Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet
	The self-proclaimed "proudest and most arrogant man in France," is a french painter known for his painted figurative compositions, landscapes, seascapes, and still-lifes and his controversy by addressing social issues in his work, and by painting subjects that were considered vulgar, such as the rural bourgeoisie, peasants, and working conditions of the poor.

	He was recognized as successful by The Salon of 1850–1851 through his The Stone Breakers, the Peasants of Flagey and A Burial at Ornans.though The Burial which was his uncle's funeral was regarded triumphant by The Salon, did not interest Courbet, who stated that "the artists of one century [are] basically incapable of reproducing the aspect of a past or future century..." Instead, he believed that the only possible source for a living art is the artist's own experience.

	Courbet was admired by many younger artists. Claude Monet included a portrait of Courbet in his own version of Le dejeuner sur l'herbe from 1865–1866. Courbet's particular kind of realism influenced many artists to follow, notably among them the German painters of the Leibl circle, James McNeill Whistler, and Paul Cézanne.

	Courbet's influence can also be seen in the work of Edward Hopper, whose Bridge in Paris and Approaching a City have been described as Freudian echoes of Courbet's The Source of the Loue and The Origin of the World.

	Courbet was a heavy drinker of which he paid for in later years of his life and died at the age of 58 due to a liver disease.

	"I am fifty years old and I have always lived in freedom; let me end my life free; when I am dead let this be said of me: 'He belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least of all to any régime except the régime of liberty." was one of his famous quotes.