1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Since this week's episodes on Peter Krapotkim brought 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: up the Paris Commune, we've picked today's classic with that 3 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:12,720 Speaker 1: as a connecting point. We are talking about French artist 4 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: Gustav Kobe. At the start of this episode, we talk 5 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: about whether I had watched What We Do in the Shadows, 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 1: and I can now update my answer to yes, I 7 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: have watched all of it. 8 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 2: Oh so good. 9 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,480 Speaker 1: This originally came out July twenty fifth, twenty twenty two. 10 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a 11 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:44,639 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 12 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: Holly Frye. 13 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 2: And I'm Tracy V. Wilson. 14 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: Tracy, I don't know why I've never asked you this before. 15 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: Do you watch what we Do in the Shadows? I 16 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: intend to watch what we Do in the Shadows. There's 17 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: just too much. There's too much stuff to watch right now, 18 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: there is way too much. I won't shade anybody or 19 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: for not keeping up with something, because who can. I'm 20 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: scared of the person that keeps up with everything. But 21 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,479 Speaker 1: the opening credits of What We Do in the Shadows 22 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: has a series of amazing spoofs of famous and not 23 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: so famous pieces of art, with the characters from the 24 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: show painted into them as though they have been around 25 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 1: for hundreds and hundreds of years because they are vampires. 26 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: Almost every piece of art we'll talk about some variations, 27 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,479 Speaker 1: is actually based on an existing piece of art. 28 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 2: Art art art. 29 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: It's such good stuff. Two of those pieces are based 30 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: on the work of Gustav Corpe, and I really have 31 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: wanted to talk about him anyway, and that was a 32 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: good entree because I love that show. It is just 33 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: starting its fourth season. I think as we publish this episode, 34 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: it should be out already, and it's so fun. Obviously 35 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: not for all ages. It's a very grown up show 36 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: with adult themes. Similarly, this episode, I will warn you 37 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: at one point we are going to talk about a 38 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: painting that is pretty graphic and explicit. If you have 39 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: younger art historians or art enthusiasts with you, I mean, 40 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: you might want to preview it just for safety. I 41 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 1: don't know how you feel about it. Everybody's got a 42 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: different threshold. But Corbet was iconic even in his own lifetime. 43 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: He flew in the face of artistic convention. He turned 44 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: down awards, he ushered in a new movement of realism 45 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: in France. He was kind of like the bad boy 46 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: of mid nineteenth century Paris art scene, and he also 47 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,679 Speaker 1: became embroiled in the country's political turmoil. So that is 48 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: who we are talking about today. Jean Desire Gustave Courbet 49 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: was born on June tenth, eighteen nineteen, in the small 50 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: town of Arnan, France. This is in the east of France, 51 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: not far from the border with Switzerland. His parents Reggie 52 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:05,799 Speaker 1: and Sylvie udou Corbet, and Reggie is sometimes described as 53 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: a farmer, but to be clear, he was a very 54 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: successful farmer. This wasn't like a small family farm. He 55 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: wasn't doing farm work on somebody else's farm. He had 56 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: a large scale, multi property commercial farm that included some 57 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: really lucrative vineyards. Gustave also had three younger sisters, Zoe, Zelli, 58 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: and Juliet, and these daughters appeared in a lot of 59 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: their brother's paintings. Yeah, he liked to paint his friends 60 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: and family in paintings, as Phillis himself, which we'll talk about. 61 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: After his early schooling, Gustave enrolled at the College Royale 62 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: and then attended a fine art school in Besenzon. His 63 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: proclivity toward becoming an artist wasn't really in line with 64 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: what his parents had in mind for him. They wanted 65 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: him to pursue a career in law. So when he 66 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: was in his early twenties the actual year this happened 67 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: varies by source, but they sent him to Paris to 68 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: study law. 69 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 2: He did not do that. Uh. 70 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 1: He is said to have been really very very close 71 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: to this family and to have truly loved his parents. 72 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: We'll talk a lot about his letters home to his 73 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: parents and his family, but he really just did not 74 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: see any path for himself in life but art. So 75 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: when he got to Paris, he did not enroll in 76 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: law school, unsurprising based on what Holly just said, but 77 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: he also didn't enroll in art school, though. He went 78 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: to the Louver and studied the art there and also 79 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: made contact with artists who lived in the city so 80 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: we could take private lessons in some cases ask them 81 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: for advice. In particular, he studied with romantic painter Baron 82 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 1: Charles von Steuben and finally confessed all of this to 83 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: his father. He said he could not be a lawyar. 84 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: He only wanted to be an artist. His father's response 85 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: was surprising and incredibly supportive. He wrote to his son, quote, 86 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: if anyone gives up, it will be you, not me. 87 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: He is short as that he would support his ambitions 88 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: both emotionally and financially, and that he would sell off 89 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: everything he had if it came to that. I don't 90 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,479 Speaker 1: think that's what he was expecting of his father. So Courbet, 91 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,480 Speaker 1: with his father's blessing, at this point, started pursuing an 92 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: art career. In earnest he wrote to his parents, quote, 93 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: within five years, I must have a reputation in Paris. 