Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter, who rejected academic convention and the Romantism the previous generation of visual artists. His independence set an example that was important to later artists, such as the Impressionists and the Cubists. Courbet occupies an important place in 19th-century French painting as an innovator and as an artist willing to make bold social statements through his work.
In 1848, Courbet, who had exhibited little work at the Salon, finally had some ten paintings accepted. He was noticed, and developed a friendship with the critic Champfleury, and from then on achieved public recognition. He was awarded the second-class gold medal, which exempted him from the selection procedure until 1857, the year when the rules changed.
Courbet's highest achievement in this period was ‘The Artist’s Studio’ (1854-1855), a true manifesto painting in which Courbet declared his artistic and political choices.
Young ladies by the Seine (Paris, Petit Palais), exhibited at the 1857 Salon, enabled Courbet to develop a circle of faithful admirers and defenders.
During the summer of 1869, Courbet stayed at Etretat. It was there that he painted ‘The Stormy Sea’, also called ‘The Wave’ and ‘The cliff at Etretat after the storm’. At the 1870 Salon, these two paintings were greeted with a chorus of praise from all sides. Courbet's reputation was thoroughly established from then on.
The artist made the mistake, in September 1870, of launching a petition asking the government of the National Defence to authorise him to pull down the column.
During his exile, the State seized his property, and put his friends and family under surveillance. Things did not improve for the former communard in the politically unstable first years of the Third Republic. Courbet refused to come back to France before a general amnesty had been passed.
Courbet died 31 December 1877 in Switzerland.