fate.
The picture was painted quickly, in four months. Internally, the artist prepared for it longer. The need to clarify one’s own positions and pave the way to realism helped. Courbet was helped by previous works, portraits of Baudelaire, Chanfleury, Bruas, and sketches of his fellow countrymen. Like many artists of his time, he used photography. With her help, for example, a nude model was painted.
Courbet understood that the canvas “The Artist's Workshop” would cause a lot of controversy, and said: “People who want to judge all this will have quite a lot of work.” The master boldly introduced the viewer into the circle of his artistic quests. This composition, which summarized so many of the artist’s thoughts and feelings and proclaimed an innovative method in a great epic form, was preceded by other works. Among them, it is worth mentioning “Bathers,” which caused a scandal at the Salon of 1853, and “Meeting,” exhibited a year later. In “Bathers,” Courbet deliberately avoids any idealization, depicting on canvas the naked figure of a woman among the trees. The canvas “Meeting” also has another name: “Hello, Mr. Courbet!” It represents an artist who meets a good friend, the collector Bruas. Both pieces were shown together with The Workshop and The Funeral at Ornans in 1855.
The Realism Pavilion attracted the attention of the public and critics. Press reviews only strengthened the artist’s reputation, which was a mixture of “scandal and glory.” The main thing is that realism became popular, they talked about it, argued about it...
After the exhibition, Courbet went to Ornans and soon painted the painting “Girls on the Banks of the Seine”, where he showed fashionably dressed women relaxing in the shade dense trees. In the composition “Return from the Parish Conference,” the master critically, almost caricaturedly presented the morals of the clergy, relying on the traditions of popular popular prints. This painting, of course, was not accepted into the Salon for its acute anti-clerical character; subsequently it was bought by a zealous Catholic specifically in order to destroy it.
By 1860, the situation in French art was changing decisively. A new generation of masters arrived, led by Manet and Whistler. In 1863, the Salon jury rejected so many paintings that the government decided to show them in a special exhibition. Many future innovators exhibited there.
Courbet closely followed the development of art. His name is synonymous with a decisive revolution in artistic tastes. In 1867 he reopened a separate pavilion. The artist’s paintings are exhibited in different cities of Europe in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Munich. He has followers German artist Wilhelm Leibl, Hungarian Mihaly Munkacsi, Belgian Charles de Grue. The master’s art is changing noticeably, not everyone was able to understand these changes, many past associates and friends turned away from Courbet. But this does not depress him. He paints still lifes, nude figures, landscapes, and hunting scenes.
The war with Prussia complicated the political situation in France, in the pre-storm air of which the closeness of revolution was felt. On March 16, 1871, an uprising broke out in Paris. The reactionary ministers fled to Versailles. On March 28, the Commune was proclaimed. Courbet was elected a member. His beliefs are somewhat vague: following the petty-bourgeois socialism of Proudhon, he demands freedom of development of society, opposing the influence state power. However, naive “anarchism” did not prevent him from actively participating in the activities of the Commune. Together with the critic Burti, he joined the commission that monitored the activities of “morally compromised” museum officials. He was against the removal of artistic treasures from the capital and called for protecting the property of the republic. His activity at that time is amazing. He worked for the good of society twelve hours a day, not only as a member of the Commune, but also as a delegate to the mayor's office. On his initiative, the Federation of Parisian Artists was created, uniting four hundred members. Courbet is its president. He addresses German soldiers and artists, calling them to brotherhood and peace. The artist understood that the real enemies were the French reactionaries who gathered at Versailles. He was present at the meeting of the Commune on the day when the Versaillese broke into the city. Their terror was terrible: people were shot in courtyards and on the streets.