94 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 2: But he still did. 95 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,720 Speaker 1: Not enroll at any formal school. Instead, he was largely 96 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 1: self taught and his development was based largely on copying 97 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 1: works of famous artists, something a lot of artists did 98 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: and still do to gain technical skills and form their 99 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 1: own style. He also, as we said, took some private lessons, 100 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: and he started submitting his original works to the Academy 101 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: de Bouzare annual Salon exhibit, and in eighteen forty four, 102 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: just a few years into this effort, one of his 103 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,760 Speaker 1: paintings was accepted. That painting was Courbet with a black 104 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: Dog or self portrait with a black Dog. This is 105 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: not a clue portrait, but a full view of the 106 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: subject that, of course is Korbe himself. Obviously, he's seated 107 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: with his entire body included. 108 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 2: And it's interesting. 109 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: Because Corbe appears to be sitting on the ground with 110 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 1: an English spaniel standing partially on his lap. But the 111 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: point of view of the viewer is even lower down 112 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: than the subject close to the ground, so Kurbe appears 113 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: to be looking down. He has on a hat that 114 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 1: has his upper face and shadow, and a drapy coat 115 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: that's flipped open at his leg to reveal a yellow lining. 116 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: Corbe wrote to his family of the acceptance of this painting, 117 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: saying quote, I have been admitted to the exhibition and 118 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: am highly delighted. It is not the picture I should 119 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,799 Speaker 1: have preferred them to take, but it makes no matter. 120 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: They did me the honor of hanging me well in 121 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: the exhibition, and that is some compensation. The following year, 122 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: eighteen forty five, Corbe, spurred on by his success, submitted 123 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: five works for consideration for the salon, but only one 124 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: small one was accepted. That's Le Guiterrero, and it features 125 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: a man in an almost reverse image of the black 126 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: dog portrait. From the previous year. We just described once 127 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: again seated on the ground, but this time no dog 128 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 1: in his lap. He's cradling a guitar. This is a 129 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: very romantic image, hearkening to an earlier time period, and 130 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: although it's not categorized as a self portrait, Corbe pretty 131 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: obviously used himself as a model. Corbet continued to submit 132 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: pieces for the Salon in the years after this, but 133 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: his success rate kind of dropped off and was pretty low, 134 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: but he remained undaunted. He was a very confident person. 135 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: That's probably a little easier when you know you have 136 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: financial backing, and he continued to paint, and he continued 137 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: to envision and plan his place in the art world. 138 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: Even in these early years of his career, Gustave was 139 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: really shrewd about crafting his image with the public and 140 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: with the art community. So he had come from a 141 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: wealthy family and he received a good education. Because he 142 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: came from the country, Parisians often assumed he was just 143 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: an uneducated peasant. He was totally happy to let people 144 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: do that because he knew it added to his mystique 145 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: as a painter. He saw every opportunity to build his 146 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: life story in a way that would increase interest in 147 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: his work. We'll talk about one later on that is 148 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: a little mind blowing to me. One of the paintings 149 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 1: that Corbet worked on starting in the eighteen forties was 150 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: one called The Wounded Man. This was another image of 151 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: the artist himself, this time in the romantic role of 152 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: a man reclining with his eyes closed having suffered an injury, 153 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: presumably from a sword. This is a painting that is 154 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: often listed as having started in the eighteen forties and 155 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:46,199 Speaker 1: being finished in the eighteen fifties. He didn't normally take 156 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: that long to make a painting, but it wasn't considered 157 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: finished until then because Korbe altered it significantly. At one point, 158 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: the hero in the image had been accompanied by a 159 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: woman leaning over his shoulder. Was it is believed, based 160 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: on Virginie Binet, who modeled for a lot of paintings 161 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: for Corbe during a roughly ten year long romantic relationship. 162 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: The two of them were not married, but they lived 163 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,679 Speaker 1: together as a couple. To all outward appearances, they were 164 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 1: as committed as a married couple. They had a son 165 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:21,839 Speaker 1: together named Desiree Alfred Emil, but in the early nineteen fifties, 166 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: Virginie moved away from Paris when she and Corbe broke up, 167 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: and she took their child with her, and it seems 168 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: that she and Corbet had no contact after the breakup, 169 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: and Corbet had then painted her out of the Wounded Man, 170 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: and he placed a sword in her place in the painting. 171 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: If you look at it, it does look a little weird. 172 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: It's not bad, it's just a strange. It doesn't feel 173 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: like that was part of the original composition. He did 174 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: not after this have any long term serious relationships, although 175 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: there were a lot of women in his life. He 176 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,680 Speaker 1: kind of just enjoyed playing the field. It seems he 177 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,680 Speaker 1: wrote to a friend of his relationships with women, quote, 178 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 1: I am as inclined to get married as I am 179 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: to hang myself. Corbe's relationship with the Salon waxed and 180 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: waned in the late eighteen forties. He went from that 181 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 1: elation of having felt that his work was well placed 182 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: and that he was. 183 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 2: Just getting started. 184 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:21,319 Speaker 1: He went from that to a long series of setbacks 185 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: and feeling as though he would never again gain recognition. 