Realism And Impressionism In France

(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:

In 1855 Courbet painted a picture which summed up his life of the past seven years. He called it ‘The Studio of the Painter: a Real Allegory.’ On the right of this large canvass were the types he had been painting, the beggar, the laborer, the tradesman, the priest, the poacher, the gravedigger; on the left was a group of his personal friends, among them Baudelaire and Proudhon; between the groups was Courbet himself painting a landscape of Ornans.

In an introduction to the catalogue of a private exhibition of his works held in the same year, Courbet explained his endeavor to replace the cult of the ideal by a sentiment of the real:

To translate the manners, the ideas and the aspect of my own times according to my perception, to be not only a painter but still more a man, in a word, to create a living art, that is my aim.

During the reign of Napoleon III Courbet became more and more incensed against all authorities, political or artistic. The former thought him revolutionary because of his subjects, the latter because his style was based on Dutch and Spanish painting instead of on the accepted Italian masters. Nevertheless, his position as leader of the Realist school was such that in 1870 he was nominated Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Courbet wrote a violet letter to the Ministry refusing to accept this decoration, and when the Commune broke out in 1871 he took a prominent part in the Revolution and became President of the Commission of Fine Arts. Courbet has been much blamed down the Column commemorating Napoleon I in the Place Vendôme. This was part of a scheme to efface from Paris all traces of the Empire, whether First or Third, and though the Column was a historic monument it had no great artistic interest. On the other hand it was Courbet who, during the fury of the Commune, not only preserved intact the art treasures of the Louvre, but with difficulty secured the safety of the Arc de Triomphe. He was full of concern for this monument because of its great artistic qualities, notably the sculpture by Rude with which it was decorated, and he managed to persuade those who urged its demolition that the Arc de Triomphe ought to be spared because it stood not so much for the glory of Napoleon as for the heroism of the revolutionary armies of France.

Still, when the Commune had been suppressed with an iron hand, the good deeds of Courbet during the insurrection were forgotten; the unfortunate artist was arrested in connection with the demolition of the Vendôme Column, condemned to six months’ imprisonment and to defray the whole cost—some 400,000 francs—of the reconstruction of the Column. This utterly ruined him, and though Courbet eventually succeeded in crossing the frontier he was broken in health and spirits. He died in exile in 1877.

Realism And Impressionism In France (continued)