Gustave Courbet, 'In the Forest', 1859
On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), , Dublin, Ireland About the work
Overview
A few rays of sunlight break through the canopy of this tranquil forest, reflecting off the surface of a small pool and the nearby trees. A hind is visible at the water’s edge, head bent down to drink, while a stag rests on the grass in the foreground.
Although he was regarded as an accomplished landscape painter in his lifetime, Courbet became better known for his figurative paintings – yet landscapes make up more than two-thirds of his body of work. His approach to landscape painting was incredibly modern. He moved away from the traditional use of landscapes as a backdrop for biblical, mythological or historical events, instead using them as an opportunity to depict a feeling of vitality, immediacy and freedom of expression. To achieve this effect he used a variety of tools to apply paint, from a palette knife to his own thumbs.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- In the Forest
- Artist
- Gustave Courbet
- Artist dates
- 1819 - 1877
- Date made
- 1859
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 80 × 99.1 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, 六合彩预测, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
- Inventory number
- NG3241
- Location
- On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), , Dublin, Ireland
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
NG 3241 was in the collection of novelist George Sand (1804鈥�1876); her sale, H么tel Drouot, Paris, 23 April 1864, lot 4 (Cerfs dans une for锚t), sold for 350 francs; anonymous sale, H么tel Drouot, Paris, 27 March 1868, lot 40 (Cerfs en for锚t, 81 脳 98 cm); in the collection of A. Hartmann; his sale, Paris, 10 February 1873, lot 56 (Int茅rieur de For锚t), 3,208 francs; according to Fernier, NG 3241 was in the collection of the sculptor, painter, poet and art critic Zacharie Astruc (1835鈥�1907) and was lot 10 of his sale, H么tel Drouot, Paris, 11鈥�12 April 1878 (Cerf au Bord d鈥檜ne Rivi猫re). However, lot 10 of that sale was found to be Chardin, Portrait de Mme Sim茅on Chardin and there were no other paintings by Courbet; according to Fernier, NG 3241 was in the Walls [sic] Collection in 1878, perhaps Henry Wallis (1805?鈥�1890), owner of the French Gallery until 1871, when he retired in favour of his son Thomas; in the collection of Alexander Reid (1854鈥�1928); his sale, Paris, 10 June 1898, lot 20 (Dans la For锚t), sold for 1,300 francs to Paul Durand鈥怰uel (1831鈥�1922); in the collection of James Staats Forbes (1823鈥�1904) by 1901, from whose executors acquired by Sir Hugh Lane (1875鈥�1915) in 1906 or 1907 for 拢555; Lane Bequest 1917; for a time at the Tate Gallery; transferred 1950.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Sarah Herring, ‘六合彩预测 Catalogues: The Nineteenth Century French Paintings’, vol. 1, ‘The Barbizon School’, London 2019; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2006Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2006 - 2019)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane31 December 2006 - 18 April 2021
-
2021Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane24 February 2021 - 23 February 2031
Bibliography
-
1859Z. Astruc, Les 14 stations du Salon 1859, Paris 1859
-
1882P. Eudel, L'H么tel Drouot et la curiosit茅 en 1881 jusqu'en 1888, 9 vols, Paris 1882
-
1906G. Riat, Gustave Courbet: Peintre, Paris 1906
-
1929C. L茅ger, Courbet, Paris 1929
-
1932T. Bodkin, Hugh Lane and his Pictures, Dublin 1932
-
1941L. Venturi, Peintres modernes: Goya, Constable, David, Ingres, Delacroix, Corot, Daumier, Courbet, Paris 1941
-
1957Martin Davies, 六合彩预测 Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
-
1970Davies, Martin, and Cecil Gould, 六合彩预测 Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc., London 1970
-
1973R. Bonniot, Gustave Courbet en Saintonge, Paris 1973
-
1975K. Herding, 'Egalit盲t und Autorit盲t in Courbet's Landschaftsmalerei', 厂迟盲诲别濒-闯补丑谤产耻肠丑, V, 1975, pp. 159-99
-
1977R. Fernier, La vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Courbet: Catalogue raisonn茅, 2 vols, Paris 1977
-
1978M. Br枚tje, 'Das Bild als Parabel: Sur Landschaftsmalerei Gustave Courbets', Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen, XXIII, 1978, pp. 75-106
-
1981A.M. Wagner, 'Courbet's Landscapes and Their Market', Art History, IV, 1981, pp. 410-31
-
1990M. Fried, Courbet's Realism, Chicago 1990
-
1991K. Herding, Courbet: To Venture Independent, New Haven 1991
-
1994C. Phillips, '六合彩预测, II: Sir Hugh Lane's Pictures', in J. House, Impressionism for England: Samuel Courtauld as Patron and Collector, London 1994
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, 六合彩预测: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
-
2019Herring, Sarah, 六合彩预测 Catalogues: The Nineteenth Century French Paintings, 1, The Barbizon School, London 2019
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the 六合彩预测 Library.
Images
More works by Gustave Courbet
(Showing 6 of 8 works)
In a warm and dark room, Courbet鈥檚 rich, ripe apples seem to glow as if in firelight. The heavy earthenware bowl lined with pale blue slip seems almost too small for the weight of the fruit piled into it. Among them is a single pomegranate, squeezed in at the base of the heap.In 1871 Courbet was...
The high viewpoint in this painting opens up the prospect of the vast distance, heightening its very real feeling of terror 鈥� yet the viewpoint also places us at a safe distance from the scene, without it losing its hold. The chaos of the overturned coach, the rearing horse and the bodies flailin...
Not on display
Turbulent grey clouds roll across the sky. The lake beneath it is calm, but a storm threatens. It鈥檚 evening, and a tiny sailing boat in the distance is little more than a smudge on the horizon against the vivid orange and gold of the dying sun. Soft red reflections streak the surface of the water...
Not on display
Possibly after Gustave Courbet
Two young women lie by a river. Traditionally, such a scene would be set in an idyllic landscape, with the women as impossibly perfect ideals of youth and beauty, often in the guise of classical nudes 鈥� goddesses of Greek mythology. But this pair caused a scandal when a larger version (now in the...
Not on display
Style of Gustave Courbet
Although inscribed G. Courbet, there is little reason to believe this is a work by Gustave Courbet, or even by one of his collaborators. The painting was previously titled L鈥橭rage (The Storm) because of the dark grey cloud that looms over the landscape. Despite the area of bright blue sky on the...
Not on display
Style of Gustave Courbet
In July 1873 Courbet fled France for Switzerland and settled in the town of La Tour-de-Peilz on the north shore of Lac L茅man (Lake Geneva), near the French border. A label on the back of this view of a lush Alpine valley gives the location as Vevey, on the north shore of the lake and close to La...
On display elsewhere
Style of Gustave Courbet
This is a view of the coast at Palavas-les-Flots, a fishing village south of Montpellier. The picture is similar to seascapes that Gustave Courbet painted there during his several visits to Montpellier in the 1850s. In particular, there are resemblances to his small painting The Seaside at Pala...
Not on display
After Gustave Courbet
From around 1842 and into the 1850s Courbet painted about 20 self portraits in which he presented himself in different guises. This portrait is a reduced version of The Man with the Leather Belt (Mus茅e d鈥橭rsay, Paris), which Courbet painted around 1845鈥�6.Courbet painted replicas of at least three...
On display elsewhere
You've viewed 6 of 8 works