186 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: Eighteen forty seven was especially rough for him. He submitted 187 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:34,319 Speaker 1: three paintings, and all three were rejected. So we've been 188 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 1: talking about the Salon and submitting every year. And if 189 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: you're wondering why didn't he just show his art somewhere else, 190 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: there really wasn't another avenue available at this time in Paris. 191 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: The Salon was the art show of the year, and 192 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 1: it was the place where patrons went to purchase art 193 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 1: and develop relationships with artists, so they would have ongoing 194 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: patronages in some place. Corbet had written of it to 195 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: his family, quote, I must exhibit to make myself known, 196 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: and unfortunately that is the only exhibition in past years 197 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: when I had not thoroughly mastered my own style and 198 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,920 Speaker 1: was still painting to a certain extent. In theirs they 199 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: accepted my work, but now that I am myself, there 200 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: is no hope for me. Other now famous artists were 201 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: similarly despondent at the way the Salon Jury was running things. 202 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: Several had even met to brainstorm how they might establish 203 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 1: a new independent Salon, and that included people like de 204 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:34,079 Speaker 1: la Croix and Rousseau. In eighteen forty eight, King Louis 205 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 1: Philippe of France was forced to abdicate, and later that 206 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 1: year Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became the first president of the 207 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 1: Second French Republic. Of course, this was a huge change 208 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: for the country, but for Gustave Courbet and other artists 209 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 1: resulted in a very significant shift in how the salon 210 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: was churied and had less rigid requirements for subject matter 211 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,560 Speaker 1: and style. At the eighteen forty exhibition he had ten 212 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,440 Speaker 1: paintings accepted for showing a lot of his paintings during 213 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 1: this time reflected the change in France's shifting sociopolitical climate. 214 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: At a time when voting rights were expanding for men anyway, 215 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: and the right to work was also adopted as a 216 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: governmental reform, Corbet was painting people at work in various trades. 217 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: He also had the very unique insight, or possibly conceit, 218 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: to see that he was the face of a huge 219 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 1: change in art. He wrote to his family quote, I'm 220 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: about to make it any time now, for I am 221 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: surrounded by people who are very influential in the newspapers 222 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: and the arts, and who are very excited about my painting. Indeed, 223 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: we are about to form a new school of which 224 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: I will be the representative in the field of painting. 225 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,560 Speaker 1: In a moment, we will talk about Gustav Corbet's shift 226 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: to painting landscapes and pastorals and how his representation of 227 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: the common man became so important in art history. First, 228 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: we will pause for a sponsor break. So at this 229 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: point Corbet had been in Paris for roughly a decade 230 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: trying to make a name for himself. He had shifted 231 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: from those romantic portraits we talked about to doing some 232 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: more different types of art, and although he had his 233 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: father's financial support and then the support of an art 234 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: collector benefactor named Alfred Bruia, no one could argue that 235 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 1: he had been idle during those ten years. He had 236 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 1: finally earned a gold medal in the Paris Salon, and 237 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: that meant that he didn't have to submit his work 238 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: to Salon juries for exhibition going forward. So he took 239 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:45,599 Speaker 1: a little pause and he went home to Ornand to 240 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: spend time with his family. And this break from life 241 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 1: in the city really proved to be exactly what the 242 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: artist needed, and being back in the countryside inspired Corbe 243 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: in a whole new way. Two of Corbet's most famous 244 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,959 Speaker 1: paintings were inspired by this at home. The first was 245 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: titled Le Cassieurs de Pierre or the stone Breakers. As 246 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: its title suggests, this is an image of an older 247 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: man breaking stones and a younger man carrying a basket 248 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: of broken pieces along the side of the road. There's 249 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,600 Speaker 1: an empty, dark landscape behind them. This is an interesting 250 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: image because not only did it come to be seen 251 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: as a clear example of Corbe's desire to put realism 252 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: front and center, it also shows everyday working people in 253 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: vivid detail without romanticizing their lives. Was eventually recognized as 254 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: raising questions about France's socioeconomic structure. And that last bit 255 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: is especially interesting because while most art historians today would 256 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: credit Corbe with being very deliberate about making a social statement, 257 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: and Corbet himself later claimed that that was all intentional, Uh, 258 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: there have definitely been some write ups about this work 259 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: that suggests that it might have been a little bit 260 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: less calculated. Corbe he had seen a man named Gagie, 261 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 1: who is a road mender working as the artist, passed 262 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: by him in a carriage, and he had written to 263 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: a friend about it. 264 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 2: Quote. 