Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet (June 10, 1819 - December 31, 1877) wasFrench painter.

BornOrnans (Doubs), he wentParis1839,worked atstudioSteubenHesse; but his independent spirit did not allow himremain there long, as he preferredwork out his own way bystudySpanish, FlemishFrench painters. His first works, an "Odalisque," suggested by Victor Hugo, and"Lélia," illustrating George Sand, were literary subjects; but these he soon abandoned forstudyreal life.

Among other works he painted his own portraithis dog,"The Man withPipe," bothwhich were rejected byjury ofSalon; butyounger schoolcritics,neo-romanticsrealists, loudly sangpraisesCourbet, who by 1849 beganbe famous, producing such pictures as "After Dinner at Ornans""The Valley ofLoire." The Salon1850 found him triumphant with"Burial at Ornans,""Stone-Breakers" and"PeasantsFlazey" His style still gainedindividuality, as"Village Damsels" (1852),"Wrestlers," "Bathers,""A Girl Spinning" (1852).

Though Courbet's realistic worknot devoidimportance, itaslandscapesea painter that he will be most honoured by posterity. Sometimes,must be owned, his realismrather coarsebrutal, but when he paintsforestsFranche-Comté,"Stag-Fight," "The Wave," or"Haunt ofDoes." hein his element. When Courbet had madename as an artist he grew ambitiousother glory; he triedpromote democraticsocial science,underEmpire he wrote essaysdissertations.

Towardsend of1860s, Courbet paintedseriesincreasingly erotic works, culminating in"The Origin ofWorld" (1866), depicting female genitalia,"The Sleepers" (1866), featuring lesbian loversbed. While banned from public display,works only servedincrease his notoriety.

His refusal ofcross ofLegionHonour, offeredhim by Napoleon III, made him immensely popular,in 1871 he was elected, underCommune, tochamber. Thushappened that he was responsible fordestruction ofVendôme column. A councilwar, before which he was tried, condemned himpaycostrestoringcolumn, 300,000 francs. To escapenecessityworking toendhis days atorders ofStateorderpay this sum, Courbet wentSwitzerland1873,died at La Tour du Peilz, ofdisease ofliver aggravated by intemperance. An exhibitionhis works was held1882 atÉcole des Beaux-Arts.

See Champfleury, Les Grandes Figures d'hier et d'aujourd' hui (Paris, 1861); Mantz, "G. Courbet," Gaz. des beaux-arts (Paris, 1878); Zola, Mes Haines (Paris, 1879); C Lemonnier, Les Peintres de la Vie (Paris, 1888).