The artist Courbet Gustave: life and work

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Courbet Gustave (1819-1877) - an artist endowed with considerable talent, almost self-taught. He deliberately abandoned the academic style in painting and became the founder of realism, which later turned into direct naturalism.

The wiser Gustave Courbet, pictured (above) in his last years, looks like a thoughtful man who doesn't try to be better than he is.

Childhood

Courbet Gustave was born in a small town (by our standards, a village) with a population of three thousand people, in Ornans, not far from Switzerland. The father dreamed that his son would be a lawyer, so in 1837 he sent him to study at the Royal College in Besancon, located not far from his home. At Courbet's own discretion, Gustave begins painting under the guidance of David's student.

Paris

At twenty years old, a young man goes to the capital supposedly to deepen his knowledge in jurisprudence. But in reality, he visits the Louvre and art workshops, in which, as he decided for himself, he has nothing to do. But in one of the workshops he lingered: there they taught to draw nudes.

Exhibition

For the first exhibition at the Salon Courbet, Gustave presented his self-portrait with a dog. It already shows the independent handwriting of a still romantic artist who is looking for his own path. A free, proud, independent young man is depicted in a grotto of wild rocks.

With calm arrogance, he looks directly at the viewer. The eye is located approximately on the line of the golden ratio, so that the viewer could not tear himself away from it. This technique was repeatedly and unsuccessfully borrowed by artists from Leonardo. Here, too, it did not quite succeed. But the sad calm spaniel, and the golden-brown festive color, and the barely visible landscape in the depths of the picture are good. The rest of the artist's work was not accepted by the Salon.

Painting and Politics

Paris has always been a politicized city. He was seething all over in the thirties and forties, and the revolution of 1848 carried away Courbet as well. He and his friends founded a socialist club and created the emblem of the people. But Gustave did not go to the barricades. By this time the artist had already visited Holland and brought back a distinct desire to break completely with romanticism. Having created a series of paintings based on the new concept, Gustave Courbet, whose works had previously been simply rejected, in 1849 exhibited 7 paintings at the Salon. Then the word "realism" was first mentioned, and one of the works, "Afternoon in Ornan", received a second gold medal.

"Burial at Ornan" (1849)

This large-scale painting is more than three meters long and more than half a meter high, the artist Gustave Courbet dedicated to onefrom their grandfathers. The figures on the canvas are made almost in natural sizes. All the townspeople tried to get into the epic picture. It depicts choristers, curates, the mayor of the city, and residents in black mourning clothes.

Color accents are made on the white and red robes of the ministers of the church. The crucifix in the background, raised high above the standing people, is also impressive. The plot is very prosaic, but in this canvas the images of people that Courbet created, having risen to generalizations, are interesting. By focusing all attention on the funeral process, and not on the deeds of the deceased or on the posthumous existence of the soul, the painter proved to be a complete realist.

In Paris, they did not understand why such a monumental picture should be created from an ordinary funeral, and even with a planar composition. She was not accepted to the World Exhibition of 1855, although the jury selected eleven works by Courbet for her. But they do not take to the exhibition the painting "Atelier", in which Courbet expresses his artistic principles. Then, full of indignation, the artist arranges his own exhibition, which consists of 40 paintings. He publishes the "Manifesto of Realism", and everyone who preaches realism in painting adjoins him as a master. This causes a scandal in society.

The Winnowers (1854)

Courbet's two sisters and a familiar child are known to have posed for this painting of Courbet's hard peasant labor.

The picture received a cheerful sound due to the golden color and bright red dress of the girl standing inthe center of the composition and immediately attracting attention. A cute red cat sleeps next to a dozing girl in gray, enlivening the atmosphere, which is already major. It is only unclear why a chest-chest closing the door is drawn, near which the boy is located.

Pergola (1862)

This picture shows another Courbet, able to admire female beauty, comparing it with the lush bloom of climbing roses on the pergola.

The composition dividing line runs clearly along the golden ratio, the main part of which is occupied by white, orange, red flowers. The silhouette of a girl standing in profile with her hands raised to the very top of the lattice is graceful. White translucent sleeves and a white collar are in harmony with the adjacent flowers, and the dress matches the shadows under the left arm and the shaded foliage on the left side of the picture. Here Courbet showed himself as a subtle colorist.

The Origin of the World (1866)

I don't want to dwell on this work for a long time. It is too unpleasant for a person with a he althy psyche, not inclined to spy on a person in the most intimate moments of his life. The painting depicts the torso of a woman without a face. A close-up of the open vulva of an unknown woman is shown in front of the viewer. Here is one of the models proposed by the researchers for the canvas "The Origin of the World" (Gustave Courbet), the photo of which is presented here.

This picture will only give pleasure to a voyeur who gets satisfaction from being shown genitalsa person of the opposite sex and nothing more. A he althy person does not need this, and one does not want to consider this opus. I just want to quickly forget such a muck.

During this period, Courbet creates many erotic paintings, among which "Sleepers" stand out for their frankness. This naturalism causes condemnation of the circle of both ordinary people and people with names. But Proudhon, whose portrait he painted, remains his ardent supporter.

Wave (1870)

This landscape is considered Courbet's masterpiece. The canvas is almost half given to the sky and the sea. The clouds covered the skies tightly. Their shades shimmer from greyish-green to lilac-pink and amaze with their beauty.

The color of the waves also plays with all the tones of green, creating a variety of deep color effects. It perfectly conveys the power of natural forces. The artist was captivated by this theme and created a series of works depicting various views of Etretat and its stormy restless sea.

In 1871, a highly politicized artist takes an active part in the actions of the Paris Commune. After the suppression of the uprising, he was charged with the overthrow of the Vendome column. After that, Courbet was in prison, and he was sentenced to pay a huge fine. He fled to Switzerland, where he died in complete poverty.

Causes very mixed reactions as a person and artist Gustave Courbet, whose work does not leave people indifferent even today. This speaks of the undoubted talent and strong personality of this painter.