Tip: move over the painting to use the lens.
Young Ladies of the Village
Gustave Courbet · 1851–52
- Artist
- Gustave Courbet French, Ornans 1819–1877 La Tour-de-Peilz
- Date
- 1851–52
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 76 3/4 x 102 3/4 in. (194.9 x 261 cm)
- Where to see it
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gift of Harry Payne Bingham, 1940 · CC0 Public Domain · The Met · see it at the museum ↗
Slow Look
- The whole picture Let your eyes wander. Where do they want to rest?
- The light Find the brightest spot. What is it showing you?
- The edges Look at what is half cut off at the borders.
- One small detail Choose one tiny thing and stay with it for a while.
- The whole picture again Step back. Has it changed for you?
About Gustave Courbet
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the Romanticism of 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.
What do you see?
Stand in front of it for a moment. Then tell us what you noticed or felt - there are no wrong answers.
Be the first to share a thought.
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