After the defeat of the Commune, Courbet hid for some time with friends, but was arrested and imprisoned. The sketchbook shows the terrible scenes he witnessed. The “Execution” sketch is especially impressive. When the artist was kept in the Saint-Pélagie prison while awaiting trial, he again turned to paint. During the seventy-two days of the Commune he had no time to paint. And in general, during this short period of time, few artists were able to respond to the events. Only cartoons and posters were created. Now Courbet takes up his brushes. He paints a self-portrait. The sick, emaciated artist sits on the window sill of his cell. Behind the window bars you can see a courtyard with stunted trees. His face is sad, the dark brown clothes of the prisoner emphasize the general gloomy mood. On the door of his cell, Courbet painted a still life with flowers - what he would dream of seeing. Soon the trial took place. Courbet was sentenced to six months in prison and, most importantly, a huge fine, as he was accused of organizing the demolition of the Vendôme Column. The artist could not have had that kind of money. This was a treacherous move by his enemies; for failure to pay the fine, Courbet was subject to imprisonment in debtor's prison. His paintings were confiscated, his workshop in Ornans was destroyed, and there was no question of exhibiting.
Broken and sick, Courbet lived for some time with relatives in Ornans. The government insisted that the artist restore the Vendôme Column at his own expense. Courbet had only one option left - to run. And he, like Louis David, the artist of the Great French Revolution, once left his homeland and went to Switzerland. He lives in a circle of former communards who accepted him as one of their own. The master loses his strength: only occasionally does he take up his brushes and paint landscapes. One of them “Cabin in the Mountains” is kept in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow.
On December 31, 1877, Courbet died. The artist’s ashes were transferred to his homeland only in 1919. It was a belated act of recognition. The name of Courbet is firmly entrenched in the history of French artistic culture, and moreover, of world art. He prepared the ground on which new painting grew. The traditions of his realism fertilized the advanced, democratic art of many countries.
Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was an artist endowed with considerable talent, almost self-taught. He consciously abandoned the academic style in painting and became the founder of realism, which in his later work turned into direct naturalism.
Gustave Courbet, wise from adversity, whose photo (above) was taken in last years life, looks like a thoughtful person who does not try to seem better than he is.
Courbet Gustave was born in a small town (by our standards a village) with a population of three thousand people, in Ornans, near Switzerland. The father dreamed that his son would be a lawyer, so in 1837 he sent him to study at the Royal College in Besançon, located not far from his home. At Courbet's own discretion, Gustave begins painting lessons under the guidance of his student David.
At the age of twenty, a young man goes to the capital, ostensibly to deepen his knowledge of jurisprudence. But in reality he visits the Louvre and art workshops, in which, as he decided for himself, he has nothing to do. But he lingered in one of the workshops: they taught him how to paint nudes.
For the first exhibition at the Salon Courbet, Gustave presented his self-portrait with a dog. It already shows the independent handwriting of a still romantic artist who is looking for his own path. A free, proud, independent young man is depicted in a grotto made of wild rocks.
With calm arrogance, he looks directly at the viewer. The eye is located approximately on the line of the golden ratio, so that the viewer cannot tear himself away from it. This technique was repeatedly and unsuccessfully borrowed by artists from Leonardo. Here, too, the plan was not entirely successful. But the sad, calm spaniel, the golden-brown festive color, and the barely visible landscape in the depths of the picture are also good. The rest of the artist’s works were not accepted into the Salon.
Paris has always been a politicized city. It was in full swing in the thirties and forties, and the revolution of 1848 also carried away Courbet. He and his friends found a socialist club and created an emblem for the people. But Gustave did not go to the barricades. By this time, the artist had already visited Holland and brought with him a clear desire to completely break with romanticism. Having created a number of paintings based on the new concept, Gustave Courbet, whose works were previously simply rejected, exhibited 7 paintings at the Salon in 1849. It was then that the word “realism” was heard for the first time, and one of the works, “Afternoon at Ornans,” received a second gold medal.
The artist Gustave Courbet dedicated this large-scale painting, measuring more than three meters in length and more than half a meter in height, to one of his grandfathers. The figures on the canvas are made in almost natural sizes. All the townspeople tried to get into the epic picture. It depicts singers, priests, the mayor of the city, and residents in black mourning clothes.
