[2013] Stephanie Kirby: Gustave Courbet: The Artist's Studio

Through his powerful realism, Courbet became a pioneering figure in the history of modernism.

By Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet created a sensation at the Paris Salon of 1850–51 when he exhibited a group of paintings set in his native Ornans, a village in the Franche-Comté in eastern France. These works challenged convention by rendering scenes from daily life on the large scale previously reserved for history painting and in an emphatically realistic style. Confronted with the unvarnished realism of Courbet's imagery, critics derided the ugliness of his figures and dismissed them as "peasants in their Sunday best."

The Artist's Studio

Gustave Courbet:Born: 1817Died: 1877

The self-proclaimed "proudest and most arrogant man in France,"

The woman's head is tilted to the side as she studies the painting for meaning. Shoulders are relaxed and she seems indifferent to her nakedness. She is clearly a model. Either she has been painted already or she is waiting to be painted next.

A woman is slumped beneath the canvas. She appears impoverished and pathetic as she could be an allegory for the poor working class that dominated this time period in France.

Look at the amount of detail in this painting! The big picture, and even the painting that Courbet is working on! This painting was very large, indeed.

Interesting factoid:The subname of The Artist's Studio is actually, "A Real Allegory, Determining a Phase of Seven Years in My Artistic Life"