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, French, 1815-1879
Title
La Peinture Réaliste
Date1865
MediumOil on panel
Dimensions
56 x 45 cm
Signedlower left: UN REALISTE/ T C 1865
Credit LinePresented, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, 1950
Object numberNGI.4220
DescriptionThe history painter Thomas Couture ran a successful atelier in Paris from 1847 to 1860. His studio attracted students from all over Europe and North America, among them Edouard Manet and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Couture, whose teaching methods were less rigid than those of the École des Beaux-Arts, placed an emphasis on the use of colour and fluid brushwork.
This painting satirises young artists who followed the Realist style pioneered by Gustave Courbet. Such artists sought subjects in modern life rather than in historical accounts or in literature. Here, a young painter sketches a pig’s head. He sits on an antique cast, an indication of his disregard for historical art and for Academic conventions. Mundane objects like the cabbage and boot hanging in the background reinforce this idea, while items such as the umbrella and knapsack suggest that he likes to venture outdoors to paint directly from nature. In his book Méthode et Entretiens d’Atelier (1867), Couture described this youthful Realist as ‘fervent’ and ‘a visionary of the new religion’.

March 2016
ProvenanceM. Leblanc-Barbedienne; Vanderbilt collection, New York; Sir Alfred Chester Beatty; presented, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, 1950 Exhibition HistoryExhibition of the Chester Beatty Collection, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1950

The Irish Impressionists, Irish Artists in France and Belgium, 1850-1914, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 9 October - 18 November 1984; Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1 February - 10 March 1985

La Peinture francaise du XIXe siècle, Collection Chester Beatty de la Galerie Nationale d'Irlande, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Calais; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper; Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, 1989

Nathaniel Hone the Younger, 1831-1917, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 19 June - 4 August 1991

Chester Beatty: The Paintings, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 7 September 2012 - 31 August 2013; The Hunt Museum, Limerick, 1 February - 30 March 2014

Von Poussin bis Monet. Die Farben Frankreichs, The Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Remagen, 22 March - 6 September 2015; Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg, 10 October 2015 - 17 January 2016




Label TextThe history painter, Thomas Couture, ran a successful atelier in Paris during the 1850s. In this picture, he satirises the young artists who followed the Realist style pioneered by Gustave Courbet. Realist painters found inspiration in the world around them rather than in historical or literary subjects. Here, a young painter sketches a pig’s head while sitting on an antique cast. The umbrella and knapsack suggest that he likes to paint outdoors - en plein air. The array of mundane studio props such as the cabbage and boot further reveal his disregard for Academic conventions.