Color accents are made on the white and red robes of church ministers. The crucifix in the background, raised high above the standing people, is also impressive. The plot is very prosaic, but in this painting the images of people that Courbet created are interesting, rising to generalizations. By focusing all his attention on the funeral process, and not on the actions of the deceased or on the posthumous existence of the soul, the painter proved himself to be a complete realist.
In Paris they did not understand why such a monumental picture, and even with a flat composition, should be created from an ordinary funeral. She was not accepted for the 1855 World Exhibition, although the jury selected eleven works by Courbet for it. But they don’t take to the exhibition the painting “Atelier”, in which Courbet expresses his artistic principles. Then the artist, full of indignation, arranges his own exhibition, which consists of 40 canvases. He publishes the “Manifesto of Realism”, and everyone who preaches joins him as a master. This causes a scandal in society.
It is known that two of his sisters and a child he knew posed for this painting by Courbet, depicting hard peasant labor.
The picture received a cheerful sound due to the golden color and bright red dress of the girl standing in the center of the composition and immediately attracting attention. A cute red cat sleeps next to a dozing girl in gray, enlivening the already positive atmosphere. It is not clear why the chest-chest closing the door, near which the boy is located, is drawn.
This painting shows another Courbet, capable of admiring female beauty, comparing it with lush flowering roses climbing along the pergola.
There is a clear dividing line of the composition, the main part of which is occupied by white, orange, and red flowers. The silhouette of a girl standing in profile with her arms raised to the very top of the lattice is elegant. White translucent sleeves and a white collar are in harmony with the nearby flowers, and the dress matches the shadows under the left arm and the shadowed foliage on the left side of the picture. Here Courbet showed himself as a subtle colorist.
I don't want to dwell on this work for a long time. It is too unpleasant for a person with a healthy psyche, who is not inclined to spy on a person in the most intimate moments of his life. The painting depicts the torso of a woman without a face. The viewer is shown a close-up of the open vulva of an unknown woman. Here is one of the models proposed by researchers for the painting “The Origin of the World” (Gustave Courbet), a photo of which is presented here.
This picture will give pleasure only to the voyeur who gets satisfaction when he is shown the genitals of a person of the opposite sex and nothing more. A healthy person does not need this, and does not want to consider it. I just want to quickly forget this kind of crap.
During this period, Courbet created many erotic paintings, among which Sleepers stand out for their particular frankness. This naturalism causes condemnation from a circle of both ordinary people and famous people. But Proudhon, whose portrait he painted, remains his ardent supporter.
This landscape is considered Courbet's masterpiece. The canvas is given almost in half to the sky and the sea. Clouds covered the skies tightly. Their shades shimmer from grayish-green to lilac-pink and are stunning in their beauty.
The color of the waves also plays with all the tones of green, creating a variety of deep color effects. This perfectly conveys the power of natural forces. The artist was captivated by this theme and wrote a series of works depicting various views of Etretat and its stormy, restless sea.
In 1871, the highly politicized artist took an active part in the actions. After the suppression of the uprising, he was charged with overthrow. After this, Courbet was in prison, and he was sentenced to pay a colossal fine. He fled to Switzerland, where he died in complete poverty.
Gustave Courbet evokes very mixed reactions as a person and an artist, whose work still does not leave people indifferent. This speaks of undoubted talent and strong personality this painter.
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter, landscape painter, genre painter and portrait painter. He is considered one of the finalists of romanticism and the founders of realism in painting. One of the largest artists in France during the 19th century, a key figure in French realism.
Gustave Courbet was born in 1819 in Ornans, a town of about three thousand people located in Franche-Comté, 25 km from Besançon, near the Swiss border. In 1839 he went to Paris, promising his father that he would study law there. In Paris, Courbet became acquainted with the art collection of the Louvre. His work, especially his early work, was subsequently greatly influenced by small Dutch and Spanish artists, especially Velazquez, from whom he borrowed the general dark tones of the paintings. Courbet did not study law, but instead began studying in art workshops, primarily with Charles de Steuben.
