Gustave Courbet

I think it would be wrong not to do a post about Gustave Courbet when researching into Realism. Courbet, led the movement in the 19^th and believed that ‘the only possible source for a living art is the artists own experience'

Courbet was born in 1819  in Ornans France, went to Paris in 1839 and began painting against iconic, ideal and romantic art, instead painting ordinary life.

One of Courbet’s most famous paintings is ‘The Stonebreakers’ which shocked the Salon. It is painting of truth conveying the cruel realities of ordinary life. Courbet has mixed sand with his paints, used beutin instead of black and thus creating a dark and intense canvas. The painting was a far cry from the painting favoured by the Salon – it showed the real truth of social inequalities in France. It is important in showing what the peasant workers wore at the time - rags rather then pastoral clothes; the subject matter focuses on the harsh realities of ordinary life, doing pointless and monotonous work rather then anything romantic. 

The Stone Breakers 1849-50

‘Burial at Ornans’ another of Courbets famous paintings. The painting measure 124” x  263” a size commonly used in historic and religious paintings. On the contrary the painting is composed of ordinary people of Ornans, it was deemed ‘vulgar’ by the Salon and the middle class for glorifying bleak contemporary life.

A Burial at Ornans 1849-50

Courbet’s work was revolutionary in shapping the art world today, he challeneged contemporary academic idea of art and protayed the social inequalities and harshness of reality through his painting. His work went on to influence many artists such as Claude Monet, the German painters of the Leibl Circle, James McNeill Whistler, Edward Hopper.

Le dejeuner sur l'herbe1865-1866  Claude Monet (portrait including Courbet

Sources;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Courbet
http://www.gustavecourbet.org/

http://www.artrenewal.org/