Comparing Gustave Courbet's A Burial At Ornans

While the painters after the Impressionism period were collectively called the “Post-Impressionists,” the label is quite reductive. Each artist had their own unique style, from Seurat’s pointillism to Signac’s mosaic-like divisionism, Cezanne, Émile Bernard, and others. These artists were all connected in that they were reacting to the aesthetics of Impressionism. Two of the more influential painters from this movement were Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, who aimed to connect with viewers on a deeper level by access Nature’s mystery and meaning beyond its superficial, observable level. However, each artist’s approach to achieving this goal was different. In close examination of Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait (Dedicated to Paul Gauguin) and Paul Gauguin’s Self-Portrait with Portrait of Émile Bernard (Les misérables), one may clearly see the two artists’ contrasting styles on display.

Artwork, too, was just as divergent. Consider the Rococo masterpiece The Swing, by artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard. The delicate coiling of the tree branches, the ruffling of the fabric and lace on the subject’s dress, and the play of light and shadow in this painting of a woman on a swing in the forest are all visual hallmarks of the Rococo style. Again, contrast with a Neoclassic masterpiece Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David. This work, which shows

Edouard Manet was a French painter who used everyday subjects just for an occasion to make a painting. He was a leading artist in the transition from realism to impressionism. Therefore, he is known as the “godfather of Impressionism” (Rosenbum). For some people Manet was the first

Art has been a recurring part of history from the very beginning. As society changes so does the style of art. Each new style is known as a movement and one of the most prominent, long-lasting movements in recent centuries is known as Modernism. Modernism is characterized by its deviation from tradition. People who are a part of this movement found enjoyment in finding new mediums to use, creating art that revolves around feelings and emotions rather than reality. Abstract idealisms of modernism cause its viewers to need to think more critically about the art before them. In past movements, the meaning of the work was obvious as it was created to mimic reality.

Born in Omans, France in 1819 and died in 1877 in Switzerland, Gustave Courbet was a French painter whose work was motivated by his political point of view, private life and his small country living. He began college in 1837 and in 1839 went to Paris to gain more knowledge to paint. He began painting from the late 1840’s to early 1850’s and then to traveled to the Netherlands, Belgium, and Amsterdam all the while painting mostly portraits. He changed in his painting technique when influenced by Rembrandt’s chiaroscuro and the free brushwork of Fran Hals while visiting in the museums in The Hague and Amsterdam.

Camille Corot was a naturalistic painter and a printmaker etching. He was born in Paris, France and lived in the lower class. He later on received a scholarship, but had difficulties on the scholastic process which made him decide to go to boarding school. At the age of twenty one he created his very first studio in the third floor of his parent’s house. Five years later he started taking landscaping classes; after time passed he started to take it more serious and out of boredom he started to make oil paintings. With his parents support he followed a well-established of French painters who went to Italy to study the Italian renaissance and to draw the monuments. Camille Corot

The number one problem of the world is war. War, conflict, badness, and narcissism. Everyone is so ego-centered that nothing ever gets done. But, one artist used his love of himself for a greater cause. The cause being that of pretty art (and some social commentary), but it is still a cause nonetheless. Gustave Courbet interjected himself in his art as a way to show himself off and let the world know how much talent he had. In his paintings, Self Portrait with the Black Dog and Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet, we see Courbet’s vanity grow and his personal development as an artist and person.

Gustave and Manet had many similarities reflected through their paintings. Both artists studied other Masters work at the Louvre Museum in France. For Gustave, trips to the Netherlands and Belgium strengthened his belief that painters should portray life around them and was influenced by painters like Rembrandt, Hals and other Dutch painters. Courbet’s most significant paintings, A Burial at Ornans, captured the funeral of his Grand Uncle in 1848. The models that are shown in the picture were the people that attended the actual funeral reflecting the result representation was a realistic display of them and of the life in Ornans. This painting awoke both good and bad opinions from critics as well as the public viewers. The reason being that

Gustave Courbet was a French painter and chief figure in the Realist movement of the mid-nineteenth century. His paintings often contained an emotional bleakness, and were praised for their precision and use of light. Along with Delacroix, Courbet was a key influence on the Impressionists

