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The Man with the Pipe
"COURBET, without ideals and without religion." Courbet is said to have used this phrase occasionally on his writing-paper, surmounted by a drawing of two crossed pipes. And he was rarely seen without his pipe. Critics try to make him out as some kind of social revolutionary(painter of social realism) but as Mack tells it he did not define himself by the labels others coined. Courbet, however he may have been interpreted, was the one man revolution which challenged the academies and Salon system of showing art in France. He is a great and colorful figure and his story is very exciting to follow(complete with tales of beer and Vendome toppling). This biography is a very enjoyable telling of Courbet's life and the history of France at the time.There is plenty of detailed analysis of paintings here and the approach is scholarly and full of facts allowing all the various interpretations of Courbet's work to gently coexist but there is enough story here to attract the more casual follower of the visual arts as well. My copy of this has black and white reproductions of the paintings( not sure why they even bothered) but they put them all at the very end so they don't get in the way. You will want to see the paintings as they are discussed so save your money and buy a book of beautiful reproductions to sift through as you read. And get yourself a clay pipe to assist you in your viewing. ... Read more

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Nowadays it is difficult to conceive of the impact that Gustave Courbet's paintings made on French art of the mid-nineteenth century. At once casting himself as revolutionary, bohemian and peasant, Courbet (1819-1877) overturned a deeply-entrenched tradition of academic painting in France, and, eschewing the Romanticism of Delacroix and the NeoClassicism of Ingres, coined instead an idiom he named "Realism." Realism was not pretty, classically proportioned or literary; rather, it confronted the conditions of rural working life, then an unimaginable subject for art. The first masterpiece of this new style was "Burial at Ornans" (1849-1850), a colossal anti-epic that depicted an ordinary funeral in Courbet's home town. The contrast between the work's scale and its subject matter was pronounced, and its murky earth tones struck critics as willfully ugly--a defining reaction that would recur throughout the Modern period, particularly in the reception of early works by Manet and Picasso. Courbet's palette emphasized mass and body politically--that is, in a manner that affirmed the world itself rather than the transcendence of it. His equally famous "The Origin of the World" of 1866, which presented the female genitalia close-up, made this stance explicit. The conceptual beginnings of the "painting of Modern life" are as much in Courbet's Realism as in Charles Baudelaire's famous essay of the same name.
In this new assessment, published on the occasion of a major 2008 traveling exhibition, renowned experts shed light on the development of Courbet's realistic, critical style and trace his influence on his contemporaries and subsequent generations, as well as his relationship to early photography. At 480 pages, this monumental volume provides a long-overdue reckoning of this great artist's work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

great book, poor quality
The essays of the book are so informative and useful for any scholar. I really enjoy reading this book but due to the poor and fancy typography, it makes me feel hard even reading a short paragraph. There are more than 450 color images in this book but unfortunately most of them; especially Courbet's paintings are out off focus. There are many full-page color images, one could hardly find the details of the artwork because they are blurred and dull. I would like to give 6 stars to the great texts but 2 stars for the poor quality of the printing. This book could be actually one of the best monographs on individual artist, But I think, the Met Museum owed too much to Courbet and all the contributors.

Touche' Courbet
This book is a companion piece to the recent Courbet exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum.It is lavishly illustrated and most of the exhibited works are within.The text is informative and well written. The book will make a stunning addition to your coffee table.

major new study of the art, life, and ideas of the French painter Courbet
Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) embraced the democratic ideas and values taking root in French Society following the overthrow of the French monarchy in the latter 1700s not only in his art, but in all other areas of his life as well. A moody bohemian-like person who naturally drifted to the margins of society, Courbet nonetheless sought political positions. At one time, he was the mayor of Paris's Sixth Arrondissement.

Courbet is often simplistically labeled a painter of Realism. But he disapproved of this label; and attention to the style, compositions, and innovations of his paintings disputes this as well. While Courbet's art patently and by intention marks a break with the formal, academicized, and rhetorical paintings popular with France's Ancien Regime, his turn to realism was not an attempt to depict nature with verisimilitude. The individuals of his paintings imply the broader, ideological reach of his paintings. As his contemporary the critic Castagnary put it, Courbet aimed to paint a democratic public "with all the seriousness, strength, and character normally reserved for gods, heroes, and kings." While Courbet replaced the later traditional subjects with the former contemporary ones, the dignified, to varying degrees romanticized presentation of such subjects carried over in Courbet's paintings. Courbet for instance never engaged in the caricature of Hogarth in England or even Daumier in his own country of newly-empowered democratic types crudely, vulgarly coming onto the social scene.

Furthermore, Courbet "is less concerned with presenting the truth [of nature as seen or experienced]...than with presenting solidity...[h]e seeks to express the materiality of the world around him." Like Caravaggio or Rembrandt, Courbet often uses shadowing--i. e., shades of darkness--to bring out various literal and evocative dimensions of his subjects; though this does not go nearly so far as Rembrandt in sometimes almost effacing the physicality of the subject. With Courbet, the physical is never lost. Although Courbet is not strictly a naturalist painter, the individuals and features of the natural world in his paintings ordinarily do have a naturalness of pose and ease of presence. Courbet's treatment of persons leaves the poses and coloration of those in the paintings of Manet--another 19th century French painter commonly regarded in the "movement" of realism--seem mannered. Such are the precise artistic qualities (instead of stereotyped) which make Courbet stand out as an exceptionally masterful painter as well as a historically important one.