In 1844, Courbet's first painting, Self-Portrait with a Dog, was exhibited at the Paris Salon (all other paintings were rejected by the jury). From the very beginning, the artist showed himself to be an extreme realist, and the further, the stronger and more persistently he followed this direction, considering the ultimate goal of art to be the transmission of bare reality and life prose, and at the same time neglecting even the elegance of technology. In the 1840s he wrote a large number of self-portraits.
At the end of the 1840s, the official direction of French painting was still academicism, and the works of realistic artists were periodically rejected by exhibition organizers. Thus, in 1847, all three of Courbet’s works presented at the Salon were rejected by the jury. Moreover, this year the Salon jury rejected the works of a large number of famous artists, including Eugene Delacroix, Daumier and Théodore Rousseau.
Despite the intelligence and considerable talent of the artist, his naturalism, seasoned, in genre paintings, with a socialist tendency, caused a lot of noise in artistic and literary circles and acquired him many enemies (among them was Alexander Dumas, son), although also a lot of adherents, including which belonged famous writer and anarchist theorist Proudhon. Eventually, Courbet became the head of the realistic school, which originated in France and spread from there to other countries, especially Belgium. The level of his hostility towards other artists reached the point that for several years he did not participate in Parisian salons, but at world exhibitions he organized special exhibitions of his works in separate rooms.
France France
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet(fr. Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet; June 10, Ornans - December 31, La Tour de Pellez, Vaud, Switzerland) - French painter, landscape painter, genre painter and portrait painter. He is considered one of the finalists of romanticism and the founders of realism in painting. One of the largest artists in France during the 19th century, a key figure in French realism.
Gustave Courbet was born in 1819 in Ornans, a town of about three thousand people located in Franche-Comté, 25 km from Besançon, near the Swiss border. His father, Regis Courbet, owned vineyards near Ornans. In 1831, the future artist began attending the seminary in Ornans. It is alleged that his behavior was so contrary to what was expected of a seminarian that no one would undertake to absolve him of his sins (see also). One way or another, in 1837, at the insistence of his father, Courbet entered the College Royal in Besançon, which his father hoped would prepare him for further legal education. Simultaneously with his studies at college, Courbet attended classes at the Academy, where his teacher was Charles-Antoine Flajoulot, a student of the greatest French classicist artist Jacques-Louis David.
At the end of the 1840s, the official direction of French painting was still academicism, and the works of realistic artists were periodically rejected by exhibition organizers. Thus, in 1847, all three of Courbet’s works presented at the Salon were rejected by the jury. Moreover, that year the Salon jury rejected the work of a large number of famous artists, including Eugene Delacroix, Daumier and Théodore Rousseau, so that they hatched plans to create their own exhibition gallery. The plans did not come true due to the outbreak of the revolution. As a result, in 1848, all seven of Courbet's works presented to the jury were exhibited at the Salon, but he was unable to sell a single painting.
Despite the intelligence and considerable talent of the artist, his naturalism, seasoned, in genre paintings, with a socialist tendency, caused a lot of noise in artistic and literary circles and acquired him many enemies (among them was Alexander Dumas, son), although also a lot of adherents, including which belonged to the famous writer and anarchist theorist Proudhon.
Eventually, Courbet became the head of the realistic school, which originated in France and spread from there to other countries, especially Belgium. The level of his hostility towards other artists reached the point that for several years he did not participate in Parisian salons, but at world exhibitions he organized special exhibitions of his works in separate rooms. In 1871, Courbet joined the Paris Commune, managed its public museums, was Commissioner for Culture and led the overthrow of the Vendôme Column.
