Gustave Courbet's most famous paintings. Gustave Courbet – biography and paintings of the artist in the genre of Realism – Art Challenge. The grim realist Gustave Courbet

The name of this realist artist, endowed with considerable talent, has firmly entered the annals of European fine art. His work was hated, and even today foreign critics often belittle the significance of his paintings and try to consign them to oblivion. Alexandre Dumas the son spoke angrily about the author, who shocked the public of the 19th century with his views on art: “From what monster did this bastard come? In what dung heap did this hairy womb, pretending to be a man, grow?”

Let us consider the biography and work of this amazing master, who evoked such strong emotions in society.

Gustave Courbet: biography

The talented artist was born in 1819 in a small village in France, and his life coincided with incredible important events in the history of the country. His father, a wealthy farmer, dreamed of his son becoming a successful lawyer, and sent him to study at college in Besançon, where the young man of his own free will began to study painting.

Upon reaching twenty years of age, the young man goes to Paris, where he visits various art workshops and admires works in the Louvre, but does not engage in jurisprudence. Young Gustave Courbet really evaluates his rather modest knowledge base and tries to understand all the secrets of painting. Having forgotten that his parents sent him to the capital of France to study law, he devotes himself entirely to art. Later, Gustave Courbet would emphasize: “Having no permanent teachers, I learned everything myself.” The dreamy young man is fascinated by the works of Delacroix and Ingres, Rembrandt, Caravaggio and Titian. At first, he copies the great paintings of the masters, but understands that talent alone is not enough to become a famous painter.

Fulfilling dreams of fame and recognition

It was necessary to exhibit their works at art exhibitions, and the works for them were selected by a special jury. Showing his paintings to society meant fame and recognition for the creator, and since 1841 Gustave sent Courbet to admissions committee canvases, but luck would smile on him only a few years later, and the work “Courbet with a Black Dog” was finally noted by critics. The selection committee rejects the rest of the works, and the artist takes the failures hard.

After the revolution, France becomes a republic, and changes in the political system entail changes in society. The jury of the art salon was abolished, which Gustave Courbet did not fail to take advantage of, whose paintings were finally noticed, and people started talking about the master, but not in a laudatory manner.

Shocking canvases

The sophisticated public was accustomed to seeing beautiful faces in chic interiors on canvases, and the artist was the first to depict rude provincials against a gloomy background, so it is not surprising that society did not accept the master’s shocking works. However, Courbet had followers and admirers of his talent, who declared Gustave the founder of a new style in art - realism.

A revolutionary who received recognition

The artist reads books by utopian writers and considers himself an anarchist socialist, which attracts the attention of society. A talented painter who really wants to achieve recognition and attention even declares himself a republican and revolutionary to the core. According to researchers of Courbet's work, he chose the very right time for such a statement.

When the republic was replaced by an empire, and Napoleon III came to power, the artist’s fame reached its apogee. The Emperor did not favor revolutionaries, and he passed off refusals to exhibit works at exhibitions that Gustave Courbet received as persecution for political reasons. The public, having heard a lot about the disgraced creations, was eager to see them in order to form their own opinion.

A big scandal associated with the work of the realist artist broke out in 1853. Courbet exhibited a shocking work, “Bathers,” which outraged the respectable public. The imperial couple considered the painting, which depicts a plump naked woman with her back to the viewer, offensive. The work immediately found its admirers and haters.

Anti-exhibition of realism

By that time, the artist Gustave Courbet had become famous, and he was patronized by a wealthy patron of the arts, with whose funds the “Pavilion of Realism” was built, where the creator exhibited his works. It was a kind of anti-exhibition, where the public got acquainted with 40 new and old paintings by the painter. The pavilion with works written in the style of realism was popular not only among ordinary people, but also among critics.

The tragedy that crippled the painter

Gustave Courbet, who earned a scandalous reputation, whose paintings left no one indifferent, advocated for a realistic depiction of reality. The painter gains followers, his paintings are exhibited in various European cities with constant success. However, Courbet, who demands freedom of development of society and opposes state power, is arrested and imprisoned by French reactionaries. He is sentenced to six months in prison and a huge fine, which the sick artist was unable to pay. A terrible thing happened: all the canvases were confiscated, the workshop where the painter worked was destroyed, and there was no talk of exhibiting.

Depressed by what is happening, Gustave Courbet flees the country to Switzerland, but he no longer has the strength to fight and protest. He rarely takes up brushes and paints, and only landscapes come out of his pen. On December 31, 1877, the artist dies, and more than forty years pass before his ashes are transferred to his homeland as a sign of belated recognition. With his work, the painter prepared the ground on which new art grew.

"Courbetist"

The realism of the freedom-loving artist is associated with the revolutionary events taking place in the country. It is believed that this is how Courbet Gustave reacted to the unrest in France. Popular uprisings contributed to the birth of a “new” master, whose works were destined for world fame. Despite the fact that Gustave relies on the achievements of brilliant creators of past eras, the artist develops his own style and proudly calls himself a “Courbetist.”