Courbet's interest in photography is another subject. Period photographs, some of nude women, are juxtaposed to paintings. Courbet's interest in the relatively new field of photography was more like a curiosity that there were certain coincidental affinities. Courbet was naturally interested in photography because it reproduced parts of the immediate, sensible world--as he did in his own paintings.

This major study involving biography, criticism, art history, and a catalog of works is built on the Courbet exhibition at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art through mid-May 2008.
... Read more

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When Gustave Courbet (1819--1877) began his career in the late 1840s, French painting was dominated by two competing styles: neoclassicism, exemplified by Ingres, and romanticism, exemplified by Delacroix. Courbet, a dynamic and boundlessly self confident man, proud of his rural origins and guided by his strong Republican beliefs, quickly established a third way. Rejecting the historical and literary subjects of the prevailing styles as too remote from actual experience, Courbet instead depicted scenes of everyday life, particularly among the peasants and the working class, with a naturalism then considered shocking. His paint handling was correspondingly direct: disdaining equally the idealized contours and cool tones of the neoclassicists and the expressive line of the romantics, he laid on his colors almost roughly, often with a palette knife instead of a brush. While Courbet's brand of realism bears a family resemblance to those of his contemporaries Daumier and Millet, its scope is much broader: his masterworks range from the Burial at Ornans (1850), a heroically scaled depiction of a villager's funeral, to the very different Origin of the World (1866), a detailed close-up of the female anatomy, and he also painted many straight landscapes, portraits, and still lifes.

This lucidly written monograph from noted art historian Ségolène Le Men provides a new understanding of how Courbet's life and milieu shaped his vast oeuvre. Le Men organizes her text both chronologically and thematically: while the five chapters correspond to the successive phases of Courbet's career, each comprises several subsections that discuss individual aspects of his work. This hybrid approach allows Le Men to present an expansive and multifaceted view of Courbet's realism, emphasizing its evolving relations with the various ideas and artistic currents of its time.

309 full color illustrations ... Read more

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Compiled, organized, edited, and enhanced with an informed and informative essay
Gustave Courbet was one of the acknowledged founders of the realist style of painting. His 19th century legacy is represented in an enormous body of work. His ideas and iconoclastic paintings served to influence the course of European art from the Impressionists to the Modernists, and continues to encourage new generations of painters to challenge and stretch the artistic and social boundaries of contemporary art. Now a seminal compendium of his work has been compiled and made available for personal, professional, academic, and community Art History collections. "Courbet" is a four-hundred page showcase for 309 flawlessly reproduced, full-color reproductions and the first truly definitive study of the man who almost singlehandedly redefined and redirected the course of western art. Compiled, organized, edited, and enhanced with an informed and informative essay by Segolene Le Men on Gustave Courbet and his work, "Courbet" is a fitting memorial and testament to one of the world's most influential and accomplished artists. ... Read more

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Unsentimental realism

"I maintain," stated Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), "that painting is clearly a concrete art whose existence lies only in the representation of real and existing objects...." Courbet, who influenced and advised the fledgling Impressionists, was an outstanding representative of a naturalistic realism that highlights the contradictions and inequities in society. Revolutionary were Courbet’s style, with dark hues and heavy brushstrokes, and choice of subject—depictions the life of plain people treated in an unsentimental, down to earth manner. His influence was enormous during his lifetime; he was offered the cross of the Legion of Honor in 1872 but he refused it. A man always at odds with authority, be it artistic or political, Courbet became a member of the Paris Commune and was briefly imprisoned and forced to flee to Switzerland for the final years of his life. ... Read more

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Great value!
A great overview, especially for 10$. The reproductions were of a high quality and the text was pretty good too. The only thing lacking was close-ups of the work so you could see the painting technique which I'd have really liked. ... Read more

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When Image of the People and its companion volume,The Absolute Bourgeois, appeared in 1973, they signaled a newdirection for writing about art. "The book's success is crucial,"wrote Michael Rosenthal, "because there are few models for this typeof study, and it is of necessity pioneering." New Left Reviewsaid the book's great merit was that "it elucidates a number ofcrucial theoretical problems through the concrete analysis of aconcrete situation. To the eternal--and false--question: 'What isrevolutionary art?'" Clark gives an implicit reply by substituting forit another, more fertile one: "What were the effects of a particularRevolution upon pictorial practice?"

