Delphi Complete Paintings of Gustave Courbet (Illustrated)

By Peter Russell and Gustave Courbet

The nineteenth century French painter Gustave Courbet almost single-handedly challenged and subverted the prevailing tastes of High Art, rebelling against the Romantic painting of the day. He turned attention instead to everyday themes and the lives of ordinary men and women, eschewing the age-old subjects of religious and historical art. His enormous canvases shocked the art establishment and prepared the way for the innovative creations of the modernist period. Delphi’s Masters of Art Series presents the world’s first digital e-Art books, allowing readers to explore the works of great artists in comprehensive detail. This volume presents Courbet’s complete paintings in beautiful detail, with concise introductions, hundreds of high quality images and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)

* The complete paintings of Gustave Courbet – over 800 images, fully indexed and arranged in chronological and alphabetical order
* Includes reproductions of many rare works
* Features a special ‘Highlights’ section, with concise introductions to the masterpieces, giving valuable contextual information
* Enlarged ‘Detail’ images, allowing you to explore Courbet’s celebrated works in detail, as featured in traditional art books
* Hundreds of images in colour – highly recommended for viewing on tablets and smart phones or as a valuable reference tool on more conventional eReaders
* Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the paintings
* Easily locate the paintings you wish to view
* Includes a selection of Courbet's drawings – explore the artist’s varied works

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CONTENTS:

The Highlights
Self Portrait with a Black Dog
The Desperate Man
Man with a Pipe
After Dinner at Ornans
A Burial at Ornans
The Young Ladies of the Village
The Wrestlers
The Meeting or “Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet”
The Wheat Sifters
The Artist’s Studio
Young Ladies beside the Seine (Summer)
Portrait of P. J. Proudhon
Sleep
The Origin of the World
The Wave
The Étretat Cliffs after the Storm
Self Portrait at Sainte-Pélagie
Still Life of Apples, Pears and Primroses on a Table

The Paintings
The Paintings of Gustave Courbet
Alphabetical List of Paintings

The Drawings
Selected Drawings

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Delphi Classics Ltd
• Release date: Oct 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781788779562

Book preview

Gustave Courbet

(1819-1877)

Contents

The Highlights

Self Portrait with a Black Dog

The Desperate Man

Man with a Pipe

After Dinner at Ornans

A Burial at Ornans

The Young Ladies of the Village

The Wrestlers

The Meeting or Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet

The Wheat Sifters

The Artist’s Studio

Young Ladies beside the Seine (Summer)

Portrait of P. J. Proudhon

Sleep

The Origin of the World

The Wave

The Étretat Cliffs after the Storm

Self Portrait at Sainte-Pélagie

Still Life of Apples, Pears and Primroses on a Table

The Paintings

The Paintings of Gustave Courbet

Alphabetical List of Paintings

The Drawings

Selected Drawings

The Delphi Classics Catalogue

© Delphi Classics 2019

Version 1

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Masters of Art Series

Gustave Courbet

By Delphi Classics, 2019

COPYRIGHT

Masters of Art - Gustave Courbet

First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2019.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78877 956 2

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [e-mail]

www.delphiclassics.com

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The Highlights

Ornans, a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France — Courbet was born in Ornans in 1819.

The birthplace of Gustave Courbet, which today functions as the Musée Courbet, with 80 permanent works by the artist.

Courbet’s self portrait as a young man, charcoal on paper, c. 1847, Musée d’Orsay

The Highlights

In this section, a sample of Courbet’s most celebrated works is provided, with concise introductions, special ‘detail’ reproductions and additional biographical images.

Self Portrait with a Black Dog

The leader of the Realist movement of nineteenth century France, Gustave Courbet was born in Ornans, a commune in eastern France, to Eléonor-Régis, a wealthy farmer that had risen from the peasantry, and his wife Sylvie. From an early Gustave had demonstrated an interest in art, though he initially studied law. However, by 1839 he had moved to Paris, the centre of the European art world, following a brief spell at the college of fine arts at Besançon. The young Courbet devoted himself to the study of the Old Masters in the Louvre, spending hours copying their works. He and his father shared an unusual mutual respect for each other at the time and, when Courbet announced his intentions to become an artist rather than a provincial lawyer, his father consented, having reportedly declared, If anyone gives up, it will be you, not me! The parent then promised, if necessary, that he would sell his land and vineyards, even his houses, to finance his son’s chosen path in life.

