GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Robert Fernier, an expert in the art of Gustave Courbet, has noted that Courbet is not best known for his drawings, yet he was an extraordinary and very original draftsman. [1] As a young man, his favorite model for both his paintings and his drawings was himself, followed by other members of his immediate family—particularly his father and his three sisters, Zélie, Zoé, and Juliette.
Although the authenticity of this drawing has never been questioned, there is considerable dispute about the identity of the man in both this watercolor and the oil painting to which it has a direct relationship. The painting, now in the Musée Courbet in the painter's hometown of Ornans, has been catalogued as a portrait of Courbet's maternal grandfather, M. Oudot, and dated to 1843 on the basis of its style. Fernier noted that the painting was itself the basis for the figure on the far left of Courbet's largest composition, The Burial at Ornans (1849, Musée d'Orsay, Paris). The sitter's identification as Régis Courbet is according to one of its owners, Courbet's great-nephew Paul Reverdy.
Simply on the basis of physiognomy, Reverdy's identification seems correct. Yet, when one accepts the painting and the drawing as portraits of the artist's father, issues of chronology come into question. Fernier dates another portrait of Régis Courbet to 1844, when the painter was twenty-five and his father was forty-six, but this date seems too late in view of the tightness of the young painter's style. More believable would be a date of 1840-1842, which would place this watercolor in the late 1840s, when his father was about fifty years old.
Notes
1. Robert Fernier, La Vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Courbet: Catalogue Raisonne, Geneva, Switzerland: Wildenstein Foundation, 1978.
Adapted from
- Richard Brettell, Impressionist Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 21.
- William B. Jordan, "Gustave Courbet, 'Portrait of a Young Woman'," in Mind's Eye: Masterworks on Paper from David to Cézanne, eds. Olivier Meslay and William B. Jordan (Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 2014) 52-53.
NOTES
The provenance for this object should be examined against the provenance for Courbet's "Study of a Hand," (1985.R.20) to confirm that their owndership histories are, in fact, the same. If they have been in the same collections since their creation, this verification should also be copied into both files.
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.: Jean-Baptiste Eugène Reverdy (b. 1801), Paris [1]
By 1956: Paul Reverdy [2]
n.d.: Charles Garibaldi, Marseilles, France [1]
Until 1985: Wendy (1916-2007) and Emery Reves (1904-1981), Villa La Pausa, Roquebrune, France
From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, gift from the above
[1] According to Von Hans-Joachim Müller, “Ausstellung In Baden-Baden: Courbets Unbekannte Reiseskizzen: Der Zeichner incognito,” Zeit Online, February 3, 1984, works bearing the stamp “Fonds Reverdy” originate from the collection of Jean-Baptiste Eugène Reverdy, husband to the artist's youngest sister, Zoé Courbet-Reverdy. The collection passed by descent to their grandson, Paul Reverdy, who then sold the works through the gallery of Charles Garibaldi, Marseilles, France. Copy in object file.
[2] See Müller (1984). The drawings are first documented to be in Paul Reverdy’s possession in 1956; therefore, he must have owned the work by this time.
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location: Ornans (France): TGN: 7009418
Process/materials
pencil
paper
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
bust
father
attribution
portrait
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
Undated photograph of Regis Courbet- original source unknown. A reprint of the photograph appears in the object file with the verso of the photo reprinted and pasted to the back. [I scanned the photo recto verso and saved as large jpeg files in the DCCC Dropbox account. I also saved the recto verso scan as a pdf- also on DCCC Dropbox.]
Gustave Courbet, "Portrait du Grand-père Oudot (1768-1848), 1847, oil on canvas, Musée Courbet, Ornans. (Image from Denis Trente-Huittessan, Flickr, September 3, 2012. http://www.flickr.com/photos/89235234@N00/8091054889/)
248949086: UMO
Object number added to Piction and file has been moved in Piction to the Online Collections folder.
Object number also added to the full view of this work, which had been added to Piction for use in the Courbet reinstall 2016. The Piction cataloging for the full view was minimal but included permission notes that the image could be used on a gallery label with the text from the Musée Courbet. The permissible text was not included in Piction.
