COURBET GUSTAVE: (1819-1877) French Painter. An innovator who rejected academic convention and ...

COURBET GUSTAVE: (1819-1877) French Painter. An innovator who rejected academic convention and leaded the French Realist movement. Courbet was active in politics and was imprisoned in 1871 for his involvement with the Paris Commune, having to live in exile in Switzerland until his death. An excellent content and rare A.L.S., `Gustave Courbet´, two pages, 8vo, Ornans, 15th August, n.y., to Mr, Verveer, in French. Courbet refers in the present letter to four of his well-known paintings Retour de la Conférence, Vénus et Psychée, Les Femmes and one of his masterpieces which brought fame to Courbet L´Enterrement à Ornans (`A Burial at Ornans´). His painting Les Femmes having been refused to be exhibited at the Paris Salon exhibition, Courbet states `Il parait que par souvenir de la Conférence les curés auraient agi de représailles et qu´ils auraient obtenu par l´influence de l´impératrice que soit refusé le tableau de cette année Les Femmes que je vous envoie´ («It seems that by memory of the Conference the priests would have acted in reprisals and that they would have obtained by the influence of the Empress that the painting of this year The Women, which I send to you, be refused ») Courbet further remembers his own actions in Belgium and expects there a different welcome to his works saying `Je me souviens de l´action que j´ai pris à Gand et Bruxelles et à Anvers dans la révolution des libéraux et des catholiques… Je suis en droit de croire que le tableau n´aura pas à Bruxelles le même blâme qu´à l´administration des Beaux-Arts à Paris´ («I remember the action that I took in Ghent and Brussels and in Antwerp during the revolution of the liberals and the Catholics… I have the right to believe that the painting will not have the same blame in Brussels as in the Administration of Fine Arts in Paris »)

Before concluding Courbet explains to his correspondent the updated situation of his painting A Burial at Ornans, stating `Quant au tableau de l´enterrement il m´est impossible d´accéder à vos désirs malgré tout mon désir et l´honneur que vous me faites en le désirant. Le cadre est démoli, le chassis a servi, la toile est roulée et en mauvais état par le temps. J´ai donné ordre à mon concierge de délivrer le tableau de Venus et Psychée à Mr. Carpentier et Desforges et de l´avertir qu´il était à sa disposition s´il ne venait pas le chercher avant le temps indiqué par vous. Veuillez m´avertir de ce qui se passsera à propos de ce tableau qui m´intéresse beaucoup´ («As for the burial painting, it is impossible for me to accede to your wishes despite all my wishes and the honour you do me by wishing it. The frame is demolished, the stretcher has resisted, the canvas is rolled up and in poor condition because of the time passing. I instructed my concierge to deliver the painting of Venus and Psychée to Mr. Carpentier and Desforges and to inform him that it was at his disposal if he doesn´t pick it up before the time indicated by you. Please let me know what will happen to this painting as I am very interested in it ») A letter of very interesting artistic and historical content. With blank integral leaf. Small overall age wear and minor creasing. Few extremely small professional repairs to the verso. G

Salomon Leonardus Verveer (1813-1876) Dutch Painter, a marine and landscape artist. Verveer was one of the most successful artists of his time.

Retour de la Conférence (1862) was a painting by Courbet showing drunk priests. The watercolour was destroyed by fanatics and can only be seen on photographs. Courbet said about this painting `Ce tableau fait rire tout le pays et moi-même en particulier. C'est le tableau plus grotesque qu'on aura jamais vu en peinture. Je n'ose pas vous le dépeindre, seulement c'est un tableau de curés´ ("This painting makes the whole country laugh, and myself in particular. It is the most grotesque painting that we will have ever seen in painting. I dare not depict it to you, only that it is a painting of priests")

Courbet refers to Empress Eugénie de Montijo (1826-1920) spouse of Napoléon III.

A Burial at Ornans was painted in 1849-50, and is considered one of the major turning points of the French art of the 19th century. Ornans was Courbet´s birthplace and the funeral records his great-uncle funeral. His exhibition at the 1850-51 Paris Salon created an immediate and explosive reaction. The very large scale Painting is displayed at the Musée d´Orsay in Paris. Courbet said `The Burial at Ornans was in fact the burial of Romanticism´. Twenty years later, when Courbet´s political views had changed , he repudiated this work saying that it was `worth nothing´