After the fall of the Commune, he served, according to a court sentence, six months in prison; was later sentenced to contribute to the costs of restoring the column he destroyed. This forced him to retire to Switzerland, where he died in poverty in 1877.
Courbet repeatedly throughout his life spoke of himself as a realist: “Painting consists of representing things that the artist can see and touch... I firmly hold the view that painting is an extremely concrete art and can only consist of depicting real things given to us... This is absolutely physical language» .
The most interesting of Courbet’s works: “Funeral in Ornans” (in the Orsay Museum), his own portrait, “Roe deer by the stream”, “Fight of deer”, “Wave” (all four are in the Louvre, in Paris), “Afternoon coffee in Ornans "(in the Lille Museum), "Road Stone Breakers" ("Stone Crusherers") (kept in the Dresden Gallery and died in), "Fire" (a painting, due to its anti-government theme, destroyed by the police), "Village priests returning from comradely feast" (caustic satire on the clergy), "Bathers", "Woman with a Parrot", "Entrance to the Puy Noir Valley", "The Rock of Oragnon", "Deer by the Water" (in the Marseille Museum) and many landscapes ("Rush winds”, etc.), in which the artist’s talent was expressed most clearly and fully. Courbet is the author of several scandalous erotic paintings that have not been exhibited, but are known to contemporaries (“The Origin of the World”, “Sleepers”, etc.); this also fit organically into his concept of naturalism.
Selbstbildnis mit schwarzem Hund.jpg
"Self-portrait with a black dog", 1842
Courbet LAtelier du peintre.jpg
"The Artist's Workshop", 1855
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The name of this realist artist, endowed with considerable talent, has firmly entered the annals visual arts Europe. His work was hated, and even today foreign critics often belittle the significance of his paintings and try to consign them to oblivion. Alexandre Dumas the son spoke angrily about the author, who shocked the public of the 19th century with his views on art: “From what monster did this bastard come? In what dung heap did this hairy womb, pretending to be a man, grow?”
Let us consider the biography and work of this amazing master, who evoked such strong emotions in society.
The talented artist was born in 1819 in a small village in France, and his life coincided with incredibly important events in the history of the country. His father, a wealthy farmer, dreamed of his son becoming a successful lawyer, and sent him to study at college in Besançon, where the young man of his own free will began to study painting.
Upon reaching twenty years of age, the young man goes to Paris, where he visits various art workshops and admires works in the Louvre, but does not engage in jurisprudence. Young Gustave Courbet really evaluates his rather modest knowledge base and tries to understand all the secrets of painting. Having forgotten that his parents sent him to the capital of France to study law, he devotes himself entirely to art. Later, Gustave Courbet would emphasize: “Having no permanent teachers, I learned everything myself.” The dreamy young man is fascinated by the works of Delacroix and Ingres, Rembrandt, Caravaggio and Titian. At first, he copies the great paintings of the masters, but understands that talent alone is not enough to become a famous painter.
It was necessary to exhibit their works at art exhibitions, and the works for them were selected by a special jury. Showing his paintings to society meant fame and recognition for the creator, and since 1841, Courbet Gustave annually sends canvases to the selection committee, but luck will smile on him only a few years later, and the work “Courbet with a Black Dog” is finally noted by critics. The selection committee rejects the rest of the works, and the artist takes the failures hard.
After the revolution, France becomes a republic, and the changes political system entail changes in society. The jury of the art salon was abolished, which Gustave Courbet did not fail to take advantage of, whose paintings were finally noticed, and people started talking about the master, but not in a laudatory manner.
The sophisticated public is accustomed to seeing beautiful faces in chic interiors, and the artist was the first to depict rude provincials against a gloomy background, so it is not surprising that society did not accept the master’s shocking works. However, Courbet had followers and admirers of his talent, who declared Gustave the founder of a new style in art - realism.
The artist reads books by utopian writers and considers himself an anarchist socialist, which attracts the attention of society. A talented painter who really wants to achieve recognition and attention even declares himself a republican and revolutionary to the core. According to researchers of Courbet's work, he chose very right time for such a statement.