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- Both Portrait of Regis Courbet and Study of a Hand, Thistle Plants (1985.R.20) were housed in the collection of Courbet's brother-in-law and passed down to his great-grand-nephew by the mid-twentieth-century. Based on current research, it appears these two works on paper have remained together since leaving Courbet's studio.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1985.R.19
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General Description
Robert Fernier, an expert in the art of Gustave Courbet, has noted that Courbet is not best known for his drawings, yet he was an extraordinary and very original draftsman. [1] As a young man, his favorite model for both his paintings and his drawings was himself, followed by other members of his immediate family—particularly his father and his three sisters, Zélie, Zoé, and Juliette.
Although the authenticity of this drawing has never been questioned, there is considerable dispute about the identity of the man in both this watercolor and the oil painting to which it has a direct relationship. The painting, now in the Musée Courbet in the painter's hometown of Ornans, has been catalogued as a portrait of Courbet's maternal grandfather, M. Oudot, and dated to 1843 on the basis of its style. Fernier noted that the painting was itself the basis for the figure on the far left of Courbet's largest composition, The Burial at Ornans (1849, Musée d'Orsay, Paris). The sitter's identification as Régis Courbet is according to one of its owners, Courbet's great-nephew Paul Reverdy.
Simply on the basis of physiognomy, Reverdy's identification seems correct. Yet, when one accepts the painting and the drawing as portraits of the artist's father, issues of chronology come into question. Fernier dates another portrait of Régis Courbet to 1844, when the painter was twenty-five and his father was forty-six, but this date seems too late in view of the tightness of the young painter's style. More believable would be a date of 1840-1842, which would place this watercolor in the late 1840s, when his father was about fifty years old.
Notes
1. Robert Fernier, La Vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Courbet: Catalogue Raisonne, Geneva, Switzerland: Wildenstein Foundation, 1978.
Adapted from
- Richard Brettell, Impressionist Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 21.
- William B. Jordan, "Gustave Courbet, 'Portrait of a Young Woman'," in Mind's Eye: Masterworks on Paper from David to Cézanne, eds. Olivier Meslay and William B. Jordan (Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press, 2014) 52-53.
Fun Facts
- Both Portrait of Regis Courbet and Study of a Hand, Thistle Plants (1985.R.20) were housed in the collection of Courbet's brother-in-law and passed down to his great-grand-nephew by the mid-twentieth-century. Based on current research, it appears these two works on paper have remained together since leaving Courbet's studio.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
The provenance for this object should be examined against the provenance for Courbet's "Study of a Hand," (1985.R.20) to confirm that their owndership histories are, in fact, the same. If they have been in the same collections since their creation, this verification should also be copied into both files.
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.: Jean-Baptiste Eugène Reverdy (b. 1801), Paris [1]
By 1956: Paul Reverdy [2]
n.d.: Charles Garibaldi, Marseilles, France [1]
Until 1985: Wendy (1916-2007) and Emery Reves (1904-1981), Villa La Pausa, Roquebrune, France
From 1985: Dallas Museum of Art, gift from the above
[1] According to Von Hans-Joachim Müller, “Ausstellung In Baden-Baden: Courbets Unbekannte Reiseskizzen: Der Zeichner incognito,” Zeit Online, February 3, 1984, works bearing the stamp “Fonds Reverdy” originate from the collection of Jean-Baptiste Eugène Reverdy, husband to the artist's youngest sister, Zoé Courbet-Reverdy. The collection passed by descent to their grandson, Paul Reverdy, who then sold the works through the gallery of Charles Garibaldi, Marseilles, France. Copy in object file.
[2] See Müller (1984). The drawings are first documented to be in Paul Reverdy’s possession in 1956; therefore, he must have owned the work by this time.
Catalogue essays specific to object
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location: Ornans (France): TGN: 7009418
Process/materials
pencil
paper
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
bust
father
attribution
portrait
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1985.R.19
source file
object_notes_2_b-0258.xml.nores