Gustave Courbet’s rejection of the art academy and its established ideals, as well as monarch- or church-funded patronage, is well-documented. His work reflects his allegiance to the working class and its beginnings of political awakening of the 19th century. Courbet believed his role was to lead the people. Though ridiculed by much popular opinion of his time, he steadfastly proclaimed himself to be "the proudest and most arrogant man in France."
Shunned Status and the Academy
Courbet painted in a realistic style that consciously rejected the sentimental and idealized Neoclassicist and Romantic styles that dominated French art in 1848. While his predecessors may have painted to please a King, Pope, or private patron, Courbet painted according to his own standards.
In contrast to most 19th-century artists who would have trained at the Académie des Beaux-Arts (which ruled the art world through its Salon showings), Courbet taught himself to paint by studying the masterpieces in the Louvre.
Courbet wished to paint whatever subjects he desired, but he had to appeal to the rich and priveleged for support.
Patron Alfred Bruyas
Courbet believed his wealthy patron Alfred Bruyas was a sympathetic soul as well as an enlightened man. This idea excited Courbet, who embraced Bruyas as a kindred spirit who would help him "live on [his] art for all of [his] life without ever departing an inch from [his] principles, without ever for an instant lying to [his] conscience.”
Realist Manifesto
In 1855 Courbet’s famous “Painter’s Studio” was rejected by the Academy. In response the artist wrote his famous “Realist Manifesto.”
The pamphlet, four paragraphs long, reveals the painter's definition of "Realism" in art. It distinguishes “Realism” from the representational style with which it has become identified. It proclaims an attitude toward reality itself which includes the importance of tradition and the artist’s individuality as the embodiment of his times. Courbet's manifesto states the following:
- The title of Realist was thrust upon me just as the title of Romantic was imposed upon the men of 1830. Titles have never given a true idea of things: if it were otherwise, the works would be unnecessary.
- Without expanding on the greater or lesser accuracy of a name which nobody, I should hope, can really be expected to understand, I will limit myself to a few words of elucidation in order to cut short the misunderstandings.
- I have studied the art of the ancients and the art of the moderns, avoiding any preconceived system and without prejudice. I no longer wanted to imitate the one than to copy the other; nor, furthermore, was it my intention to attain the trivial goal of "art for art's sake". No! I simply wanted to draw forth, from a complete acquaintance with tradition, the reasoned and independent consciousness of my own individuality.
- To know in order to do, that was my idea. To be in a position to translate the customs, the ideas, the appearance of my time, according to my own estimation; to be not only a painter, but a man as well; in short, to create living art - this is my goal.
Patron and Artist
Courbet's belief that the relationship between patron and artist could be a fully equal and mutually beneficial one proved to be mistaken. His idea that he could paint whatever he wanted without appealing to patrons was ill-advised.
Ultimately his professional relationship with Alfred Bruyas cooled. As a result, Courbet had to paint on commission a good many portraits of sitters who more than likely did not inspire him.
His works hang in galleries throughout the world. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has more than twenty of his works.
Source:
- “Grove Dictionary of Art.” Oxford University Press, 2010.
- Courbet, Gustave: Letters of Gustave Courbet. University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Suzanne Hill - Suzanne Moniea Hill studied art history and studio art and has been passionate about art all her life. She believes that people should ...
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