Gustave Courbet is one of the most important names of the nineteenth century Realist Movement. Much of his work was completely avant-garde in nature, meaning his work often incorporated new ideas and styles while advocating for some measure of social change. His most notable contributions included The Stonebreakers (1849) and its efforts to normalize depictions of average laborers; The Burial at Ornans (1849) and its implications at the end of the Romantic Movement and the dwindling role of the church; and The Studio of the Painter (1854) and its prediction of the future. Courbet, however, provided many other works throughout his career, and a number of them were just as avant-garde as these, even as they seemed to maintain the status quo of

I was surfing the internet the other day looking for famous art work. I came across a painting that was intriguing , and so delicate. The design was created by Edouard Manet. He is a famous painter that lived in the 1800's. He was known for many works of art for instance Saturn Devouring His Son 1819-23. Oil on canvas 56.2 x 31.8 in 143 x 81 cm, this one in particular is very dark , and somewhat sinister also magnificent at the same time. A Bar at the Folies-Bergère is by far my favorite. It was created between 1881-82 it was also his last work of art.

Galitz (2009) dictates that Courbet’s self-image was contemptuous and egotistical. Through Courbet’s work, a conscious effort is seen to depict the empirical observations of his themes. Two of Courbet’s interesting pieces, The Stone Breakers, and Burial at Ornans will be reviewed and analyzed in order to validate his notice of being “the first socialist painter” and how his artistic philosophy emphasizes and fuels a response to the Industrial Revolution.

February of 1848 rioting broke out in the streets of Paris because Louise Philippe abdicated and a provisional republican government took control. Even though the political party’s were fighting the salon opened without a selection committee. Gustave Courbet now had ten pieces of his artwork on display as apposed to none just years before. 1848 was the year for Gustave Courbet. The critics loved his paintings and his first major piece was “After Dinner at Ornans” won a gold medal and the government bought the painting. The medal means that at future salons Courbet was exempt from the selection procedure. It was around this time the people were beginning to protest against the realist movement. Courbet started to stray away from his original romantic style paintings and got comfortable making pieces including scenes of Ornan. Courbet’s next major piece was to be “Burial at Ornans” which was shown from 1850-1850 at the salon. This humongous painting was too including almost everyone from the district. The outcome of this piece looked like it was the beginning of his end. The critics all hated the piece and said things like, it was too big, the

Along with the evolving society, Courbet was also evolving his ideas and straying away from the traditional artmaking practices. Courbet challenged the conventions of the French Academy by producing an artwork that shifted the attention from the narrative as a whole to depicting a specific moment of the banal and the every day life in such a deliberate grand scale (Young 58-60). He questioned the institutional relation between art and the public by creating politically subversive artwork by calling attention to the individual and ordinary rural populations. The artwork portrays a young man beside an old man breaking rocks to make way for a road on the outskirts of a town like Ornans, Courbet’s birthplace (Eisenman 214). The juxtaposition of the young and old man is pitiable and it creates the idea of an endless cycle. The treachery in this scene is what the narrative entails (Eisenman 209). It is the story of an old father with his

“Modern painting, breaking through old conversation, has released countless suggestions which are still waiting to be used by the practical world.”(Gropius) The birth of modernism and modern art goes back to the Industrial Revolution, a period that lasted from the 18th to the 19th century, in which rapid changes in manufacturing, transportation, and technology profoundly affected the social, economic, and cultural conditions of life in Western Europe, North America, and eventually the world. Before the 19th century, artists created art pieces for wealthy people and institution places like the church where they can create art works about storytelling of religious or mythological scenes . These arts were there to instruct the viewers.However, this changed when during the 19th century many artists began to create works that were about people, places, or ideas that interested them, and of which they had direct experience. With the popularization of the idea of a subconscious mind, many artists began exploring dreams, symbolism, and personal iconography as avenues for the depiction of their subjective experiences.Challenging the notion that art must realistically depict the world, some artists experimented with the expressive use of color, non-traditional materials, and new techniques and mediums.