Letters of Gustave Courbet by Courbet, Gustave

ISBN: 0226116530

Author: Courbet, Gustave

Condition: new

The French Realist painter Gustave Courbet (1819-77), apivotal figure in the emergence of modern painting, remainsan artist whose interests, attitudes, and friendships arelittle understood. A voluminous correspondent, Courbethimself, through his letters, offers a tantalizing avenuetoward a keener assessment of his character andaccomplishments. In her critical edition of over six hundredof the artist's letters, Petra ten-Doesschate Chu presentsjust such a look at the inner life of the artist; herunparalleled feat of gathering together all of Courbet'sknown letters, many heretofore unpublished and untranslated,is sure to change our evaluation of Courbet's creativity andof his place in nineteenth-century French life.Beginning when Courbet left his provincial home ateighteen and ending eight days before his death in exile inSwitzerland, this correspondence enables readers to followthe artist's development from youth to mature artist ofinternational repute. Addressed to correspondents such asthe poet Charles Baudelaire, the painter Claude Monet, thewriters Champfleury, Victor Hugo, and Théeophile Gautier,the political theorist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and thepolitician Jules Simon, the letters offer numerous insightsinto Courbet's life and art as well as the cultural andpolitical activity of his day. In fascinating detail, theypresent the artist's relation to the contemporary media, hisdeliberate choice of subject matter for Salon paintings, hispreoccupation with photography, and his participation in theCommune.Besides collecting, translating, and annotating theletters, Chu provides an introduction, a chronology,biographies of persons appearing frequently in the letters,and a list of paintings and sculptures mentioned in theletters. Her work is an essential resource of immediate useto historians of art and culture, political and socialhistorians, and readers of biography.Petra ten-Doesschate Chu is professor and head of theDepartment of Art and Music at Seton Hall University.