Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was a French artist, founder and leading representative of realism. He came to the court of the Republicans and during the Paris Commune was appointed to the high post of art commissioner. However, he was accused of having ordered the demolition of the Vendôme Column, one of the famous monuments of Paris, which was later restored and Courbet moved to Switzerland.
Courbet was an innovator in painting, in some ways his artwork is similar to the artwork of artists Ilya Repin and Vasily Perov - the desire to paint not sublimely romantic paintings that looked good only in the living rooms of aristocrats - the main buyers at the time, and the unseemly truth of life, genre scenes showing the everyday life of ordinary people.
Stone crushers
Courbet often used and satirical motifs in his paintings, and also wrote paintings in the style of Nude, often quite frank, for example, “The Origin of the World”. In this case, there as a basis was taken naturalism and naturalness, the characters of his paintings - ordinary women, sometimes with a far from ideal figure, as on the canvas “Bathers. On the life and work of the “father of realism” Gustave Courbet, we will talk in this article.
Born Courbet in a small village near the Swiss border. His father was a wealthy landowner, because his son could not work in the field, and learn various sciences. True, young Jean did not feel a great attraction to them, but he loved to draw. At the age of 12, he took painting lessons from a local artist, but when he turned 18, his father insisted that he went to study to become a lawyer - to get a prestigious and respected in society profession. As much as Jean would not like it, his father, he dared not cross his father, but in the Royal College is more interested in the lessons of painting, rather than law. Two years later, having given up on everything, went to conquer Paris. Then he resembled a young d'Artagnan - was ready to challenge the whole world, but instead of a sword used a brush.
Self-Portrait (Desperate Man)
Courbet willingly spread rumors that he was self-taught like Leonardo da Vinci or our landscape painter Arkhip Kuindzhi. But this is not quite true - Jean studied at one little-known artist, and at the same time rewrote and studied paintings by Caravaggio and Rembrandt. But the work of his contemporaries Courbet did not complain, with the exception of Eugène Delacroix.
And he also wanted to achieve recognition - quite natural for a young man and a novice artist, because he constantly sent applications to the Paris Salon, the exhibition of paintings at which is almost the only way to somehow declare themselves. But applications were rejected, although Courbet sought the most favorable themes of paintings, changed the technique to please the public and members of the jury of the Salon. Only in 1844, his painting “Self-Portrait with a black dog” was exhibited and achieved restrained interest from critics and the public.
Self-portrait with a black dog
And in 1848 there was a revolution in France. Despite the fact that Courbet was a feudal lord by birth and his life in Paris was paid for by his rich father, Courbet accepted the revolution with enthusiasm. His grandfather was a republican, and most importantly - so it was easier to succeed. Selection at the Paris Salon became more democratic and Courbet presented there as many as 10 paintings. One of them was bought by the government.
An afternoon at Ornans
For her he was at the same time awarded a gold medal, Courbet was talked about, and Jean finally achieved the fame of which he had long dreamed.
However, a huge painting of 1850, the size of 315 × 668 cm “Funeral in Ornans” critics met with displeasure.
A funeral in Ornan
“How could such a huge canvas, worthy of epic subjects, depict a squalid funeral in a small village? Where is the perspective, the composition, why do the characters just stand in a row?” - they exclaimed. The painting was too different from the standard paintings in the spirit of romanticism, there was no pompous and theatrical poses, it is just a sketch of life, made realistically, as it was not customary to write.
And then Courbet presented the painting “Bathers”, which again mercilessly criticized.
Bathers
The peasant woman has - oh, horror! - dirty feet, and her figure does not even meet the Rubensian standards of beauty. And in general, goddesses and naiads should be painted nude, not some vulgar peasant women. It is all too realistic and far from real art.
The Parisians didn't like Courbet himself. He reminded them of an unshod, healthy, country bumpkin, who does not know anything in any measure. Courbet really drank more than anyone else, his appetite could only be envied, and for women lugged no worse than Francisco Goya or Gustav Klimt.
However, his work had its own admirers. One of them - a wealthy patron of the arts and collector of paintings Alfred Bruya paid newspapers for several laudatory reviews of paintings by Courbet, and then bought all ten canvases, which the artist unsuccessfully tried to exhibit at the Paris Salon. Soon Alfred organized a pavilion, which exhibited only the artwork of this artist, but the public was not very willing to go there.
In 1857 Courbet presented the artwork “Girls resting on the banks of the Seine”, which again did not please the critics, perhaps because the girls were in the body, lying in free poses, and did not look like heavenly creatures.
Girls vacationing on the banks of the Seine
But Courbet was so tired of criticism and misunderstanding that he moved to Germany. Then returned, organized his school and told his students: “Paint as you see fit, do not copy the manner of anyone - neither Raphael Santi, nor mine. Only the search for your own style in painting matters and a true artist should try to find it.”
In France after the Paris Commune, Courbet was happy. He was a revolutionary by nature and hoped for understanding on the part of the new authorities. It did not take long - soon he was appointed art commissioner. When some hotheads proposed to destroy the Vendôme column, Courbet could not, and did not want to go against their will. However, the Paris Commune did not last long, and after its collapse Courbet went to prison - he was remembered for his participation in the demolition of the Vendôme Column.
A woman with a parrot
Finally, he was released, but with the condition that he must pay for the restoration of the monument out of his own pocket. This was very difficult even for the son of a rich feudal lord. Every year Courbet paid 10 thousand francs, all his property and paintings were taken away.
Jean went to his native village, modestly lived there, and then moved to Switzerland. For a living and payment of debts earned by writing still lifes and landscapes - purely artwork, without any desire to bring something new to painting. Died for quite prosaic reasons - from cirrhosis of the liver, the impact of immoderate use of alcohol, and on the grave willed to write: “he was only a supporter of freedom and did not belong to anything else - neither artistic association, nor the church, nor the political system.
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