Gustave COURBET

presented by the students of 4A

(Sainte Jeanne darc Morteau.)
 The biography of Courbet
(a painter from Franche comt)
Gustave COURBET was born in a wealthy
family, in Ornans on June 10th 1819. Very
early attracted by the arts, he studied
drawing in his hometown before joining the
School of Fine Arts. He attended a law
school but totally focused on painting from
1840 (Odalisque). After making a few rich
and expressive paintings, he travelled to
Holland and England. Following his meeting
with Prudhon, he became a defender of
realism. His paintings were therefore
contemporary situations with the utmost
possible sincerity (A Burial in Ornans,
1850). Critics were shocked by his
productions. His Artist's Studio was
rejected at the World's Fair (1855), which
decided him to show his work individually.
He painted the Demoiselles along the Seine
(1857), Sleep (1866), the erotic painting The
Origin of the World (1866) and performed
the Falaise d'Etretat, during a stay in
Normandy. Subsequently, he chaired the
Fine Arts and took part in the movement of
the Commune. Accused of having
contributed to the dismantling of the
Vendme column in Paris, he spent several
months in prison and was forced to repay
the cost of repairs . He decided to go into
exile in Switzerland, without a penny. He
died there on December 31,st 1877.
ORNANs
 The engrave technique
The students of 4 visited the Courbet
museum in Ornans , in November 2011.
They learnt engraving like Courbet .
Here is the project !
 First step
We chose a painting,
we had to draw on a
sheet and we
engraved the sheet in
a plexiglass plate.
Second step
Later the engraving
was inked with a
roller.