The grim realist Gustave Courbet

The painting "Stone Crusher", created in 1849, causes a huge resonance. Its author raises in his work a social issue that has worried him throughout his life. The artist examines the problem of extreme poverty: an old man crushes a stone, and his young assistant pours rubble into one pile. The faces of the poor workers, their skin darkened by dust, express nothing. Gustave depicted people of different ages tired of monotonous work against a gloomy background, not animated by anything. The dark colors are as dull as the environment in which a man and a young man live, realizing that the future does not promise them anything good.

Scandalous work completed in 1866

“The Origin of the World” is a painting by realist artist Gustave Courbet, which is recognized as the most scandalous work in the history of painting. For a long time it was in private collections, and in the 90s of the last century it ended up in a Paris museum, where it is now exhibited under bulletproof glass. The author depicted a naked female torso, declassifying what had always remained hidden. It is no coincidence that the modern viewer, who has already seen a lot, feels embarrassed in front of the picture.

The life-size canvas impresses with its raw sensuality. A noticeable roundness of the abdomen is an indication of the birth of a new life. The author seems to confuse the concepts of “vice” and “fertility”, showing reality without embellishment. Courbet hid the face of his heroine, creating a collective image of a woman lying on a snow-white sheet. The realistic canvas shocks and evokes a feeling of rejection. The indignant public is outraged that the artist, who sought to turn a person inside out, abolishes all taboo concepts and deliberately spies on people in their most intimate moments.

The master's canvases sound like a cannon shot in silence. Viewers do not want to see reality in works of art and do not want to know the truth. And the daring Gustave Courbet, whose work was constantly criticized, consciously tried to ensure that society did not forget that there is not only beauty and happiness in the world.

Woman in a hammock with a child (Femme au hamac, tenant son enfant)

The artist Gustave Courbet is a world-famous French painter, portrait painter, landscape painter and genre painter, one of the founders of realism in painting - literally the key figure of French realism.

Self-portrait (the Desperate man)

Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was born in June 1819 in a small town of about three thousand inhabitants, Ornans, near the Swiss border. The father of the future famous artist, Regis Courbet, was a wealthy peasant and owned vineyards in the vicinity of Ornane.

At the age of twelve, Gustave Courbet began attending the local seminary, but was different from total number seminarians with an extremely lively character, i.e. was, as they would say now, a hooligan. However, he studied quite well. So good that in 1837 he managed to enter the Royal College in Besançon, which was supposed to have a beneficial effect on his future career as a lawyer, which was the dream of the father of the future artist.

But it so happened that Gustave Courbet became seriously interested in painting and, in his free time from college, began attending the Academy, where the aspiring artist’s teacher was one of the best students of the famous classicist artist Jacques-Louis David, Charles-Antoine Flajoulot.

In 1839, Gustave Courbet went to Paris, having previously promised his father that he was going for further in-depth study jurisprudence.

In Paris, Gustave began to study the art collections of the Louvre; the young artist was especially fascinated by Spanish artists and small Dutchmen. Velazquez made a huge impression on Courbet - Courbet would later “borrow” dark tones for his canvases from the great artist.

After studying the collections of the Louvre, Gustave Courbet decided to devote his life to painting and began attending classes in various art workshops, and above all the classes of Charles de Steuben. Very soon, the young man decided to abandon receiving a classical art education and went to work in the workshops of Suisse and Lyapin - in these workshops there were no compulsory lessons, and students did not have to adhere to any canons. All classes were based on the individual artistic search of the student, which suited Gustav completely.

Soon the young artist presented his first painting to the public “ Self-portrait with a black dog", and this picture was a huge success.

Self-Portrait With Black Dog

The artist in the painting “Self-Portrait with a Black Dog” depicted himself sitting at the entrance to the Plaisir-Fontaine grotto (not far from Ornans). To his left lie a cane and a sketchbook; to his right, against the backdrop of a sun-drenched landscape, a black fold-eared spaniel stands out in dark silhouette. In the sky and background are a few test strokes made with a palette knife, a tool that Courbet later used with great skill. In May 1842, Courbet wrote to his parents:

I got a lovely dog, a purebred English spaniel - one of my friends gave it to me; everyone admires her, and in Udo’s house they welcome her much more than me.

And just two years later " Self-portrait with a black dog"opened the doors of the Paris Salon for Courbet. However, all other paintings by the young artist were rejected by a representative jury.

The thing is that from the very beginning of his creative activity the artist wrote as a realist. And the further he worked, the more he became interested in realism and became an opponent of any decoration - he believed that the artist is obliged to show literally bare reality and the harsh prose of life, even neglecting the elegance of painting technique.

