Gustave Courbet

(French, 1819–1877)

Gustave Courbet was a French artist and founder of the Realist movement in 19th-century France. His unidealized depictions of everyday life often provoked controversy, especially his The Stone Breakers (1850), a scene of manual laborers, and The Origin of the World (1866), a closely cropped rendering of a woman’s genitals. “The expression of beauty is in direct ratio to the power of conception the artist has acquired,” he once remarked. Born on June 10, 1819 in Ornans, France, he began taking lessons with a local artist at the age of 14. In 1839, he moved to Paris to study the works of Caravaggio and Peter Paul Rubens at the Louvre, and after long years of study he exhibited works at the 1848 Paris Salon. A popular and celebrated artist during his lifetime, he pushed the boundaries and influenced the work of Édouard Manet, the Impressionists, and Paul Cézanne. An active member of the left-wing Paris Commune of 1871, Courbet was imprisoned after a new government other threw the short-lived commune. Blamed for the destruction of the Place Vendôme Column during skirmishes in 1871, he was billed 300,000 francs by the new government. Unable able to pay, he fled to La Tour-de-Pails, Switzerland, where he lived until his death on December 31, 1877. Today, the artist’s paintings are held in the collections of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the National Gallery in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, among others.

Gustave Courbet News

Museums & Institutions

Musée d’Orsay Files Police Complaint Following Graffiti Incident

by Holly Black
Musée d’Orsay Files Police Complaint Following Graffiti Incident
Pop Culture

Art Behind the Meme: Courbet's Unhinged Self-Portrait

by Vittoria Benzine
Art Behind the Meme: Courbet's Unhinged Self-Portrait
Art Fairs

Here's Our Pick of 5 Standout Works at TEFAF Maastricht, From a $1 Million Hippo Sculpture to a Rediscovered Dutch Masterpiece

by Eileen Kinsella
Here's Our Pick of 5 Standout Works at TEFAF Maastricht, From a $1 Million Hippo Sculpture to a Rediscovered Dutch Masterpiece

Gustave Courbet Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Gustave Courbet (1,091 results)
Cascade, 1874

Gustave Courbet and Cherubino Pata

Cascade, 1874

Sale Date: June 25, 2014

Auction Closed

Source de la Loire

Gustave Courbet

Source de la Loire

Sale Date: June 21, 2014

Auction Closed

Still lifes of flowers (+ 1 others; 2 works)

Gustave Courbet

Still lifes of flowers (+ 1 others; 2 works)

Sale Date: June 25, 2014

Auction Closed

La clairière, 1866

Gustave Courbet

La clairière, 1866

Sale Date: May 22, 2014

Auction Closed

Deux chevreuils dans la forêt, 1866

Gustave Courbet

Deux chevreuils dans la forêt, 1866

Sale Date: May 9, 2014

Auction Closed

Femme dans un hamac

Gustave Courbet

Femme dans un hamac

Sale Date: May 9, 2014

Auction Closed

Falaises d'Étretat, 1869

Gustave Courbet

Falaises d'Étretat, 1869

Sale Date: May 9, 2014

Auction Closed

Mademoiselle Jacquet, 1857

Gustave Courbet

Mademoiselle Jacquet, 1857

Sale Date: May 9, 2014

Auction Closed

Landscape with wall and orchard

Gustave Courbet

Landscape with wall and orchard

Sale Date: May 9, 2014

Auction Closed

La laitière de Saintonge

Gustave Courbet

La laitière de Saintonge

Sale Date: May 9, 2014

Auction Closed

Deux bateaux sur la plage

Gustave Courbet

Deux bateaux sur la plage

Sale Date: May 9, 2014

Auction Closed

Etretat, 1869

Gustave Courbet

Etretat, 1869

Sale Date: April 26, 2014

Auction Closed

Les Récits de la Grand-Mère Salvan (Les , 1846–1847

Gustave Courbet

Les Récits de la Grand-Mère Salvan (Les , 1846–1847

Sale Date: April 28, 2014

Auction Closed

Path through the Forest, 1860

Gustave Courbet

Path through the Forest, 1860

Sale Date: April 28, 2014

Auction Closed

Badende

Attributed to Gustave Courbet

Badende

Sale Date: March 28, 2014

Auction Closed

Cascade, 1874

Gustave Courbet and Cherubino Pata

Cascade, 1874

Sale Date: March 26, 2014

Auction Closed

Strand von Saintonge, 1863

Louis-Auguste Auguin and Gustave Courbet

Strand von Saintonge, 1863

Sale Date: March 28, 2014

Auction Closed

Waldlandschaft, 1876

Gustave Courbet and Cherubino Pata

Waldlandschaft, 1876

Sale Date: March 28, 2014

Auction Closed

La vague (The wave)

Gustave Courbet

La vague (The wave)

Sale Date: March 5, 2014

Auction Closed

Esquisse, paysage Suisse, 1874–1876

Gustave Courbet

Esquisse, paysage Suisse, 1874–1876

Sale Date: February 16, 2014

Auction Closed

Les Rochers de Courbet

Gustave Courbet and Cherubino Pata

Les Rochers de Courbet

Sale Date: January 31, 2014

Auction Closed

Etude pour le sculpteur (Le poète)..., 1844–1845

Gustave Courbet

Etude pour le sculpteur (Le poète)..., 1844–1845

Sale Date: February 6, 2014

Auction Closed

La prairie ensoleillée, 1860

Gustave Courbet

La prairie ensoleillée, 1860

Sale Date: February 6, 2014

Auction Closed

Zélie Courbet allongée sur un sofa, 1852

Gustave Courbet

Zélie Courbet allongée sur un sofa, 1852

Sale Date: February 6, 2014

Auction Closed

English (US)

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