Gustave, Courbet

Courbet is a founder of the Realism movement in the 1800s. Though he came from a prosperous farming French family, he felt representing the lives of peasants was more in line with his Republican ideals. He even at one point did prison time for is political ideas. His legacy is one of bold social commentary in his work. Personally, I wasn't expecting to see "Origin of the World" coming out of the 19th century. A little shocking but a very interesting idea. My little joke is that every artists needs to have a shocking crotch painting (mail or female), so I want to rebel and not have one (but really, I just don't think I'm brave enough to do one). But with Courbet's "crotch painting", I'm see much more validity than shock value when considering his place in the art world and his contribution to social commentary.