The artist began to paint portraits, traveled to the Netherlands and Belgium, where she established contacts with painting sellers. And one of the first admirers and buyers of the artist’s paintings was the Dutch collector and artist, founder of the Hague School of Painting, Henrik Willem Mesdach.

It was personal connections with painting sellers in Holland and Belgium that subsequently contributed to the fact that the artist became known far beyond the borders of France.

However, Courier did not limit himself to connections in Belgium and Holland; he managed to enter the artistic circles of Paris. He often visited the bohemian cafe “Brasserie Andler”, where famous Parisian artists and writers literally lived.

Until the mid-nineteenth century, academicism literally dominated in France and the work of realist artists was very often rejected by the organizers of prestigious exhibitions. French artists, whose names later became the glory of the country's painting, became outcasts and even decided to organize their own exhibition. But then the revolution began...

In 1848, seven works by Courbet were exhibited at the Salon, but there was no buyer for these paintings - the public was not yet ready to accept French realism. The artist was certainly talented and smart, but his extreme realism in painting, in some places in genre paintings, “seasoned” with socialist ideas, caused a guaranteed scandal in the aristocratic and literary circles of Parisians. And very soon the artist had influential enemies, for example, the famous critic and writer, anarchist theorist Proudhon.

However, a few years later Gustave Courbet headed the realistic school of painting that emerged in France. Moreover, the works of French realists found their admirers in other European countries. But Paris boycotted the realists and for many years not a single painting by Courbet was exhibited at the Salon.

In 1871, the artist joined the Paris Commune, received the position of manager of public museums under the commune, and became the leader of the demolition of the Vendôme Column.

After the fall of the commune, Gustave Courbet was sentenced to half a year in prison, and after his release from prison he was obliged by a French court to reimburse the costs of restoring the column, the demolition of which he supervised.

The artist left France and settled in Switzerland. He died in a foreign land in December 1877. Poor and forgotten.

Paintings by artist Gustave Courbet

Reclining Nude
The mouth of the Seine Portrait of a girl (Portrait d'une fillette) On the edge of a cliff (Sur le bord de la falaise)
The Bacchante (La Bacchante)
Self-portrait (The wounded man)
Hammock Portrait of Paul Ansout
Afternoon relaxation in Ornans (After dinner at Ornans) Sleeping Blonde
Peasant Girl with a Scarf
Firemen Running to a Fire
Ornans at noon (View of Ornans) Madame Auguste Cuoq (Mathilde Desportes, 1827-1910)
Young Ladies of the Village
The Sleeping Spinner (La fileuse endormie) Louis Gueymard as Robert le Diable
Large oak trees at the water's edge, Port-Berteau (Grands Chenes, bords de l'eau, Port-Berteau) The Source
Rochemont Park (Le Parc de Rochemont)
Woman with a Parrot
Jo, La Belle Irlandaise (Jo, La Belle Irlandaise)

And in conclusion, I want to show you a painting by Gustave Courbet, which made the artist’s name not only widely known... It was a scandal. A scandal that survived the artist and continues to this day.

This picture was not shown to the public until 1988. Now this work by Gustave Courbet is exhibited in the Brooklyn Museum (New York) behind armored glass and under constant guard - there is literally a post next to the painting.

This painting was commissioned by a Turkish diplomat for his personal collection. However, the diplomat very soon went bankrupt, the collection was sold under the hammer and... In general, the public very soon learned about the presence of the painting and about its author.

Art lovers have already realized that I am talking about the painting by Gustave Courbet

Origin of the world

It is not for nothing that the picture is considered scandalous. Before turning the slide, p I invite you to read: I am already 18 years old and I do not fall into hysterics from realistic painting in the nude style.

Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter, landscape painter, genre painter and portrait painter. He is considered one of the finalists of romanticism and the founders of realism in painting. One of the largest artists in France during the 19th century, a key figure in French realism.

Gustave Courbet was born in 1819 in Ornans, a town of about three thousand people located in Franche-Comté, 25 km from Besançon, near the Swiss border. In 1839 he went to Paris, promising his father that he would study law there. In Paris, Courbet became acquainted with the art collection of the Louvre. His work, especially his early work, was subsequently greatly influenced by small Dutch and Spanish artists, especially Velazquez, from whom he borrowed the general dark tones of the paintings. Courbet did not study law, but instead began studying in art workshops, primarily with Charles de Steuben.

In 1844, Courbet's first painting, Self-Portrait with a Dog, was exhibited at the Paris Salon (all other paintings were rejected by the jury). From the very beginning, the artist showed himself to be an extreme realist, and the further, the stronger and more persistently he followed this direction, considering the ultimate goal of art to be the transmission of bare reality and life prose, and at the same time neglecting even the elegance of technology. In the 1840s he painted a large number of self-portraits.