265 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,760 Speaker 1: Here is an old man of seventy bending over his 266 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: work with his hammer raised, his body burned by the sun, 267 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: his face shaded with a wide straw hat, His coarse, 268 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: stiff breeches are all patched, and his heels are showing 269 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: through his stockings, which once were white in his broken 270 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: old wooden shoes. Near him is a young man, his 271 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: skin burned brown. His filthy, ragged shirt shows his side 272 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: and his arms alas in such low life, this is 273 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: the beginning and the end. Rarely can one find so 274 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: complete an expression of poverty and wretchedness. Corbet then invited 275 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,240 Speaker 1: Gagie to his studio to sit for him for the 276 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: painting of the Stonebreakers. The second famous work that was 277 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: inspired by that trip to or Not was a burial 278 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: at or Not, which he painted in eighteen fifty. This 279 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: painting massive three hundred and fifteen centimeters by six hundred 280 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,360 Speaker 1: and sixty centimeters or twenty one feet by ten feet. 281 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: It depicts his great uncle's funeral. There are more than 282 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: forty people in this composition, which is very dark and 283 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: includes Mourner's clergy and family. They're all gathered around an 284 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: open grave. He showed this at the eighteen fifty one Salon, 285 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: much to the chagrin of critics. The large dimensions that 286 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: Korbe had used were normally reserved for romantic subjects. So 287 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: seeing such a stark scene realistically painted on something so 288 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: big I was considered ghosh and in poor taste. Even so, 289 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: some critics understood the importance of this as a moment 290 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: of massive change in art. One write up said that 291 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: Korbe had established himself as an artist quote in the 292 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: manner of a cannon ball which lodges itself. 293 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 2: In a wall. That's such a great description. 294 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: These two pieces look so classic pieces of art to modernize, 295 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,440 Speaker 1: not to be confused with classicism, but they just look 296 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 1: like when you look at them, you're like, yes, that 297 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: seems like famous old art. 298 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 2: It can be difficult, though, to. 299 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,360 Speaker 1: Grasp just how radical they were considered in mid nineteenth 300 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: century France, at a time when the art world was 301 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: very much about showing the beauty of all things. And indeed, 302 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: we said Corbet had studied with a romantic painter, but 303 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: he had shifted gears, and he was painting things that 304 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: most people at the time would not consider beautiful, and 305 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: he was doing it with this very intense detail, in 306 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: what is often described as urgency. These pastorals cemented him 307 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 1: in the eyes of the art and literature scene of 308 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: France as the major player in the new realism movement. 309 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:48,359 Speaker 1: So we should level set for just a moment and 310 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,480 Speaker 1: talk about realism and what it means, because it's easy 311 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,159 Speaker 1: to assume it means one thing, when really it's a 312 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: pretty broad term. Realism in terms of art is not 313 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: necessarily about replicating a real world object in faithful accuracy, 314 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:08,159 Speaker 1: although it can include that. The more important foundation of 315 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:12,560 Speaker 1: it is depicting real things rather than something fanciful or imagined. 316 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: There are a lot of works of art that can 317 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: be put under this umbrella, going all the way back 318 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: to ancient Greek sculpture, but the term realism didn't really 319 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 1: come into play as an artistic school of thought until 320 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:29,159 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, when Korbe was alive, and the realism 321 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: movement that Corbet is associated with was a rejection of 322 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: the Classicism and Romanticism that had been the standard for 323 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: French art for a very long time. He wrote about 324 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:42,199 Speaker 1: this in a letter in eighteen sixty one in a 325 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,160 Speaker 1: way that makes his feelings on this matter entirely clear, 326 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:49,680 Speaker 1: writing quote, painting is an essentially concrete art and can 327 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: consist only of the representation of things both real and existing. 328 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,719 Speaker 1: As he came to recognize that his work depicting the 329 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,959 Speaker 1: French countryside had given him a reputee haiti and deeper 330 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: name recognition. Corbe really leaned into it Ornon, where he 331 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: was born, as in the province of Borgeo and Franche Compte, 332 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: which is in the eastern part of France, and it 333 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: became the star of a lot of Corbet's work. When 334 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: Louis Napoleon declared himself Emperor Napoleon the Third after staging 335 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: a coup, the atmosphere for art in Paris once again shifted. 336 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: Although Gustave Corbet had already been seen as controversial in 337 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:32,959 Speaker 1: his work, as the government became more authoritarian and a 338 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: lot more conservative in its taste, his work was perceived 339 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: as being downright confrontational. His painting Young Ladies of the Village, 340 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,880 Speaker 1: which shows three women modeled by his sisters, offering alms 341 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,400 Speaker 1: to a young girl who is herding cows, was critiqued 342 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 1: as a clumsy affront to social morase. When you look 343 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,680 Speaker 1: at this painting today, you go, oh, that's lovely, but 344 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: people were real mad about it at the time. In 345 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five, Gustav started to work on a massive project, 346 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 1: and we use massive both literally and figuratively, the canvas 347 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,320 Speaker 1: of the painting, which he completed in six weeks, is 348 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty one by five hundred ninety eight centimeters. 349 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: That's eleven point eight feet by nineteen point six feet, 350 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: so similar to the dimensions of a burial at Ornan, 351 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: but the subject matter is expansive as well. The painting 352 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 1: is sometimes called the Artist's Studio or the Painter's Studio, 353 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: but the full title is a Painter's Studio, A real 354 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: allegory summing up seven years of my life as an artist. 355 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: Corbet is at the center of the painting working it's 356 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: painting a landscape of an area near or non Behind 357 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: him is what appears to be an artist's model. It's 358 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 1: a naked woman with her dress at her feet, but 359 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:52,160 Speaker 1: he's not painting her or even looking at her. Instead, 360 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: she is closely watching him. There's also a small child 361 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: watching him paint. So these three figures Corbet, the woman 362 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: in the ch child form the central grouping of the image, 363 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 1: and the rest of the painting's casts of characters are 364 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:06,679 Speaker 1: separated to the right. 