When the republic was replaced by an empire, and Napoleon III came to power, the artist’s fame reached its apogee. The Emperor did not favor revolutionaries, and he passed off refusals to exhibit works at exhibitions that Gustave Courbet received as persecution for political reasons. The public, having heard a lot about the disgraced creations, was eager to see them in order to form their own opinion.
A big scandal associated with the work of the realist artist broke out in 1853. Courbet exhibited a shocking work, “Bathers,” which outraged the respectable public. The imperial couple considered the painting, which depicts a plump naked woman with her back to the viewer, offensive. The work immediately found its admirers and haters.
By that time, the artist Gustave Courbet had become famous, and he was patronized by a wealthy patron of the arts, with whose funds the “Pavilion of Realism” was built, where the creator exhibited his works. It was a kind of anti-exhibition, at which the public got acquainted with 40 new and old paintings by the painter. The pavilion with works written in the style of realism was popular not only among ordinary people, but also among critics.
Gustave Courbet, who earned a scandalous reputation, whose paintings left no one indifferent, advocated for a realistic depiction of reality. The painter gains followers, his canvases are exhibited in various cities Europe with continued success. However, Courbet, who demands freedom of development of society and opposes state power, is arrested and imprisoned by French reactionaries. He is sentenced to six months in prison and a huge fine, which the sick artist was unable to pay. A terrible thing happened: all the canvases were confiscated, the workshop where the painter worked was destroyed, and there was no talk of exhibiting.
Depressed by what is happening, Gustave Courbet flees the country to Switzerland, but he no longer has the strength to fight and protest. He rarely takes up brushes and paints, and only landscapes come out of his pen. On December 31, 1877, the artist dies, and more than forty years pass before his ashes are transferred to his homeland as a sign of belated recognition. With his work, the painter prepared the ground on which new art grew.
The realism of the freedom-loving artist is associated with the revolutionary events taking place in the country. It is believed that this is how Courbet Gustave reacted to the unrest in France. Popular uprisings contributed to the birth of a “new” master, whose works were destined for world fame. Despite the fact that Gustave relies on the achievements of brilliant creators of past eras, the artist develops his own style and proudly calls himself a “Courbetist.”
The painting "Stone Crusher", created in 1849, causes a huge resonance. Its author raises in his work a social issue that has worried him throughout his life. The artist examines the problem of extreme poverty: an old man crushes a stone, and his young assistant pours rubble into one pile. The faces of the poor workers, whose skin is darkened by dust, express nothing. People tired of monotonous work different ages Gustave portrayed it against a gloomy background, not animated by anything. The dark colors are as dull as the environment in which a man and a young man live, realizing that the future does not promise them anything good.
“The Origin of the World” is a painting by realist artist Gustave Courbet, which is recognized as the most scandalous work in the history of painting. For a long time it was in private collections, and in the 90s of the last century it ended up in a Paris museum, where it is now exhibited under bulletproof glass. The author depicted a naked female torso, declassifying what had always remained hidden. It is no coincidence that the modern viewer, who has already seen a lot, feels embarrassed in front of the picture.
Canvas made in life size, strikes with raw sensuality. A noticeable roundness of the abdomen is an indication of the birth of a new life. The author seems to confuse the concepts of “vice” and “fertility”, showing reality without embellishment. Courbet hid the face of his heroine, creating a collective image of a woman lying on a snow-white sheet. The realistic canvas shocks and evokes a feeling of rejection. The indignant public is outraged that the artist, who sought to turn a person inside out, abolishes all taboo concepts and deliberately spies on people in their most intimate moments.
The master's canvases sound like a cannon shot in silence. Viewers do not want to see reality in works of art and do not want to know the truth. And the daring Gustave Courbet, whose work was constantly criticized, consciously tried to ensure that society did not forget that there is not only beauty and happiness in the world.