In the late 1840s, the official direction French painting There was still academicism, and the works of realistic artists were periodically rejected by exhibition organizers. Thus, in 1847, all three of Courbet’s works presented at the Salon were rejected by the jury. Moreover, this year the Salon jury rejected the works large number famous artists including Eugene Delacroix, Daumier and Théodore Rousseau.

Despite the intelligence and considerable talent of the artist, his naturalism, seasoned, in genre paintings, with a socialist tendency, caused a lot of noise in artistic and literary circles and acquired him many enemies (among them was Alexander Dumas, son), although also a lot of adherents, including which belonged to the famous writer and anarchist theorist Proudhon. Eventually, Courbet became the head of the realistic school, which originated in France and spread from there to other countries, especially Belgium. The level of his hostility towards other artists reached the point that for several years he did not participate in Parisian salons, but at world exhibitions he organized special exhibitions of his works in separate rooms.

“What monster could this bastard come from? Under what hood, on what dung heap, watered with a mixture of wine, beer, poisonous saliva and stinking mucus, did this empty-voiced and hairy pumpkin, this womb pretending to be a man and an artist, grow?”, - this is exactly how Alexander Dumas the son spoke emotionally and angrily about this master.

Gustave Courbet shocked the sophisticated public of the 19th century with his unique creative passions. His views on art caused disgust, admiration or indignation, but did not leave anyone indifferent. In addition, the behavior of the revolutionary artist was also far from ideal. And he acquired the reputation of a “noisy prankster” back in 1831, when he was a schoolboy.

Young Courbet’s interest in drawing arose thanks to “father” Bod, the boy’s teacher. But the father saw his son as a successful lawyer, so the respectful son, heeding his parents’ advice, diligently studied law at the Royal College in Besançon. At the same time, he did not forget to pay attention to art, studying it at the local Academy. But one day the final choice was made in favor of creativity, and Gustave Courbet moved to Paris, where he began to master the craft.

The young man was a frequent visitor to museums, where he diligently copied the works of famous painters. True, Gustave was immediately deeply disappointed by the paintings of the French school. Looking disdainfully at the canvases, he boldly declared to his comrades that he would not have become an artist if true painting consisted only in such works.

The master wanted to systematize his knowledge and studied the works of each art school in strict sequence. Somewhat later, Courbet skillfully used the accumulated knowledge, for which his friends called him “Courbet the Preacher.” One day, his comrades brought Gustave to the Luxembourg Museum, put him in front of the painting and asked his opinion about the canvas. The impudent Courbet replied:

“I would do the same tomorrow if I dared”

He was ambitious and thirsted for recognition, for which he sought successful topic and experimented with styles. But the results of his experiments were unsuccessful, and most of the proposed works were criticized by members of the Salon jury. Only Self-Portrait with a Black Dog, where the artist depicted himself sitting near the entrance to the Plaisir-Fontaine grotto, received a more restrained assessment from the judges. By left side from Courbet lay a sketchbook and a cane, and on the right was a black spaniel.

Gustave used the same painting as a draft, testing out a new drawing tool on canvas. Several careless strokes made with a palette knife are visible in the background. But even “Self-Portrait with a Black Dog” did not strengthen Gustave Courbet’s position; on the contrary, it only worsened after his marriage to Virginia Binet.

But soon luck smiled on the master: one Dutch merchant purchased two finished works by the artist and promised to make more orders if Courbet came to Holland. The master thought for a long time; his comrades, among whom were Charles Baudelaire, Pierre Proudhon and other young artists and writers, helped him make the final decision. Friends gathered in a tavern, which they called among themselves the “Temple of Realism.” It was there that they discussed the ideas that formed the basis for the realistic style of painting of the arrogant Gustave Courbet.

Critics openly spat at the artist, caricaturists were not averse to parodying any of his works, and viewers became furious when the master presented his scandalous paintings. The strong reaction to realism was justified for two reasons: this style seemed dangerous because it was actively supported by socialists, and its aesthetics opposed the academic manner adopted at the Salon.

The artist treated the opinion of society with ridicule and, not without pleasure, declared his opposition to the existing order:

“I am not only a socialist, but also a Democrat and a Republican. In other words, I am a revolutionary to the core."

If the classicists depicted ancient heroes, and the romantics gave preference to exceptional individuals in exceptional circumstances, then the realists, to whom Courbet counted himself, made their contemporaries and their everyday concerns the main theme of their work.

Gustave portrayed everything as real and did not recognize “embellishment.” For example, in 1849, the painting “Funeral in Ornans” was created, where ordinary French people were depicted in full height against the backdrop of a historical composition. The figures fill almost the entire space, and the indifferent appearance of the ritual participants gives vitality to the plot.

Courbet was especially good at portraits of women. It was they who aroused the greatest indignation of the highly moral part of society, which was ready to throw stones at the impudent artist. So, in 1853, the painting “Bathers” caused a lot of noise. This work is an open protest against old plots and previous concepts of depicting a person “in what his mother gave birth to.”

