Courbet's art insisted on the Realism of the objects he observed and was a means to champion the country folk from his home town.

Download this stock image: Young Ladies of the Village 1852 Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet 1819 – 1877 French France - CTE69B from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

Gustave Courbet was the founding father of the politically-motivated Realism movement, which revolutionized European painting. He paved the way for the Impressionists and ultimately the birth of modern art.

See a list of Gustave Courbet's most controversial artworks, from 'The Meeting' to 'The Origin of the World.'

How Gustave Courbet, born today, 10 Jun, in 1819, helped create a movement around the painting of ordinary folk

Gustave Courbet: "The Sculptor", 1845, oil on canvas, Private collection.

Property from an American Private CollectionWILLEM BASTIAAN THOLENDutch1860-1931The Billiards Player<

Self portrait Gustave Corbet

The French Realist painter Courbet stayed in Étretat in the Normandy region in the summer of 1869, producing numerous compositions with a motif centering o...