When the great French realist painter Gustave Courbet began his career in the 1840s grand historical mythological and biblical themes were still considered to be the most fitting subjects for ambitious painting. Rejecting such lofty ideals Courbet instead depicted scenes from everyday life particularly among the peasants and the working class with a naturalism then considered shocking. Gorgeously produced and illustrated with 300 photos reproductions and close-up details of his work up to 21 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches this slipcased catalog is an outstanding study of a painter whose spirited pursuit of his own aesthetic path has led many critics to deem him the first modern artist.

"The bigger and richer the reproductions the better when it comes to the paintings of Courbet an artist of dramatic contrast and grand vitality whether he is depicting water sky trees or flesh. Art books don't get more lavish and heart-revving than this. Oversize and lustrous it is also fresh and inclusive in its comprehensive discussion of Courbet's life work and society. An assured even cocky and commanding 19th-century French artist radical in his championing of realism and embrace of romanticism Courbet reveled in earthiness infused his work with his belief in the nobility of the common man and captured a spectrum of moods in both his tender portraits and glorious landscapes. With each page in this magnificent book Courbet's wiliness and genius come into sharper focus. Self-mythologizing and inspired by Balzac Hugo and Baudelaire Courbet lived large and unabashedly celebrated sensuality. Considered the first modern artist he owed a great debt to Rembrandt and is equally bewitching in the profoundly moving masterpiece A Burial at Ornans and the infamously explicit The Origin of the World." Booklist