Critics accused the artist that the woman in the picture was too realistic, “forgetting” that, according to the canons of classicism, girlish outlines and forms belong exclusively to mythical characters. In the Salon, opinions were expressed that even crocodiles would lose their appetite if they saw such a magnificent lady. And the poses of the heroines of the picture also confused the audience. For example, in a girl with a raised hand they saw a hint of Mary Magdalene, and such a dubious interpretation immediately left the stamp of blasphemy and a blasphemous attitude towards faith on the picture. They even used outright and petty ridicule and quibbles about the fact that the cape on the depicted woman’s hips was not clean enough.

In 1854, the artist completed the realistic painting “Hello, Monsieur Courbet!”, which became a sensation at the Paris World Exhibition of 1855. At the same time, the artist was declared a champion of the new anti-intellectual art, and after that his open opposition to official circles began.

Rejected by the Salon, Gustave organized a private exhibition at the Pavilion of Realism. Courbet hoped for the public's admiration and support, but the demarche barely repaid the costs of building the premises.
But just two years later, the painting “Maids on the Banks of the Seine” was officially presented, which is considered an artistic expression of “moral, psychological and social ideas.”

From that time on, Courbet's creative rise began, which could not be broken either by imprisonment, or by the ridicule of an incompetent public, or by problems with the authorities. The artist firmly followed his civic position and advocated for a realistic depiction of reality. He once told Mr. Delacroix about this:

“How do you paint angels when you have seen them? And if you haven’t seen them, how can you write them? So I only write what I see"

The name Courbet means no less for the art of the 19th century than Rembrandt and Velazquez for the 17th century. After all, he openly proclaimed realism as his creative method and was a member of the Paris Commune. The artist has always been at the center of class battles, starting with the revolution of 1848. Could he really be out of this? Courbet did not lead the uprisings, but his works were inspired by those who took part in them, the working people. He began to depict them in the way that once only gods, mythological heroes, and kings were represented. Everything was new to him. Courbet's art was hated as only a rebel can be hated, or they saw in him a banner of the struggle for a better future. This is how his painting is perceived to this day. Bourgeois critics belittle the significance of the artist’s works and try to consign them to oblivion. Democratic-minded authors emphasize his innovation.

Courbet's realism response to the revolutionary events of 1848. It is impossible to compare the canvases “Funeral in Ornans” and “Stone Crusher”, created by him in 1849–1850, with the romantic self-portraits and far-fetched compositions that he executed before 1848. It is characteristic that his contemporaries called the artist “the son of the revolution.” And he himself agreed with this opinion.

Courbet's democracy was brought up from childhood, among his family, among the people of the province of Franche-Comté, hardworking and honest. Throughout his life he carried his love for his hometown of Ornan. He often returned there, painted the surrounding areas with powerful trees, arable lands and vineyards, and created portraits of the inhabitants. His grandfather, a participant in the Great French Revolution, a Jacobin, had a great influence on him. Gustave Courbet also adopted the ideas of his father, a liberal and supporter of the 1830 revolution.

Arriving in Paris, he reads books expounding the teachings of utopian socialists and considers himself their follower. In a late autobiographical note, the artist directly notes that for ten years, until the revolution of 1848, he advocated an active revolution. Articles under his signature appeared in the socialist newspaper Human Rights. The native of Ornans also accepted the ideas of the famous socialist Proudhon, the author of the sensational brochure “What is Property?”, with whom he later became very friendly. The combat poetry of Bérenger, the novels of Balzac and George Sand had an impact on the young man’s mentality. The artist’s freedom-loving character and unwillingness to take into account the norms of bourgeois “decent” behavior created legends; they talked about the “frantic provincial” everywhere. The cafe where Courbet visited with his friends, the poet Charles Baudelaire, the critic Chanfleury and others, began to be called the “temple of realism.”

On February 22, 1848, a republic was proclaimed in France, which the artist passionately supported. Together with Baudelaire and Chanfleury, he participates in the publication of the newspaper “Public Salvation”, for which he makes a drawing representing a young standard-bearer on a barricade. At the same time he founded a socialist club. Courbet was destined to see how brutally the July uprising was suppressed by General Cavaignac. The painter is depressed by what he sees. Fearing persecution by the authorities, he leaves for Ornans.

The revolution contributed to the birth of the “new” Courbet. The “master from Ornans,” as they began to call him, appeared. He puts into practice the principles of realism he developed.

A rare ability to work distinguishes the artist. In a short period of time, a number of works were created, three of which were destined for world fame: “An Afternoon at Ornans”, “Funeral at Ornans” and “Stone Crusher”. Their importance is not diminished even among such masterpieces of the French school as David’s “Oath of the Horatii,” Gericault’s “Raft of the Medusa,” and Delacroix’s “Liberty on the Barricades.” Courbet inherits the great tradition of progressive art in France. In his searches, he also relied on the achievements of outstanding masters of the past: Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Velazquez and Zurbaran. He developed a completely new manner, which allowed him to say: “I am a courbetist!”

