Femme au perroquet (1866)

Courbet, Gustave (1819-1877)

Femme au perroquet (Woman with a Parrot)
1866
Oil on canvas, 129.5 x 195.6 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

When this painting was shown in the Salon of 1866, some critics censured Courbet‘s “lack of taste” as well as his model’s “ungainly” pose and “disheveled hair.” Yet they were not unanimous, and the French state briefly considered purchasing it. Courbet himself wrote: “After twenty-five years of struggle, I am still fighting; and today I am still doing exactly the same kind of painting that in the beginning unleashed the entire official world against me . . . . ” The provocative picture found favor with a younger generation of artists. Manet began his version of the subject (89.21.3) the same year; and Cézanne apparently carried a small photograph of the present work in his wallet. (MET)

Compare:

Manet, Édouard (1832-1883)
La Femme au perroquet
1866
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York