Leopold Museum - Gustave Courbet

Leopold Museum - Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet is considered the most important representative of realism boldly defied the idealizing conventions of 19th century art. As a pioneer of socially committed painting, he also became politically known with the fall of the Empire in 1870 and his role in the Paris Commune in 1871. At the same time, the “dreamer” Courbet shows a quiet, thoughtful world in portraits, landscapes and still lifes that stands in contrast to the hectic – political and industrial – upheavals of his time. With his self-confident demeanor, the emphasis on his artistic autonomy, his desire for provocation and his revolutionary painting style, he became a rebel on the art scene.

The large-scale retrospective in the Leopold Museum is the first solo exhibition in Austria dedicated to Courbet, which brings together works from all creative phases and offers a comprehensive overview of his painting and graphic oeuvre. The show begins with Courbet's early, iconic self-portraits and moves through his revolutionary paintings on themes such as social realism and artistic bohemia to his sensually charged female nudes. Other focal points include landscape images from his home region of Ornans, powerful depictions of the sea and his time in exile in Switzerland.