Gustave CourbetFrench, 1819–1877Source
May one see it?
Unknown: the museum keeps its counsel
Musée d'Orsay
Paris, France
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
- In this state since
- Sep 29, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
Particulars
- Accession number
- RF 2240
Sources
- Wikidata · fetched 4 days ago
- Image: Musée d'Orsay — Gustave Courbet · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Meanwhile, in the life of Gustave Courbet
The whole life1865–1866
Monet puts Courbet into his “Luncheon on the Grass”
Claude Monet included a portrait of Courbet in his own version of “Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe” (1865–1866), a sign of the admiration of younger artists.
1870
Refuses the Legion of Honour
In 1870 Napoleon III, appeasing the liberals who admired Courbet, nominated him to the Legion of Honour. Courbet refused the cross, which angered those in power but made him immensely popular with the opponents of the regime.
4 September 1870
Proposes taking down the Vendôme Column
On 4 September 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Courbet wrote to the Government of National Defense asking for permission to dismantle the column in the Place Vendôme, a monument devoid of artistic value that perpetuated the ideas of war and conquest; he suggested moving it to a place such as the Invalides. The government did nothing, but the proposal was not forgotten.
