Ornans exposition courbet cezanne biography

Gustave Courbet is relatively unknown in 1851 when the government-sponsored art exhibition, the Paris Salon, presents his 20-foot-long masterwork, A Burial at Ornans.

The frieze-like portrayal of somber middle-class citizens at a graveside in Courbet's home province generates an explosive reaction among the painter's audience and critics. With few exceptions, viewers react to the work as an assault on the very idea of what a painting should be.

To sophisticated Parisians, rural folk are considered proper fodder for small genre pieces; it's unprecedented to accord them the magisterial scope of the historical masterpieces of French tradition. With the worker uprisings of 1848 a recent memory, Courbet's use of the common people as a grand subject is deemed a radical act -- "the engine of revolution," as one critic says.

Furthermore, in his push towards a realistic style, Courbet has intentionally painted his black-clad folk in a manner