Unchained from the financial restrictions that plagued many avant-garde artists of the nineteenth century, Courbet could focus his studies entirely on his art, living in comparatively affluent circumstances. He achieved a pronounced technical proficiency in the tedious, yet determined copying of paintings by the seventeenth century Spanish masters Diego Velázquez and José de Ribera, whose dark toned works won his especial attention. At the time, the Paris Salon, sponsored by the Académie des Beaux-Arts, was still the only means for an ambitious artist to exhibit his work and win the critical attention required to make his name. The selectors of the Salon jury were notoriously conservative in their tastes, often favouring the grand historic canvases of the Neo-classical artists and the recent emergence of Romantic subjects. Courbet was determined to offer a wholly new and unprecedented choice of subject, which until now was never regarded as suitable for High Art. Due to his unconventional style and bold subject matter, the Salon repeatedly declined his submissions; nevertheless, he remained undaunted and continued to submit the artworks he deemed worthy of critical attention. Self Portrait with a Black Dog was finally accepted in 1844, when the artist was twenty-three years old.

One of Courbet’s earliest self portraits, it reveals a determined, perhaps even arrogant young man. Held today in Paris’ Musée du Petit Palais, the image was likely inspired by Parmigianino’s Mannerist self portrait in a convex mirror, proclaiming the artist’s bold aspirations. His head is held high, while the chin is prominently lit by the chiaroscuro. The artist’s coat is carefully turned aside to reveal its costly yellow lining, establishing him as a fashionable young man, accompanied by a highly sought after English spaniel. The artist looks down at us with a lofty expression, his superior gaze dismissing our presence as insignificant. Surrounded by the landscape of his native countryside, Courbet is seated beside a steep, chalky rock, lending the image a romantic atmosphere. Although at first we may interpret this as the representation of the town dandy, the composition is strongly connected to Courbet’s country roots and his love of nature is represented by the trusty dog. The artist is also presented with a refined, even scholarly character, suggested by his pipe, flowing hair and wide broad-brimmed hat. He has even taken a solemn book along with him on his country stroll, which he has now placed behind him as he takes a thoughtful rest.

This painting was produced during a time of Romantic fervour in European art and Courbet was quick to capitalise on the prevailing taste. In this self portrait we are given the well-known image of the young Romantic, taking a momentary respite in the midst of a melancholic landscape. Perhaps it was the strong Romantic characteristics that eventually won over the highly-selective jury. In fact, out of the twenty-four paintings submitted by Courbet to the Salon between 1841 and 1847, Self Portrait with a Black Dog was only one of three to be accepted. Although he had been fortunate with this early attempt, Courbet would by no means pander to the Salon’s conventional tastes for long. Indeed, he had very different plans for the direction of his work…

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Self portrait in a Convex Mirror by the Italian late Renaissance artist Parmigianino, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria, 1524

The Desperate Man

Around the same time as the previous plate, Courbet also produced two versions of another self portrait, under the title Le Désespéré (The Desperate Man). One of these was an unfinished gouache on paper sketch and the other, featured in the following illustrations, was an 1845 oil on canvas, held today in the private collection of the Conseil Investissement Art BNP Paribas. The painting presents an up-close and confrontational view of a deranged young male, who peers wildly out of the canvas with an unsettling expression. It is believed the subject was suggested to the artist by the pioneering work of Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801), the Swiss philosopher and theologian. Lavater’s Physiognomische Fragmente zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntnis und Menschenliebe, published between 1775 and 1778, introduced the concept that physiognomy related to the specific character traits of individuals, rather than general types.

The desperate man’s head and strained arms fill the composition, bringing the insanity closer to the viewer. His hands pull frantically at his hair, as the muscles in his arms and hands are accentuated by chiaroscuro, extending the