GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Gustave Courbet was arrested in June 1871 and transferred to the national prison at Sainte-Pélagie in September 1872 for his role in the toppling of the Vendôme Column during the Commune the year before. He occupied cell four at Sainte-Pélagie, where he had visited his friend the political philosopher, Proudhon, twenty years earlier. As always, the artist was proud and defiant and, perhaps as a result, was treated as a common, rather than political, prisoner. While there he was visited by friends and his sister who brought him flowers and fruit, hoping to inspire him to paint. On November 2 he was given brushes and palette with paints and commenced an important series of still lifes. His stay in prison was cut short by ill health, and on 6 January 1872 he was transferred to a private clinic in Neuilly as a ward of the state. He stayed there throughout the remainder of his sentence. There he continued his still life paintings, sometimes adding the inscription "Ste. Pelagie" as advertisement of the hardship and cruelty he had undergone. For this reason, it is generally difficult to determine if the works so inscribed were actually done in prison or at Neuilly.
Courbet was not the first famous French artist who had been in prison, and when he painted the small group of still lifes inscribed with the name of the prison, he worked in a tradition of political artists who defy the state. The mere fact that he painted was an act of independence and personal authority. "I can still paint," he tells us through these works. "The state cannot suppress my painting."
Still Life with Apples, Pear, and Pomegranates is one of fifteen surviving paintings bearing the inscription "Ste Pélagie." The others are scattered in museums and private collections in England, the United States, Scotland, France, Germany, Holland, Swtizerland, and Denmark. These might well have encircled the great Self-Portrait at Sainte-Pélagie (1872-1873, Musée Courbet, Ornans). When grouped in his cell, they would have conveyed a character of peasant earthiness in the repressive gloom of the prison. Evidence suggests that many of the inscriptions were added at a later date, perhaps to communicate to the viewer a clear idea of Courbet's political views and his willingness to suffer for them.
Adapted from
- Richard Brettell, Impressionist Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 48-49.
- Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, TX: 1985), 87.
NOTES
There is a 2013 research document that updates the information given in the 2001 document attached to the TMS record. I updated the provenance accordingly, but did not verify that the exhibitions or published references shown in TMS match the most recent research document.
Former title, "Pommes, Poire, et Grenade," entered in TMS.
Removed TMS tag because rule exists.
This note was previously tagged #routed (and possibly !Routed_Feb15). I am removing those tags and replacing with #draft so that this note proceeds to GDocs for routing and is harvested to Brain. (EAS, 12/19/2016)
Provenance (not public)
n.d.: private collection, Paris
n.d.: possibly Jacques Dubourg (former art firm), Paris [1]
Until 1966: Galerie Nathan, Zurich
1966-1967: Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York, purchased from the above March 14, 1966 [2]
1967-1985: Wendy (1916-2007) and Emery Reves (1904-1981), Villa La Pausa, Roquebrune, France, purchased from the above October 31, 1967
From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, gift from the above
[1] According to a fax from Rosemarie Weber on behalf of Dr. Peter Nathan (dated June 8, 2001, in Collections Record Object File) of Galerie Nathan, to Emily Vokt, Marcus Curatorial Intern of the Dallas Museum of Art. The gallery is uncertain from whom they acquired the work, but stated it was most likely from Jacques Dubourg.
[2] Provenance given here is provided by Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York. See notes of telephone conversation between Emily Vokt, Marcus Intern, Dallas Museum of Art and the gallery (c. 2001, in the Collections Records Object File).
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
oil paint
canvas
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
prison
apple
pear
pomegranate
shadow
red
green
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
Gustave Courbet, Self Portrait at Sainte Pelagie, (1872-1873)~See this self-portrait painted by Courbet during his incarceration.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- "Gustave [in prison] . . . has suffered a good deal for several days. It’s so cold he can’t take a bath. I am able to bring him all sorts of things. . . . I brought him his brushes and canvases; his window is big enough, he’s on the second floor facing south. . . . I bring him flowers, fruits as models. I set him off painting them. Also the interior of his room.” (Zoé Courbet-Reverdy, sister of Gustave Courbet, in a letter regarding the artist’s political imprisonment, 1871)
- “Courbet’s great claim is to represent what he sees. It is, in fact, one of his favorite axioms that everything that does not appear upon the retina is outside the domain of painting.” (Jules-Antoine Castagnary, French critic, in “Salon de 1863,” Le Nord, 1863)
TEACHING IDEAS
- Compare Courbet's Still Life with Apples, Pear, and Pomegranates with Paul Cézanne's Still Life with Carafe, Milk Can, Bowl, and Orange (1879-1880, 1985.R.10). In what ways does Courbet's still life assert its palpability, its materiality? What devices does Courbet use to convince you that this is "real" and substantial?
