Gustave Courbet, the realist artist behind the Origin of the World and two stunning large scale paintings in the Orsay was born on this day in 1819.
Gustave Courbet, the realist artist behind the Origin of the World and two stunning large scale paintings in the Orsay was born on this day in 1819. Born to wealthy landowners in Ornans, he found his artistic talent at an early age. His first painting was a self portrait, today in the Carnavalet. Like many artists he would spend his days in the Louvre copying the masters. Preferring the Dutch, Spanish and Venetian paintings he was going to stand out from the other painters from early on. Rejected over and over from the Salon for over ten years, he would keep marching to his own tune. After yet another rejection, with the funding of Alfred Bruyas he built his own pavilion for the 1855 Universal Exhibition displaying more than 40 paintings. In 1870 he was appointed President of the General Surveillance of French Museums. With a team of people they protected the museums and art as the Prussians neared Paris. In his new role he expressed his displeasure of the Napoleon sta...