Gustave Courbet, 'In the Forest', 1859
In the Forest
On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland About the work
Overview
A few rays of sunlight break through the canopy of this tranquil forest, reflecting off the surface of a small pool and the nearby trees. A hind is visible at the water’s edge, head bent down to drink, while a stag rests on the grass in the foreground.
Although he was regarded as an accomplished landscape painter in his lifetime, Courbet became better known for his figurative paintings – yet landscapes make up more than two-thirds of his body of work. His approach to landscape painting was incredibly modern. He moved away from the traditional use of landscapes as a backdrop for biblical, mythological or historical events, instead using them as an opportunity to depict a feeling of vitality, immediacy and freedom of expression. To achieve this effect he used a variety of tools to apply paint, from a palette knife to his own thumbs.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- In the Forest
- Artist
- Gustave Courbet
- Artist dates
- 1819 - 1877
- Date made
- 1859
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 80 × 99.1 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, The National Gallery, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
- Inventory number
- NG3241
- Location
- On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
NG 3241 was in the collection of novelist George Sand (1804–1876); her sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 23 April 1864, lot 4 (Cerfs dans une forêt), sold for 350 francs; anonymous sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 27 March 1868, lot 40 (Cerfs en forêt, 81 × 98 cm); in the collection of A. Hartmann; his sale, Paris, 10 February 1873, lot 56 (Intérieur de Forêt), 3,208 francs; according to Fernier, NG 3241 was in the collection of the sculptor, painter, poet and art critic Zacharie Astruc (1835–1907) and was lot 10 of his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 11–12 April 1878 (Cerf au Bord d’une Rivière). However, lot 10 of that sale was found to be Chardin, Portrait de Mme Siméon Chardin and there were no other paintings by Courbet; according to Fernier, NG 3241 was in the Walls [sic] Collection in 1878, perhaps Henry Wallis (1805?–1890), owner of the French Gallery until 1871, when he retired in favour of his son Thomas; in the collection of Alexander Reid (1854–1928); his sale, Paris, 10 June 1898, lot 20 (Dans la Forêt), sold for 1,300 francs to Paul Durand‐Ruel (1831–1922); in the collection of James Staats Forbes (1823–1904) by 1901, from whose executors acquired by Sir Hugh Lane (1875–1915) in 1906 or 1907 for £555; Lane Bequest 1917; for a time at the Tate Gallery; transferred 1950.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Sarah Herring, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Nineteenth Century French Paintings’, vol. 1, ‘The Barbizon School’, London 2019; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2006Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2006 - 2019)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane31 December 2006 - 18 April 2021
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2021Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane24 February 2021 - 23 February 2031
Bibliography
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1859Z. Astruc, Les 14 stations du Salon 1859, Paris 1859
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1882P. Eudel, L'Hôtel Drouot et la curiosité en 1881 jusqu'en 1888, 9 vols, Paris 1882
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1906G. Riat, Gustave Courbet: Peintre, Paris 1906
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1929C. Léger, Courbet, Paris 1929
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1932T. Bodkin, Hugh Lane and his Pictures, Dublin 1932
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1941L. Venturi, Peintres modernes: Goya, Constable, David, Ingres, Delacroix, Corot, Daumier, Courbet, Paris 1941
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1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
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1970Davies, Martin, and Cecil Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc., London 1970
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1973R. Bonniot, Gustave Courbet en Saintonge, Paris 1973
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1975K. Herding, 'Egalität und Autorität in Courbet's Landschaftsmalerei', Städel-Jahrbuch, V, 1975, pp. 159-99
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1977R. Fernier, La vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Courbet: Catalogue raisonné, 2 vols, Paris 1977
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1978M. Brötje, 'Das Bild als Parabel: Sur Landschaftsmalerei Gustave Courbets', Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen, XXIII, 1978, pp. 75-106
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1981A.M. Wagner, 'Courbet's Landscapes and Their Market', Art History, IV, 1981, pp. 410-31
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1990M. Fried, Courbet's Realism, Chicago 1990
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1991K. Herding, Courbet: To Venture Independent, New Haven 1991
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1994C. Phillips, 'National Gallery, II: Sir Hugh Lane's Pictures', in J. House, Impressionism for England: Samuel Courtauld as Patron and Collector, London 1994
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2019Herring, Sarah, National Gallery Catalogues: The Nineteenth Century French Paintings, 1, The Barbizon School, London 2019
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
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