Shop art print and framed art L'homme blessé by Gustave Courbet

The Wounded Man was painted by Gustave Courbet between 1844 and 1854. It measures 81.5 × 97.5 cm and is kept at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. This painting is one of Gustave Courbet's many self-portraits. It was painted in 1844 and originally depicted the artist dozing on a tree, a younger man and a woman, probably his great love Virginie Binet, leaning over his shoulder. In 1854, after a break-up with his lover, Gustave Courbet reworked the painting, replacing the woman with a sword and adding a bloodstain over her heart as a sign of sadness. Courbet kept this oil painting until his death in 1877. After forming part of the collection of Juliette Courbet, Gustave's sister, L'Homme blessé was acquired by the French state at an auction at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris. Initially, the work was exhibited at the Louvre, before being transferred to the Musée d'Orsay in 1986. Courbet made a copy (79.5 x 99.5 cm) of this painting in 1866, which is currently on show at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Leaning against a tree, a man with his eyes closed appears to be dozing. In his hand, he holds a piece of the cloak that covers him. The bloodstain on his shirt, level with his heart, and the sword at his side, suggest a duel gone wrong. In a letter to his friend Proudhon, he explained: "True beauty can only be found in suffering (...). That is why my dying duellist is beautiful. When we scanned the canvas, we realised that there were in fact three successive paintings. The first was a [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the realism style.

 

« L'homme blessé » is kept at Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of L'homme blessé by Gustave Courbet on Wikipedia.