365 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:07,160 Speaker 2: And the left. 366 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:09,800 Speaker 1: The group to the left is filled with the sort 367 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: of rural characters that populated much of Corbet's work. There's 368 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: also a representation of the Crucifixion of Christ on the 369 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: left side as well. Close to and kind of just 370 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,199 Speaker 1: behind the left side of the painter's canvas in the 371 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 1: image as he works. On the right are Corbet's friends 372 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:30,680 Speaker 1: and patrons, including the writer Charles Baudlare. This painting continues 373 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:34,959 Speaker 1: to be interpreted and analyzed by art history scholars. In 374 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:39,120 Speaker 1: mixing allegory and reality, Corbet seems to have laid out 375 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,880 Speaker 1: a puzzle for the viewer to solve, but no one 376 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: seems to agree on what exactly the meaning of the 377 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 1: piece is. This painting was submitted for the eighteen fifty 378 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 1: five exhibition in Paris and it was not accepted. After 379 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,439 Speaker 1: having achieved a level of recognition where he had been 380 00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,920 Speaker 1: able to place pieces in the salon without jury approval. 381 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,439 Speaker 1: This was just a slap in the face. Napoleon the 382 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: third had directed that only pleasant art be included at 383 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:08,679 Speaker 1: the salon, and the artist's studio was determined to be 384 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: too demanding of the viewer, and Corbet had eleven pieces 385 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: accepted for the salon, but he just took matters into 386 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,399 Speaker 1: his own hands to get all of his paintings in 387 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: front of the eyes of the public. He rented a 388 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 1: space near the exposition and set up his own pavilion 389 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,120 Speaker 1: to showcase this huge painting, as well as some other works. 390 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:34,439 Speaker 1: He called this the Pavilion of Realism. The Pavilion of 391 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: Realism was not a success. Although many of his contemporaries 392 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:41,919 Speaker 1: and Eugene de la Croix in particular, admired the ambition 393 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: of this effort, it just wasn't well attended. The public 394 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: mostly saw this as a stunt or like a really 395 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: expensive tantrum. Yeah, there's one exchange. I will get it 396 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: wrong because I'm just retelling it. I didn't quote it 397 00:22:56,119 --> 00:23:00,119 Speaker 1: here where there was a person who was like, and 398 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,359 Speaker 1: this is really a lot, like you really think highly 399 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,679 Speaker 1: of yourself, and Corbe wrote back, do you not know 400 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: I'm the most arrogant person in Paris. He was just like, 401 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:09,880 Speaker 1: it's just like, this is how it is, dude. It's 402 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: all my paintings are nothing. Incidentally, it was during the 403 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 1: eighteen fifties, when Corbe's fame was rapidly on the rise, 404 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,920 Speaker 1: that he painted the two paintings that are spoofed in 405 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: the opening of What We Do in the Shadows the 406 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: first in terms of when Corbe painted it, although I 407 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: think it appears second in the opening credits of the 408 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,639 Speaker 1: show is a painting titled Madame auguste Quoke, which was 409 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: a commissioned rendering of Matild de port as ordered by 410 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 1: her husband. This features a woman in almost full length 411 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: wearing a black pleated gown with a striking green rap. 412 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: The television show created one with the vampire Nadia as 413 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,159 Speaker 1: Madame de Port and in the show's opening there is 414 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: also a matching painting of Nadya's husband Laslow, although Corbe 415 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: did not paint a companion piece to Madame Augustequoque. The 416 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: second Corbe spoof in the TV show's opening credits once 417 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:03,159 Speaker 1: again features Nadya in a recreation of Corbe's eighteen fifty 418 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 1: six painting woman in a riding hat. You'll also see 419 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: that sometimes listed as the Horsewoman. This was also a 420 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 1: portrait commission. Gustav was hired to paint Madame Clement Laurier 421 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,800 Speaker 1: as a wedding gift to the bride from her husband. 422 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 1: In this case, Corbe did also paint a portrait of 423 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:23,120 Speaker 1: Monsieur Laurier, but it is not that portrait that's used 424 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: for Laslow in the show. There's a matching portrait made 425 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: that appears to be an original creation to look more 426 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: like a match to the Madame Laurier painting. You can 427 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:35,959 Speaker 1: see both of Corbe's original portraits at the met if 428 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: you are interested and want to do some sort of 429 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 1: what we do in the Shadows art crawl, that sounds great. 430 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 1: In a moment, we'll talk about Corbe's influence on the 431 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 1: impressionists who followed him and his involvement in politics. But 432 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: first we are going to hear from some of the 433 00:24:51,280 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: sponsors who keeps Stuffy missed in history class going. Corbet 434 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 1: went to Germany for a visit in eighteen fifty six, 435 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,439 Speaker 1: and there he made a lot of new connections with 436 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: fellow artists. Whereas France had come to see Corbet at 437 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: this point as a rabble rouser or sometimes even a nuisance, 438 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 1: for the way that he both ignored the traditions of 439 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 1: the art scene of the day and thumbed his nose 440 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: at criticism, it seems that the German sensibilities were more 441 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,120 Speaker 1: willing to embrace his realism. He had painted a lot 442 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,400 Speaker 1: of works that featured hunting parties, and those were particularly 443 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 1: popular in Germany. One of the interesting aspects of Corbet's 444 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:38,920 Speaker 1: realism is that it wasn't confined to any particular subject matter. 