Courbet: A Wholly New Philosophy

Gustave Courbet - Poor Woman of the Village - 1866 - Oil on canvas, 86 x 126 cm - Private collection (click photo for larger image)

French painter Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was central to the emergence of Realism in the mid-19th century. Rejecting the classical and theatrical styles of the French Academy, his art insisted on the physical reality of the objects he observed—even if that reality was plain and blemished. He also saw his Realism as a means to champion the peasants and country people from his home town. He has long been famous for his response to the political upheavals which gripped France during his lifetime. More recently, historians have seen his work as an important prelude to other artists of early modernism, such as Èdouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Paul Cézanne (all of whom are discussed elsewhere on What About Art?).

Courbet’s reputation has continued to grow since his death. His detractors often judge his art only on the basis of his socialism, ignoring the fact that his political beliefs grew out of his generosity and compassion. His work offered succeeding generations of painters not so much a new technique as a wholly new philosophy. The aim of his painting was not, as previous schools had maintained, to embellish or idealize reality but to reproduce it accurately and without sentimentalism. Courbet succeeded in ridding his painting of artistic clichés, contrived idealism, and timeworn models.