Here is the painting “Afternoon at Ornans”. In the dark gloom of the kitchen, people sit around the dining table and listen to the violinist. Dim light from the upper window, invisible to the viewer, falls on a white tablecloth. The sitting positions are free. The artist's father, who posed for this painting, is depicted closer to the viewer, with a glass of wine in his hand. Opposite was the author himself, next to him was his childhood friend. The son of a local organist plays the violin. In fact, the canvas is not only a genre scene, but also a group portrait. This is where the skill of a portrait painter, acquired by Courbet in Paris in the forties, came in handy! The piece is executed very skillfully, the figures are masterfully sculpted with color. Light and shadow are especially well distributed, emphasizing the plasticity of the bodies. Courbet is close to the epic artistic language.

The painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1849, where it attracted widespread attention. Delacroix directly said about its author: “Innovator, revolutionary!”

In the next Salon, which opened on December 30, 1850, the painting “Funeral at Ornans” was listed as number 661 in the catalogue. This gigantic canvas, rivaling the size of a fresco composition, was begun by Courbet back in 1849. Under a gray sky, against the background of a dull plateau, a funeral procession moves. The artist pointed out that this is a portrait of the “secular” society of Ornans, where the mayor, priest, judge, notary, the author himself, his father, sisters, clerks, and gravedigger are represented. Perhaps the scene represents the burial of the artist's grandfather. This is also evidenced by the images of two old men in costumes of the late 18th century standing in the center of the picture. Courbet himself calls them “the old men of 1794,” that is, participants in the Great French Revolution, comrades of his grandfather. One of them has a questioning gesture. He seems to be wondering who will replace the outgoing generation. All the faces in the procession are distinguished by prosaic expression. The grief of some seems feigned; the curate reads the prayer purely mechanically. The other clerics, judging by their red and grinning faces, are drunk. Only children look natural.

Inheriting the traditions of Rembrandt’s “Night Watch,” the artist skillfully creates the image of a crowd. Although people react differently to what is happening, in general there is indifference. The images of the clergy are depicted in a comical way; it is worth recalling that Courbet is an atheist.

In comparison with the paintings in the Salon’s halls, the painting “Funeral at Ornans” looked extremely unexpected. From the point of view of academic painting, Courbet’s painting is “anti-compositional”: there are no main characters, no perspective depth. In the original charcoal sketch, the procession passes by the viewer altogether. But then the artist decides to make him a “participant” of what is happening. Therefore, the figures of people are written in full height. The procession turns towards the center of the picture. All participants are seen from bottom to top, equal in size. Equality of heads, a technique familiar from Greek reliefs, was apparently deliberately used here by Courbet. The “funeral” color scheme, in shades of black and gray, also corresponds to the unity of the compositional structure. There are only occasional splashes of red, white, blue and green.

Courbet painted the picture under difficult conditions. The huge canvas barely fit in the small, poorly lit workshop. Only one charcoal sketch was made. Full-scale portrait sketches helped in the work. Perhaps, as auxiliary material, the master used popular prints, which were circulated among ordinary people as a “fine newspaper.” The deeply national origins of the film are undeniable.

Simplicity, laconism, and deep exploration of the theme make Courbet’s canvas a notable milestone in the history of art. The artist himself called the “Funeral in Ornans” a historical scene. He meant that the subject of modern life, shown so realistically, deserves the same respect as other genres that were once considered sublime. This work can be considered as an artistic document of the era. One of his contemporaries, the critic Castagnari, said that the picture shows the bourgeoisie as it is “in full growth, with its oddities, ugliness and beauty.”

The plot of another painting, “Stone Crusher,” created in 1849, was observed by the artist in reality. He dared to make the theme of the painting an extreme expression of poverty, “modern slavery,” as his friend Proudhon would say. An old man crushes a stone, a boy with a basket in his hands pours rubble into a pile. Their clothes are poor, their shoes are worn out. The skin of the face and hands darkened and became rough from the sun and dust. The dull and monotonous work seemed to lull their consciousness.

The future does not promise them anything good. That’s why Courbet shows people of two ages. The coloring of the painting, as can be judged from the reproductions (the work was lost in Dresden in 1945), is based on a single brown tone, which is not enlivened by anything. The colors are as dull as the environment and the people.

Courbet's paintings sounded, according to contemporaries, like a cannon shot. “The Artist of 1848,” as he called himself, raised a social issue in his art. During the years of reaction, it seemed unusual that subjects unthinkable for “great” art became favorites in his painting. On December 2, 1851, the Republic fell. And what? Visitors to the Salon are reminded of what they don’t want to know about, don’t want to remember. This is insolence! Courbet consciously went towards this. He believed that his paintings should become an expression of the revolutionary principles of humanistic painting. In 1851, he said: “I am a socialist, democrat, republican, in a word, a supporter of any revolution, moreover, I am also a realist, that is, a sincere friend of genuine truth.”