445 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: He painted landscapes, He painted the lower classes at their work. 446 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: He made portraits of himself and other people. He painted 447 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: nude studies of women, quite a lot of them. His 448 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,119 Speaker 1: work in landscapes, though, is often said to have paved 449 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:55,119 Speaker 1: the way for the Impressionist movement, as he worked to 450 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,880 Speaker 1: capture things like the sky as it was breaking into 451 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 1: a storm over the sea at the shoreline. He had 452 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,200 Speaker 1: started to bring in the ideas that shaped Impressionism, particularly 453 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: in his use of color and light reflections. Whereas Corbet's 454 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: realism was all about capturing all and any subjects of 455 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:14,679 Speaker 1: the world, Impressionism would kind of take that to a 456 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,560 Speaker 1: new space, as it showed the world realistically, but with 457 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:19,719 Speaker 1: a focus on the ways that light and color can 458 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: shift our perceptions of reality. Throughout the eighteen sixties, Gustav 459 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: enjoyed quite a bit of success. He had become the 460 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:31,120 Speaker 1: figurehead not just for realism but for breaking away from 461 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: the establishment, and that really rebellious spirit, combined with his skill, 462 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: attracted a lot of collectors, and though his relationship with 463 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 1: the French government under Napoleon the Third wasn't good. He 464 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,280 Speaker 1: was nominated as a recipient of the French Legion of 465 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:50,959 Speaker 1: Honor in eighteen seventy. Kurbae turned this down, writing quote, 466 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,479 Speaker 1: Honor does not lie in a title or a ribbon. 467 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 1: It lies in actions and the motives for actions. I 468 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: honor myself by remaining faithful to my life lifelong principles. 469 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: If I portrayed them, I should desert honor to wear 470 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:09,080 Speaker 1: its mark. Yeah, he was not a fan of Napoleon 471 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: the Third's government. At the end of the Franco German 472 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:16,400 Speaker 1: War also called the Franco Prussian War, the Paris Commune 473 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: formed as an insurrectionist group in response to dissatisfaction at 474 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: the armistice agreement that France had signed with Germany. Emperor 475 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 1: Napoleon the Third had entered the war way over confident 476 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: and France had not really been prepared, and in the 477 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,280 Speaker 1: Treaty of Frankfurt, France had had to concede the annexation 478 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: of Alsace and part of Lorentz, as well as the 479 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 1: payment of five billion francs to cover the expenses of 480 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:45,040 Speaker 1: the German army's occupation of France. In the briefest of terms, 481 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:47,439 Speaker 1: this meant that the Paris Commune was against both the 482 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: Army of Versailles and the German Army. There was fear 483 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: that the National Assembly was going to reinstate the monarchy, 484 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: which was opposite of what Parisians who favored the Republic wanted, 485 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 1: and Corbet aligned with the Commune as it attempted to 486 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 1: establish its own French government and reject the Third Republic 487 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: and Napoleon the Third. The Commune had been established in 488 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: the middle of March eighteen seventy one, and it was 489 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: suppressed in May, so it didn't last very long, and 490 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 1: Corbet had left the group early in May before it 491 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:21,359 Speaker 1: was disbanded because he actually found it too extreme. So 492 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: here in a quote later, he didn't really like aligning 493 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,840 Speaker 1: with anybody, but that association with the Paris Commune really 494 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:32,160 Speaker 1: hurt him. Krebet had been elected president of the Artists' Federation, 495 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:34,480 Speaker 1: and in that role it fell to him to re 496 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: establish the National Salon and to reopen the museums which 497 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 1: had been closed during the war. He made an unusual move, though, 498 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: and instead focused on monuments outside of Paris, the Palace 499 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: at Fontainebleau, which had been occupied by German forces, and 500 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: the porcelain factory at sev. As all of this was 501 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 1: going on, members of the Paris Commune had decided to 502 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 1: destroy a military monument in the place ven Dome. 503 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 2: It was a. 504 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:06,200 Speaker 1: Column that commemorated Napoleon Bonaparte's military and it was something 505 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: Corbet had spoken of with disdain on many occasions. When 506 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: the Commune destroyed it on May sixteenth, Corbe was believed 507 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: to have spearheaded the move, even though he had left 508 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: the group before that happened. He had circulated a petition 509 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: to take that monument down the year before, in eighteen seventy, 510 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: so there was an official record of him calling for 511 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: its destruction. After the Commune was conclusively defeated by the 512 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: Army of Versailles at the end of May, Corbe was 513 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: arrested in the first week of June and put on 514 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: trial as a political instigator. This trial did not go well. 515 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: The people who actually had destroyed the monument had fled 516 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 1: the country, although they had insisted that the artist had 517 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: not been involved. Even so, he was found guilty and 518 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: sentenced to six months in prison. There was also a fine, 519 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,400 Speaker 1: although because Corbe had friends who were highly placed in 520 00:29:58,440 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: the new provisional government. 521 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 2: Some of that vine was minimal. 522 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, he was in this unique space where he kind 523 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,640 Speaker 1: of disliked every established thing and fought against it. But 524 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,160 Speaker 1: he also had friends in almost every position, you know, 525 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: with any alignment, because a lot of people were buying 526 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: his work and were fans of his. Gustav Corbet was 527 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: sent to prison at Seinte Pelagie, but he fell ill 528 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: and he was transferred to a medical facility near Paris 529 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: to finish his sentence. When that sentence ended and he 530 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: was a free man again, he did not stay in Paris. 531 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: He instead went back to his beloved countryside and family 532 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: in Ornan. He hoped to rest and rebuild his health 533 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,160 Speaker 1: and put the whole thing behind him, but. 534 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 2: That was not to be. 535 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 1: But even while incarcerated, he had written letters to his 536 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:49,000 Speaker 1: family that this whole ordeal had a bright side, which 537 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:51,080 Speaker 1: is it was only going to drive up interest in 538 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: his work and enable him to raise his prices. In 539 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy two, Adelfierre, who had helped ensure Corbet's fines 540 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: weren't too steep after his trial, resigned from his presidency 541 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: was put Buonaparte loyalists back in power. They did not 542 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: feel that Corbet had truly paid his debt to society, 543 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: so the French government sued Corbet for the money needed 544 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 1: to replace the destroyed monument. The trial for this was 545 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,560 Speaker 1: never going to go his way. Corbe was fined five 546 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: hundred thousand francs, and this was an absurd amount of money. 