Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877)
Jeunes femmes du village (Young Ladies of the Village)
1851–1852
Oil on canvas, 194.9 x 261 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
This painting, which initiated a series of pictures devoted to the lives of women, shows Courbet’s three sisters—Zélie, Juliette, and Zoé—strolling in the Communal, a small valley near his native village of Ornans. One of the girls offers alms to a young cowherd. Courbet had high hopes for the work, but when it was exhibited at the Salon of 1852, critics attacked it as tasteless and clumsy. They reviled the models’ common features and countrified costumes, the “ridiculous” little dog and cattle, and the overall lack of unity, including traditional perspective and scale. (MET)
Compare:
Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877)
Les demoiselles de village
1866 (September 1)
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Bracquemond, Félix (1833-1914)
Les Demoiselles de Village
1866–1870
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence
See also:
• Courbet, Juliette (1831-1915) | Courbet, Zélie (1828-1875) | Courbet, Zoé | Ornans (France)