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About Gustave Courbet
Portraits of peasants on a royal scale; Gustave Courbet is hailed as the revolutionary leader of the Realist movement in France. Courbet was motivated by his strong socialist views in the mid nineteenth century to draw the public’s attention to the dyer conditions of rural workers in France. To much controversy, the artist often painted members of the general public on a monumental scale; one that was previously reserved for ‘academic’ subjects which suited the aristocratic tastes. Growing up in the town of Ornans, the artist came from a wealthy background yet was surrounded by anti-Royalist sentiment. After deciding to develop his career as an artist, Courbet moved to Paris where he became known as an artist of controversy by both the public and the galleries. In 1855 the artist submitted fourteen paintings to the Exposition Universalle, which were rejected due to a lack of physical space; determined to draw the public’s attention to social conditions, Courbet erected the ‘Pavillion of Realism’ outside the gallery, which was subsequently attended by the masses.
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