547 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: There was no way he could pay it. By the 548 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:32,120 Speaker 1: time the judgment was passed down, all of Corbe's assets 549 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:36,920 Speaker 1: had already been seized, including all of his paintings. Everything 550 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: he owned had been taken by the French government. Yeah, 551 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:43,120 Speaker 1: I have seen different numbers aside from that five hundred 552 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: thousand francs, but it's always many hundreds of thousand frecks. 553 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: It's kind of like the absurdly high number of Going Tracy. 554 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 1: You owe me twelve billion dollars. No, really, it was 555 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,000 Speaker 1: thirteen billion. I mean, it's like it felt that absurd 556 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: to him because he had nothing. In addition to that, 557 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: the government had been watching his family and friends. They 558 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,720 Speaker 1: were all under surveillance, and a number of artists that 559 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: he was associated with finally decided that being associated with 560 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: him was too dangerous and that he needed to be 561 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: barred from future salons and basically excommunicated from the city's 562 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 1: art circles. One of his friends in the art world 563 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: wrote to another the sad phrase, he must be dead 564 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: to us, so he left the country and headed for Switzerland. 565 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,719 Speaker 1: On July twenty thirty, eighteen seventy three, he left France 566 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: and never returned. Initially, Corbet went to Fleurier, which is 567 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: only about ten kilometers or a little more than six 568 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:45,880 Speaker 1: miles away from the French border, but Gustav became anxious 569 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 1: that this was just too close to France, so he 570 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:52,120 Speaker 1: moved about eighty five kilometers south to Levee la Clemm. 571 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: He didn't stay there either, but also didn't travel very 572 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 1: far before putting down roots. 573 00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:58,560 Speaker 2: He went just about. 574 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: Two kilometers more south to Latour de Pills and purchased 575 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:07,240 Speaker 1: an inn, which he named Bonport or safe Harbor. Because 576 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 1: he had left Paris, he actually missed out on a 577 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:11,760 Speaker 1: move by some of his fellow artists, which no doubt 578 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: would have pleased him. In eighteen seventy four, Monette, Pizarro, 579 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 1: Sesan and renoirre tired of the Paris Salon, offering the 580 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: only chance at having their work publicly seen put together 581 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 1: their own show, and that is actually the art exhibition 582 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 1: that the term Impressionists was coined at. Many art historians 583 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 1: credit Corbe's daring with helping to kickstart the Impressionists. Some 584 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,200 Speaker 1: have said it would have happened anyway, but it happened 585 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: about ten years earlier than it would have had Corbet 586 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:44,120 Speaker 1: not been involved. In his final years, Corbe drank heavily 587 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:48,200 Speaker 1: and neglected his health. The stress of the trials and 588 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 1: his incarceration, and having so many of his colleagues turn 589 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: their back on him that all took a toll. He 590 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 1: had hoped that he might be granted an amnesty and 591 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:00,520 Speaker 1: be able to return to France, but instead the French 592 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:03,560 Speaker 1: government directed him to pay the cost of the monument 593 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:08,120 Speaker 1: in ten thousand frank installments going You'll Owe Us Forever. 594 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 1: They also auctioned off all of his art that they 595 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,480 Speaker 1: had seized. Corbet died on December thirty first, eighteen seventy seven. 596 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:17,840 Speaker 1: He was only fifty eight, and the cause of his 597 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:21,000 Speaker 1: death was listed as a DMA that was likely the 598 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: result of drinking. Although he had never gotten to return 599 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: to France in life. In nineteen nineteen, his remains were 600 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: moved from Switzerland to Ornand, where he was reinterred in 601 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,920 Speaker 1: the same cemetery featured in his painting A Burial at Ornand. 602 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:39,600 Speaker 1: A nineteen twelve collection of Corbet's work with commentary by 603 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:43,279 Speaker 1: Leons Benedictte opens with the line quote Corbet was one 604 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,200 Speaker 1: of Courbet's favorite subjects. It has often been thrown up 605 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:48,839 Speaker 1: against him by men who forget that an artist has 606 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,279 Speaker 1: great difficulty in finding a model as convenient or as 607 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:56,560 Speaker 1: well studied as himself. But it was said the painter, 608 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: who delighted in making so many of his contemporaries life 609 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:04,040 Speaker 1: uglier than they were, was much nicer and more generous 610 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,359 Speaker 1: when it came to his own face. The artist has 611 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: no excuse save the masterpieces that his rather exclusive indulgence 612 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: has given us. We've only talked about a couple of 613 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:20,200 Speaker 1: the self portraits here. It's worth checking out more of them. 614 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 1: The one that's going to be on our social media 615 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:25,960 Speaker 1: is not one of the ones that we have mentioned here, 616 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:30,640 Speaker 1: but is striking. But really, Gustav Corbet gave the art 617 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:34,640 Speaker 1: world an awful lot more than beautiful paintings. His rebellious spirit, 618 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,040 Speaker 1: which was part of his art really before he even 619 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:40,759 Speaker 1: became politically active. Led to a number of innovations and 620 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:44,160 Speaker 1: moves that scandalized the art world at the time, but 621 00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:47,879 Speaker 1: became very commonplace as later generations of artists adopted them. 622 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:50,800 Speaker 1: We already talked about his embrace of realism at a 623 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:55,319 Speaker 1: time when Romanticism was the standard. His provocative paintings and 624 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 1: behaviors were not accidental. He had written early in his 625 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,880 Speaker 1: career that he had a goal quote to change the 626 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 1: public's taste and way of seeing. No small task, for 627 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:08,920 Speaker 1: it means no more and no less than overturning what 628 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:13,600 Speaker 1: exists and replacing it. In addition to that, Corbet's nudes 629 00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:17,560 Speaker 1: threw the Paris art establishment into a tizzy. He was 630 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:21,799 Speaker 1: certainly not at all the first person to paint nude figures. 