Courbet ~ Palette Knife Wielding Artist

Gustave Courbet was not only handsome – he was also rebellious. And not just in politics as Amy mentioned yesterday. He was always looking for some way to set himself apart from others. And that included how he applied paint to the canvas. Everyone else used a brush. But Courbet at some point took the paint directly from his palette to the canvas with his knife. Others just used that knife for mixing the paints. This was a radical move on his part but led to many others to do the same – all of the moderns, including Picasso, Pollack and Richter. For an understanding of how Courbet used his palette knife and the amazing effects he could create, watch the video at the Getty website that I have linked here.

Today's image is of The Wave. You'll find that the video, A Mockumentary about Gustave Courbet, is not only educational but also an "intriguing story of the man brave enough to use a pallette knife and stand against the wave of current trends". Have fun and a banner day.

Gustave Courbet ~ Self-Portraits of a Handsome Man

Much has been written about Gustave Courbet. More than a dozen books with Courbet as the main title are on the first two pages of an Amazon search with his name. Many more articles can be found by doing a Google search. Some of the most recent articles have dealt with the 2008 retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Met had chosen to display Courbet's work thematically as opposed to chronologically. As a result the very first gallery was filled with self-portraits Courbet had painted after his arrival in Paris. Courbet was a young man searching for himself. There were so many of these portraits you could almost hear the critics of the day complaining “Courbet waving, Courbet walking…Courbet everywhere….”

Courbet painted himself as many different people. He would have us think he was in despair in The Desperate Man (shown above). Desperate is thought to have been painted shortly after he had moved to Paris to become an artist. We are seeing him at his frazzled and handsome best, somewhat like an early Johnny Depp. A similar crazed look shows up a few years later in Mad with Fear (shown below).

During that same period though Courbet portrayed himself as an artist in The Sculptor and as a game player in The Draughts Player.

Courbet with a Black Dog was accepted by the Salon in 1844 and gave Courbet the official recognition and that greatly pleased him.

Also in 1844 he painted Lovers in the Country. Here you can see Courbet with his love at the moment, dancing in the countryside.

Man with a Leather Belt shows Courbet stroking his beard with the back of his hand. His other hand is taking hold of a rather large belt buckle on his waist. Check out those bedroom eyes. Walking around a gallery with this many Courbets, you know you're being seduced into looking for more portraits. And there are more.

For example, in Le Guitarrero, Courbet painted himself as a musician. Since it seems well known that he didn't know how to play the violoncello, it's questionable if he knew how to play the guitar. The Violoncellist painted in 1847 is our piece of the week here at Fifty Two Pieces.

The Man with a Pipe shows Courbet in 1849. Here, he is looking down his nose towards his pipe but also probably at the art critics who were not always too kind.

In 1854, Courbet repainted The Wounded Man. X-rays show that Courbet painted over the image of a woman who he had been embracing.

Also in 1854 Courbet painted Bonjour Monsieur Courbet showing himself meeting with Alfred Bruyas, a wealthy collector. Much can be said about how Courbet painted himself and these other two men and their dog. However, we can say for certainty is that Courbet painted outside because he's carrying a portable easel.

One of the last self-portraits that Courbet painted is Portrait of the Artist at Sainte-Pelagie. Here Courbet is sitting in prison, smoking a pipe, wearing a beret and a red tie around his neck. Courbet had been imprisoned for his responsibility in the destruction of the Vendome column. He has a pensive look, not quite the Johnny Depp good looks and swagger from the early years.

Gustave Courbet ~ The Violoncellist and The Cellist

Yesterday Amy mentioned that the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm owns a Violoncellist similar to the one here at the Portland Art Museum. Although remarkably alike, the one in Stockholm (shown above) does have a number of differences. First off, the title is just The Cellist. Next, you'll notice that there is no sheet music. And the overall painting is much brighter. The Cellist was painted in 1848, a year after The Violoncellist. Perhaps 1848, was a happier time for Gustave Courbet. Both are considered self-portraits and both do show Courbet holding a violoncello. Since Courbet couldn't play the instrument, we can all wonder why he chose to portray himself as a musician.

The hands in both of these portraits are expressive, almost portraits in themselves. Professor Steven Zucker from the Smarthistory project talked with Bruce Guenther, Chief Curator of the Portland Art Museum about The Violoncellist on a short video shot linked here. To the left is a close-up from Professor Zucker's photostream on Flickr. You can truly appreciate how Courbet crafted the nails, the knuckles, the fingers of that right hand.

An interesting side note about The Cellist and The Violoncellist – in 1919, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York mounted an exhibition in honor of Gustave Courbet 100th birthday. The Violoncellist was loaned by C. E. S. Wood, one of the founders of the Portland Art Museum, for that exhibit. In 2008, The Cellist was loaned by the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm for a major retrospective at the Metropolitan of Gustave Courbet's work. The Violoncellist stayed here in Portland. Perhaps in 2019, they'll both be hung in the same retrospective honoring Courbet's 200th birthday.