June 11th: The Revolutionary Artwork of Courbet

           

 During our visit to the Musée d’Orsay, we viewed artworks from various Neo-Classical and Romantic artists. These works showcased both the technical skill of the artists and their sense of 

emotionality. As a previous art major, it was indescribable experience seeing the works by artists like Delacroix and Ingres before me. Specifically, Delacroix’s work introduced new ideas from the other works and clearly questioned the rules of the academy. Rather than paint similar subject matter or scenery, he deferred from tradition and sought emotion and reality in his artwork.

Delacroix’s work very well could of influenced Gustave Courbet’s work, which was known for showcasing bodies of real women without idealization. His work was especially prominent during our visit and illustrated revolutionary ideas for the time because Courbet openly dismissed the academy’s rules in his paintings. In fact, in 1849, Courbet exhibited his piece entitled Burial at Ornans at the salon. In this large piece, Courbet failed to follow the salon by painting subject matter that was not considered acceptable for larger canvases. According to the salon, all large pieces had to focus on scenes of historical or biblical nature. Yet, in Burial at Ornans, Courbet paints a scene from domestic burial featuring “ordinary” people. As expected, the salon reacted poorly to the scene and thought the ordinariness of the subject matter was horrendous on such a large canvas.

Despite the reaction of the salon, Courbet continued to defy their rules in favor of his viewpoint. This is exemplified clearly in The Artist’s Studio, which he completed in 1854. In this work, Courbet depicts two sides of society: the everyday side and the elevated side. Each figure in the piece plays a precise role in representing an individual mode of life. In the center, Courbet depicts himself as a mediator. Showing that as an artist, he has a responsibility to depict the world as it is, rather than how the salon would like it to be depicted. By only depicting the edited or chosen scenes that are approved by the salon, artists limited how the world viewed itself. These scenes only show one kind of life, which is why Courbet chooses to illustrate the complexity and diversity of it in this piece. 

Ultimately, Courbet is a revolutionary artist because he recognized the faults of the salon and chose to expose them through his artwork. The message and point of view of his artwork is clear and prevailing even today, which is a testament to its overall relevance in art history.