631 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:25,359 Speaker 1: Historical figures in art were completely acceptable at the time 632 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:29,919 Speaker 1: as nudes, even in very sensual scenarios, But his realism 633 00:36:30,200 --> 00:36:33,359 Speaker 1: was very real. It left nothing to the imagination. It 634 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:37,360 Speaker 1: wasn't romanticized. One of his most well known examples of 635 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,520 Speaker 1: this is a painting titled Origin of the World or 636 00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:43,080 Speaker 1: Laurie Jeanne du Monde, which is a view of a 637 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:46,439 Speaker 1: woman's body lying on a bed in which her genitalia 638 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,799 Speaker 1: are the focus of the work. When he painted this 639 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:52,759 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty six, it was completely shocking. Was a 640 00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:55,560 Speaker 1: private commission and it didn't go on public display, but 641 00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:58,719 Speaker 1: art critics certainly saw it and they weighed in on it. 642 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:02,360 Speaker 1: There's debate around it the continues until this day. The 643 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:05,360 Speaker 1: Origin of the World passed from private collector to private 644 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:09,000 Speaker 1: collector over the years. It was once even owned by 645 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:12,120 Speaker 1: Jacquela Khan, but it didn't go on public display until 646 00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:14,920 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight when it was shown at the Brooklyn 647 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,360 Speaker 1: Museum in New York. Today it's part of the collection 648 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:22,399 Speaker 1: of the Musee Dorse and it still elicits really strong responses. 649 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,399 Speaker 1: But it and similar work set the stage for other 650 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:28,719 Speaker 1: artists to show human bodies without the limitations that the 651 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:32,959 Speaker 1: art established had placed on them before this work. There's 652 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:35,719 Speaker 1: also some fun gossip about who the model for this 653 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:38,920 Speaker 1: may have been that Holly's going to talk about on Friday. 654 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:40,879 Speaker 2: Yes, that gossip is good. 655 00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:42,920 Speaker 1: This is interesting because it's one of those things that 656 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:46,759 Speaker 1: was considered pornographic when he painted it in eighteen sixty six. 657 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:49,640 Speaker 1: There are still people today who will say that straight 658 00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:53,239 Speaker 1: up pornography and not art. It's very controversial, so he 659 00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:57,879 Speaker 1: sure did stay relevant in that regard, even in less 660 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:02,680 Speaker 1: explicit paintings. Corbet's detractors found him to be scandalous. In 661 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:05,160 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy two, at a time when the painter's life 662 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:07,919 Speaker 1: and country were in upheaval, he painted a work called 663 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:11,440 Speaker 1: Sleep and This features two naked women asleep in each 664 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:15,920 Speaker 1: other's arms. It was considered so controversial when it was 665 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:18,920 Speaker 1: shown publicly that there was actually a police report filed 666 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:22,719 Speaker 1: about it for indecency. As Corbet was already on the 667 00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:25,120 Speaker 1: outs with the French government at this time, that report 668 00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:27,719 Speaker 1: went into a file that was being kept to document 669 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:31,320 Speaker 1: his life on a more technical note, rather than relating 670 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:34,000 Speaker 1: to his subject matter. Corbe was also one of the 671 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,560 Speaker 1: first artists to use a palette knife in his fingers 672 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,839 Speaker 1: to apply the paint to the canvas. Palette knives were 673 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:42,200 Speaker 1: strictly considered mixing. 674 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:43,080 Speaker 2: Tools at the time. 675 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,520 Speaker 1: This was the fine art equivalent of applying wall paint 676 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,560 Speaker 1: with a ststick. For Corbet, though, it was a different 677 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,279 Speaker 1: way to control his medium. Yeah, and it was one 678 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,719 Speaker 1: of those things. I mean, obviously it worked, and he 679 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:58,240 Speaker 1: was very good at it. I think it was Sizen 680 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: that said, like his talent was justless and it was 681 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:02,920 Speaker 1: kind of a reflection of him being able to do 682 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:08,360 Speaker 1: completely new things in ways that resulted in just beautiful work. Today, 683 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:11,440 Speaker 1: Corbe's work is recognized for its important in the development 684 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:15,560 Speaker 1: of Western art. There are frequent exhibitions mounted featuring most 685 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:19,719 Speaker 1: of his works. Two canvases, though are generally excluded. Both 686 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:23,280 Speaker 1: Burial at Ornand and the Painter's Studio are very large, 687 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:26,200 Speaker 1: which makes shipping difficult, but they are also considered to 688 00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:29,480 Speaker 1: be too delicate to be shipped, so even though they 689 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:33,040 Speaker 1: are considered some of his most important works, both remain 690 00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:35,719 Speaker 1: in the permanent collection of the Musee d'arcail and they 691 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:39,560 Speaker 1: cannot be loaned out. Another important Corbe painting that you 692 00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:42,839 Speaker 1: will not see in any collected exhibit today is The 693 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:46,440 Speaker 1: Stone Breakers because it was unfortunately destroyed during the bombing 694 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:50,359 Speaker 1: of Dresden in World War II. Eight years before his death, 695 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:55,359 Speaker 1: Corbe was embroiled in France's very volatile political shifts. He 696 00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 1: described himself and his ideology in a single succinct passage, 697 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,480 Speaker 1: and a letter to a friend seems the right place 698 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:04,799 Speaker 1: to wrap up his story. He wrote, quote I am 699 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:07,440 Speaker 1: fifty years old, and I have always lived in freedom. 700 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,879 Speaker 1: Let me end my life free. When I am dead, 701 00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:13,600 Speaker 1: let this be said of me. He belonged to no school, 702 00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:17,600 Speaker 1: to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least 703 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:20,880 Speaker 1: of all, to any regime except the regime of liberty. 704 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:32,640 Speaker 3: Gustavecorbet, thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. 705 00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:34,560 Speaker 1: If you'd like to send us a note, our email 706 00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:39,279 Speaker 1: addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can 707 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,799 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 708 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:50,359 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.