Paris. World Exhibition of 1855. Near its territory, Courbet is building a pavilion, which he called “Realism.” The fact is that the jury of the art department of the World Exhibition refused to accept a number of his works, relying on such masters as Ingres and Delacroix, associated with the traditions of romanticism. Realism was alien to the jury, and it agreed to exhibit only a few paintings by Courbet, abandoning the works that he considered the most important. And so the master from Ornan staged a kind of anti-exhibition, showing the public forty old and new canvases. The main attention was attracted by a huge canvas, six meters long and four meters high, called “The Artist’s Workshop”. However, it also had a second title: “Real Allegory.” What did the painter mean by this? Are allegories depicting abstract concepts real? Obviously, he did not strive to abandon the depiction of reality and did not want to go into the world of conventional images generated by the mythology of the ancients. The master comprehended a lot of life material related to creative practice. He called such a generalization an allegory, the meaning of which was fundamentally different from the allegories of classicist painting.

The thirty characters in the painting tell, as Courbet explained, “the moral and physical history of his workshop.” Therefore, the second title of this work sounds more complete: “A real allegory that defines the seven-year period of my artistic career.” But this seven-year period of the artist’s life opens with 1848. The revolution turned out to be decisive in the development of Courbet. Considering that the pavilion where the painting was shown was called “Realism,” we can say that he decided to make public his idea of ​​​​how to create a realistic painting. In the preface to the catalog of his exhibition, the painter noted not only the importance of demonstrating “individuality in relation to traditions,” but also the requirement to create “living art.” “There are no other teachers except nature!” he exclaims.

The composition of the canvas is divided into three parts, each of which is to a certain extent independent, but all are connected by semantic unity. The artist’s workshop, where there is an easel with a painting, painting accessories are visible, and the works of the owner himself hang on the walls, is full of people. This interior shows the artist’s original autobiography in paint. In the center, Courbet depicted himself, confident and proud. He paints a landscape. The appearance of the area seems familiar - this is the artist’s native place in Franche-Comté. But its basis creative method work directly from nature. What's the matter? The landscape symbolizes nature; the artist worshiped it alone. Next to him is the nude figure of a model with a beautiful pink drapery falling in waves to the floor: this is a kind of “muse” of realism. The work is watched by a village boy - the personification of direct perception of beauty. Behind the easel is a mannequin representing Saint Sebastian. The fact that he is shown in the shadow is, of course, no coincidence: the figure of the saint clearly signifies the traditions of academic art.

Courbet is decisively against them, and this can be clearly read in the picture. Next to the mannequin is a newspaper on which lies a skull - a common attribute of artists' workshops, necessary for studying anatomy. But the fact that it lies on the newspaper is not accidental. The bourgeois press of that time was, in the apt expression of O. Balzac, “cemeteries of ideas.”

On the sides of the canvas there are two groups. These are, as the author himself said, “my friends: workers and art lovers.” On the right are specific images, most of them are portraits. Here the viewer can see Baudelaire, personifying poetry, Proudhon, the “spirit of philosophy,” Chanfleury, an art critic who defended realism in the press, and the collector Bruas. A boy is seen sitting on the floor, drawing. This is the future of art. So, on the right, creativity, silence, and the world of reflection dominate.

It’s different in the opposite part of the picture, where symbols of poverty, wealth, labor, and religion are given. As Courbet himself emphasized, he portrayed the exploited and the exploiters. All of them - a hunter, a farmer, a worker with his wife, a textile merchant, a poor Irish woman with a child - are presented in characteristic poses. Their gestures are varied and characteristic. But the figures are less connected to each other than on the right side of the picture, as if each character lives an independent life. It is possible that many had real prototypes. Thus, in two images one can discern the features of the critic Theophile Sylvester and the revolutionary Garibaldi. They personify an active life that has social significance; a realist artist should be interested in their fate.

The picture was painted quickly, in four months. Internally, the artist prepared for it longer. The need to clarify one’s own positions and pave the way to realism helped. Courbet was helped by previous works, portraits of Baudelaire, Chanfleury, Bruas, and sketches of his fellow countrymen. Like many artists of his time, he used photography. With her help, for example, a nude model was painted.

Courbet understood that the canvas “The Artist's Workshop” would cause a lot of controversy, and said: “People who want to judge all this will have quite a lot of work.” The master boldly introduced the viewer into the circle of his artistic quests. This composition, which summarized so many of the artist’s thoughts and feelings and proclaimed an innovative method in a great epic form, was preceded by other works. Among them, it is worth mentioning “Bathers,” which caused a scandal at the Salon of 1853, and “Meeting,” exhibited a year later. In “Bathers,” Courbet deliberately avoids any idealization, depicting on canvas the naked figure of a woman among the trees. The canvas “Meeting” also has another name: “Hello, Mr. Courbet!” It represents an artist who meets a good friend, the collector Bruas. Both pieces were shown together with The Workshop and The Funeral at Ornans in 1855.