- In what ways does Cézanne establish the sense that his paining is a two-dimenional object as opposed to an illusion of a window through which we see a still-life set up?
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1985.R.18
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
Gustave Courbet was arrested in June 1871 and transferred to the national prison at Sainte-Pélagie in September 1872 for his role in the toppling of the Vendôme Column during the Commune the year before. He occupied cell four at Sainte-Pélagie, where he had visited his friend the political philosopher, Proudhon, twenty years earlier. As always, the artist was proud and defiant and, perhaps as a result, was treated as a common, rather than political, prisoner. While there he was visited by friends and his sister who brought him flowers and fruit, hoping to inspire him to paint. On November 2 he was given brushes and palette with paints and commenced an important series of still lifes. His stay in prison was cut short by ill health, and on 6 January 1872 he was transferred to a private clinic in Neuilly as a ward of the state. He stayed there throughout the remainder of his sentence. There he continued his still life paintings, sometimes adding the inscription "Ste. Pelagie" as advertisement of the hardship and cruelty he had undergone. For this reason, it is generally difficult to determine if the works so inscribed were actually done in prison or at Neuilly.
Courbet was not the first famous French artist who had been in prison, and when he painted the small group of still lifes inscribed with the name of the prison, he worked in a tradition of political artists who defy the state. The mere fact that he painted was an act of independence and personal authority. "I can still paint," he tells us through these works. "The state cannot suppress my painting."
Still Life with Apples, Pear, and Pomegranates is one of fifteen surviving paintings bearing the inscription "Ste Pélagie." The others are scattered in museums and private collections in England, the United States, Scotland, France, Germany, Holland, Swtizerland, and Denmark. These might well have encircled the great Self-Portrait at Sainte-Pélagie (1872-1873, Musée Courbet, Ornans). When grouped in his cell, they would have conveyed a character of peasant earthiness in the repressive gloom of the prison. Evidence suggests that many of the inscriptions were added at a later date, perhaps to communicate to the viewer a clear idea of Courbet's political views and his willingness to suffer for them.
Adapted from
- Richard Brettell, Impressionist Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 48-49.
- Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, TX: 1985), 87.
Fun Facts
- "Gustave [in prison] . . . has suffered a good deal for several days. It’s so cold he can’t take a bath. I am able to bring him all sorts of things. . . . I brought him his brushes and canvases; his window is big enough, he’s on the second floor facing south. . . . I bring him flowers, fruits as models. I set him off painting them. Also the interior of his room.” (Zoé Courbet-Reverdy, sister of Gustave Courbet, in a letter regarding the artist’s political imprisonment, 1871)
- “Courbet’s great claim is to represent what he sees. It is, in fact, one of his favorite axioms that everything that does not appear upon the retina is outside the domain of painting.” (Jules-Antoine Castagnary, French critic, in “Salon de 1863,” Le Nord, 1863)
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Gustave Courbet, Self Portrait at Sainte Pelagie, (1872-1873)~See this self-portrait painted by Courbet during his incarceration.
Notes
There is a 2013 research document that updates the information given in the 2001 document attached to the TMS record. I updated the provenance accordingly, but did not verify that the exhibitions or published references shown in TMS match the most recent research document.
Former title, "Pommes, Poire, et Grenade," entered in TMS.
Removed TMS tag because rule exists.
This note was previously tagged #routed (and possibly !Routed_Feb15). I am removing those tags and replacing with #draft so that this note proceeds to GDocs for routing and is harvested to Brain. (EAS, 12/19/2016)
Provenance (not public)
n.d.: private collection, Paris
n.d.: possibly Jacques Dubourg (former art firm), Paris [1]
Until 1966: Galerie Nathan, Zurich
1966-1967: Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York, purchased from the above March 14, 1966 [2]
1967-1985: Wendy (1916-2007) and Emery Reves (1904-1981), Villa La Pausa, Roquebrune, France, purchased from the above October 31, 1967
From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, gift from the above
[1] According to a fax from Rosemarie Weber on behalf of Dr. Peter Nathan (dated June 8, 2001, in Collections Record Object File) of Galerie Nathan, to Emily Vokt, Marcus Curatorial Intern of the Dallas Museum of Art. The gallery is uncertain from whom they acquired the work, but stated it was most likely from Jacques Dubourg.
[2] Provenance given here is provided by Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York. See notes of telephone conversation between Emily Vokt, Marcus Intern, Dallas Museum of Art and the gallery (c. 2001, in the Collections Records Object File).
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
oil paint
canvas
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
prison
apple
pear
pomegranate
shadow
red
green
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1985.R.18
source file
object_notes_2_d-0332.xml.nores