Gustave Courbet Rare Art-Related ALS

Gustave Courbet Rare Art-Related ALS

COURBET, GUSTAVE. Autograph Letter Signed, “Gustave Courbet”, 1p front and verso, 5” x 7”, Brussels, [ca. April 1858]. In French, partial translation below. Written from Brussels’ Grand Lion Blanc Hotel. Docketed in an unknown hand on verso. Flattened folds, minor toning, else near Fine.

“I am still determined to go see you in Frankfurt but I have a portrait commissioned in Brussels that I have to finish before that. I will do what I can to get there as soon as possible. I know from M. Burnier that you wish to know the final price for my paintings; I want to sell them and I believe that their price without exaggeration is 6000 nr. f. The big thing Snow Hunting – 2000 nr. f. The Wheat Sifters 4000 nr. f. Now I do not know the prices in your area; I know one thing, it is that you are my friend and that you will seek to serve me in this occasion… Please answer me and make me the objections that you need to make on these prices – I will be very much obliged to you and will be of service to you if given the opportunity…”

Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was a prolific French painter and leader of the Realism movement. Born in Ornans, Courbet moved to Paris in 1841 to study at the School of Law where his cousin Mr. Oudot was a professor. To the horror of Oudot, who believed that one cannot learn anything without a teacher, Courbet refused to enter an atelier. After moving into the bohemian Latin Quarter and abandoning his studies, Courbet devoted himself to painting. Having studied art at both the seminary in Ornans and the high school in Besançon, Courbet eschewed formal training, and instead frequented museums where he copied the paintings of great masters. Courbet found success when his self-portrait, Courbet with a Black Dog, was accepted by the Salon in 1844. As a leader of the Realism movement he became recognized for his scenes of ordinary life, which included peasants and workers, featuring people from his native Ornans. Among his best-known works are Burial at Ornans and The Stone Breakers; his seascapes made a significant impact on the impressionists.

The letter here offered discusses Courbet’s 1854 painting The Wheat Sifters (Les Cribleuses de Blé), exhibited at the Salon in 1855. After the 1861 exhibition of the Society of Friends of the Art of Nantes, the work was purchased by the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes. It is not clear to which painting entitled Snow Hunting Courbet might be referring. Courbet, himself a hunter, created more than 100 works depicting hunters pursuing their quarry, often in a wintery countryside. The portrait mentioned in this letter might be his “Madame Frederic Breyer (Fanny Helene Van Bruyssel) which was displayed in Antwerp in the summer of 1858. It now hangs in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!

qxp