The Realism Pavilion attracted the attention of the public and critics. Press reviews only strengthened the artist’s reputation, which was a mixture of “scandal and glory.” The main thing is that realism became popular, they talked about it, argued about it...

After the exhibition, Courbet went to Ornans and soon painted the painting “Girls on the Banks of the Seine,” where he showed fashionably dressed women relaxing in the shade of dense trees. In the composition “Return from the Parish Conference,” the master critically, almost caricaturedly presented the morals of the clergy, relying on the traditions of popular popular prints. This painting, of course, was not accepted into the Salon for its acute anti-clerical character; subsequently it was bought by a zealous Catholic specifically in order to destroy it.

By 1860, the situation in French art was changing decisively. A new generation of masters arrived, led by Manet and Whistler. In 1863, the Salon jury rejected so many paintings that the government decided to show them in a special exhibition. Many future innovators exhibited there.

Courbet closely followed the development of art. His name is synonymous with a decisive revolution in artistic tastes. In 1867 he reopened a separate pavilion. The artist’s paintings are exhibited in different cities of Europe in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Munich. He has followers German artist Wilhelm Leibl, Hungarian Mihaly Munkacsi, Belgian Charles de Grue. The master’s art is changing noticeably, not everyone was able to understand these changes, many past associates and friends turned away from Courbet. But this does not depress him. He paints still lifes, nude figures, landscapes, and hunting scenes.

The war with Prussia complicated the political situation in France, in the pre-storm air of which the closeness of revolution was felt. On March 16, 1871, an uprising broke out in Paris. The reactionary ministers fled to Versailles. On March 28, the Commune was proclaimed. Courbet was elected a member. His beliefs are somewhat vague: following the petty-bourgeois socialism of Proudhon, he demands freedom of development of society, opposing the influence of state power. However, naive “anarchism” did not prevent him from actively participating in the activities of the Commune. Together with the critic Burti, he joined the commission that monitored the activities of “morally compromised” museum officials. He was against the removal of artistic treasures from the capital and called for protecting the property of the republic. His activity at that time is amazing. He worked twelve hours a day for the good of society, not only as a member of the Commune, but also as a delegate to the mayor's office. On his initiative, the Federation of Parisian Artists was created, uniting four hundred members. Courbet is its president. He addresses German soldiers and artists, calling them to brotherhood and peace. The artist understood that the real enemies were the French reactionaries who gathered at Versailles. He was present at a meeting of the Commune on the day the Versaillese invaded the city. Their terror was terrible: people were shot in courtyards and on the streets.

After the defeat of the Commune, Courbet hid for some time with friends, but was arrested and imprisoned. The sketchbook shows the terrible scenes he witnessed. The “Execution” sketch is especially impressive. When the artist was kept in the Saint-Pélagie prison while awaiting trial, he again turned to paint. During the seventy-two days of the Commune he had no time to paint. And in general, during this short period of time, few artists were able to respond to the events. Only cartoons and posters were created. Now Courbet takes up his brushes. He paints a self-portrait. The sick, emaciated artist sits on the window sill of his cell. Behind the window bars you can see a courtyard with stunted trees. His face is sad, the dark brown clothes of the prisoner emphasize the general gloomy mood. On the door of his cell, Courbet painted a still life with flowers - what he would dream of seeing. Soon the trial took place. Courbet was sentenced to six months in prison and, most importantly, a huge fine, as he was accused of organizing the demolition of the Vendôme Column. The artist could not have had that kind of money. This was a treacherous move by his enemies; for failure to pay the fine, Courbet was subject to imprisonment in debtor's prison. His paintings were confiscated, his workshop in Ornans was destroyed, and there was no question of exhibiting.

Broken and sick, Courbet lived for some time with relatives in Ornans. The government insisted that the artist restore the Vendôme Column at his own expense. Courbet had only one option left - to run. And he, like Louis David, the artist of the Great French Revolution, once left his homeland and went to Switzerland. He lives in a circle of former communards who accepted him as one of their own. The master loses his strength: only occasionally does he take up his brushes and paint landscapes. One of them “Cabin in the Mountains” is kept in the Museum fine arts named after A.S. Pushkin in Moscow.

On December 31, 1877, Courbet died. The artist’s ashes were transferred to his homeland only in 1919. It was a belated act of recognition. The name Courbet is firmly entrenched in French history. artistic culture, moreover, world art. He prepared the ground on which new painting grew. The traditions of his realism fertilized the advanced, democratic art of many countries.