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Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet

1819 CE1877 CE · Painter · Ornans

Gustave Courbet was a French painter and a leading figure of the Realist movement, which rejected idealized academic subjects in favor of everyday life. Born in 1819 in Ornans, he settled in Paris in 1839 and developed a style depicting laborers, rural gatherings, and ordinary people on the large scale previously reserved for history painting. Major works include "A Burial at Ornans" and "The Stone Breakers." He took part in the Paris Commune of 1871 and was later held responsible for the destruction of the Vendôme Column. Facing a large financial penalty, he went into exile in Switzerland, where he died in 1877.

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