Clark's focus is on Gustave Courbet in the four years following1848. His book aims to show how Courbet's wholesale recasting of theterms and ambitions of modern art, in paintings like TheStonebreakers and A Burial at Ornans, was bound up with thetexture of French history at a fateful moment: the battle of pamphletsand images being waged in the countryside in 1849-50, the search for ameans to connect with a "popular" audience, the deepening enigma ofpeasant politics, and the confusions and dangers of class. ... Read more

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The French Realist painter Gustave Courbet (1819-77), a pivotal figure in the emergence of modern painting, remains an artist whose interests, attitudes, and friendships are little understood.A voluminous correspondent, Courbet himself, through his letters, offers a tantalizing avenue toward a keener assessment of his character and accomplishments.In her critical edition of over six hundred of the artist's letters, Petra ten-Doesschate Chu presents just such a look at the inner life of the artist; her unparalleled feat of gathering together all of Courbet's known letters, many heretofore unpublished and untranslated, is sure to change our evaluation of Courbet's creativity and of his place in nineteenth-century French life. Beginning when Courbet left his provincial home at eighteen and ending eight days before his death in exile in Switzerland, this correspondence enables readers to follow the artist's development from youth to mature artist of international repute.Addressed to correspondents such as the poet Charles Baudelaire, the painter Claude Monet, the writers Champfleury, Victor Hugo, and Théeophile Gautier, the political theorist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and the politician Jules Simon, the letters offer numerous insights into Courbet's life and art as well as the cultural and political activity of his day.In fascinating detail, they present the artist's relation to the contemporary media, his deliberate choice of subject matter for Salon paintings, his preoccupation with photography, and his participation in the Commune.

Besides collecting, translating, and annotating the letters, Chu provides an introduction, a chronology, biographies of persons appearing frequently in the letters, and a list of paintings and sculptures mentioned in the letters.Her work is an essential resource of immediate use to historians of art and culture, political and social historians, and readers of biography.Petra ten-Doesschate Chu is professor and head of the Department of Art and Music at Seton Hall University. ... Read more

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Excellent, thorough, interesting compendium
This compendium of letters by Courbet, translated from the French, offers a firsthand insight into his personal and professional life from when he was a young man, writing letters to his parents, throughout his long career, when he was corresponding with art dealers, friends, family, and so on. Many of these letters are previously unpublished, so this tome is a very thorough biography as told through letters. A must-have resource for scholars looking for primary source material. ... Read more

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The product of a lifetime's scholarship: Linda Nochlin's complete writings on Courbet's work.

Linda Nochlin is one of the most influential art historians of our time. For more than four decades, she has been at the forefront of the feminist critique of art history, playing a pivotal role in shaping the course of the discipline. Ever since completing a doctorate on Gustave Courbet in the early 1960s, she has devoted herself to a lifelong study of the artist, arguably the most radical of all nineteenth-century painters and one of the fathers of modern art.

Now, in this landmark volume, every aspect of Courbet's oeuvre comes under Nochlin's scrutiny—from his vast realist depictions of provincial French life, allegorical works, and paint-encrusted landscapes to his dark, brooding portraits, sensual nudes, and earthy still lifes. In a specially written introduction, she considers Courbet's lasting impact not only on later painting but also on the practice of art history itself.

With essays spanning forty years, Courbet is much more than a monograph on a single artist. It is also the story of the intellectual development of one of our leading writers on the visual arts. 130 illustrations, 10 in color. ... Read more

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With its fittingly dramatic design, Courbet and the Modern Landscape accompanies the first major museum exhibition specifically to address Gustave Courbet's extraordinary achievement in landscape painting. Many of these carefully selected works produced from 1855 to 1876--gathered from Asia, Europe, and North America--will be new to readers.
The catalogue--which accompanies an exhibition at the Getty Museum to be held from February 21 to May 14, 2006--highlights the artist's expressive responses to the natural environment. Essays by the curators examine Courbet's distinctly modern practice of landscape painting. Mary Morton's essay situates his landscapes in relation to his work in other genres, his critical reputation, and his role in establishing a new pictorial language for landscape painting. Charlotte Eyerman's essay investigates how later generations of nineteenth- and twentieth-century artists responded to Courbet's example. The catalogue also includes an essay by Dominique de Font-Réaulx, curator of photographs at the Musée d'Orsay, on the relationship between Courbet's work and landscape photography of the 1850s and 1860s. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Happy
I am very pleased with the service,speed,and Packaging in receiving this item.I was told a month for Australia, but I received it in Two weeks. Great service!!! Thank you.

Beautiful!
This is an absolutely lovely book that makes for great reading and seeing.This exhibit at the Getty was one of the most inspiring I've ever seen, and I really think that the book does it justice, especially with very interesting close-ups that really let you feel the brushwork and energy that vibrates through Courbet's work.Love love love.

Unavailable
I have not received the book so it is impossible to review it.Mary Mathews ... Read more

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Excellent book by preeminent Courbet Scholar
Gives insights on how the 19th century realist painter deftly used the media to spur his own career. Gives art historical, biographical, and general historical insights.

great history book
excellent book. thouroughly informative. speaks of courbet's work through the eyes and mouths of his contemporaries. paints a wonderful picture of his life and times. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Best known as an innovator in Realism, Courbet wasa painter of figurative compositions, landscapes and seascapes. He also worked with social issues, and addressed peasantry and the grave working conditions of the poor. His work belonged neither to the predominant Romantic nor Neoclassical schools.Courbet believed the Realist artist's mission was the pursuit of truth. ... Read more