Gustave Courbet was born in a small French village, Ornans, close to the German boarder. He originally went to Paris to study law. But he, who had been drawing pictures ever since he was a little child, copied and researched on the past masterpieces which were in the collection of the Louvre Museum and mastered conventional drawing techniques.
Courbet firmly believed to draw what could be seen. Since 1844 when he was first accepted to an exhibition, he showed his ambitious paintings at the Salon, which was primarily preoccupied with traditional "historical paintings" which took themes from the history and mythology, and "genre pictures" which found subject matters in daily lives. He showed at the Salon such paintings as "Stonebreaker" (destroyed by fire during World War II), which took its theme from working people, "A funeral at Ornans" which depicted a funeral of a villager of his hometown, Ornans, and "The Painter's Studio: A Real Allegrory" (property of Musee d'Orsay) which implies a complex allegory, all which did not agree with the tradition of the Salon. He was very much criticized for that. Nonetheless, his realism served a very important role as a bridge toward the impressionism.
Coubert drew many paintings of nature in the mountains, animals, and seascapes while creating innovative paintings at the same time. This "Autumn Sea" was painted at a shore of Normandy in the Northern part of France. Courbet accurately grasped moments when the sea was tossed around by the weather.
Autumn Sea
Commentary
Gustave Courbet was born in a small French village, Ornans, close to the German boarder. He originally went to Paris to study law. But he, who had been drawing pictures ever since he was a little child, copied and researched on the past masterpieces which were in the collection of the Louvre Museum and mastered conventional drawing techniques.
Courbet firmly believed to draw what could be seen. Since 1844 when he was first accepted to an exhibition, he showed his ambitious paintings at the Salon, which was primarily preoccupied with traditional "historical paintings" which took themes from the history and mythology, and "genre pictures" which found subject matters in daily lives. He showed at the Salon such paintings as "Stonebreaker" (destroyed by fire during World War II), which took its theme from working people, "A funeral at Ornans" which depicted a funeral of a villager of his hometown, Ornans, and "The Painter's Studio: A Real Allegrory" (property of Musee d'Orsay) which implies a complex allegory, all which did not agree with the tradition of the Salon. He was very much criticized for that. Nonetheless, his realism served a very important role as a bridge toward the impressionism.
Coubert drew many paintings of nature in the mountains, animals, and seascapes while creating innovative paintings at the same time. This "Autumn Sea" was painted at a shore of Normandy in the Northern part of France. Courbet accurately grasped moments when the sea was tossed around by the weather.
Apple Picking
Small Table in Evening Dusk
Song of Songs (Le Cantique des Cantiques)
Haystacks
Waterlilies
Cliff of Gréville
Coutyard at the ‘Rondest House’, Pontoise
Woman Wearing a Hat with Silk Gauze
Delightful Land (Te Nave Nave Fenua)
All Things Die, But All Will Be Resurrected through God’s Love
Wave
Carriage and Pair
Three Dancers in Red Costume
Autumn Sea
Old Horse in the Wasteland
Landscape
Festival of Venis
Hair
Winter Orchard
Beethoven
Landscape of La Ferté-Milon
Annunciation