Courbet
Starred Review. French painter Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), an early master of Realism, is famous for his evocative portraits and landscapes, his profound understanding of shadow and light and his working-class sympathies, all well represented in this beautiful, comprehensive monograph. The text provided by Le Men, a specialist in 19th century French art, chronicles Courbet's life in detail, beginning with his childhood in the provincial Ornans, a setting that would be highly influential in both his art and politics. By the time Courbet made it to Paris in the 1840s, the chaotic artist-bohemian scene that greeted him was a radical, populist and uneasy departure from the Romantic model, a reflection of "the confusion and the difficulties of a social group becoming aware of itself," as well as the end of art patronage in a world where "money was still king." Looking into his social motives as well as his aesthetic values, intelligence, talent and ambition, Le Men charts the progress of the man, and the movement, as he becomes a vigilant witness for the lower classes and those in the Provinces. Visually, one could not hope for a more impressive, complete collection of the artist's work-beginning with his first painting, done at age ten. Le Men also offers a great deal of insight into Courbet's materials and artistic process, including elaboration on the artist's recurring metaphors.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.