Letters of Gustave Courbet by Petra ten-Doesschate ChuReview by: Palomba Paves-YashinskyNineteenth-Century French Studies, Vol. 21, No. 3/4 (Spring—Summer 1993), pp. 526-528Published by: University of Nebraska PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23537247 .

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526 Nineteenth-Century French Studies

que lui seul inscrit sur ses colonnes à la hâte mais aussi avec la vibration et la

sincérité du moment (43-44 ).

Constance Gosselin Schick

College of the Holy Cross

Constance Gosselin Schick

ten-Doesschate Chu, Petra. Letters of Gustave Courbet. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1992. Pp. 726.

This volume of the Realist painter Gustave Courbet's correspondence marks a milestone in the history of Courbet Studies; it is an outstanding monu

ment of meticulous scholarship and erudition, complete with an impressive critical apparatus; it is as well an excellent example of the art of translation. Art

historian Petra ten-Doesschate Chu's concern with French Realism and

Courbet is well-known and covers many years; she is the author of a major work

on French Realism and the Dutch Masters (1974). She also edited a volume of

essays on Courbet in the Artists in Perspective series (1977), and is the author of

many other essays and articles dealing with nineteenth century French art. The

volume under review represents more than ten years' work and dedication.

The originality of this work resides mainly in the fact that here for the first

time we are presented with the most complete collection to date of Courbet's

letters in their context, in chronological order and with ample critical notes;

previous critics, biographers and art historians, mentioned by Prof. ten

Doesschate Chu in her "Historical background" had published in the past a

partial number of letters, some in fragmentary form; among these were

Georges Riat (the basic biography of Courbet, 1906), P. Borel, Ch. Léger, P.

Courthion, J. J. Fernier, G. Mack, and others. None of these offer the systemat

ic, complete look at Courbet's correspondence found in the current volume.

The volume contains: an Introduction, which presents a summary of the

contents of the letters, and which includes an "Historical Background" {état

présent) of Courbet's correspondence (1-9); 'The Letters," that is the main body of letters, covering forty years of his life (11-624); a detailed "Chronology" of

Courbet's life, (625-636); an extensive list of "Correspondents and Persons

Frequently Mentioned," (637-663); a list of "Works Mentioned in the Letters

and Notes," (665-682); a "Chronological Inventory of Letters," (683-700); a list of

"References," (701-715); a "General Index," (717-722); and an "Index of

Courbet's Works," (723-726). The book also contains a series of black and white

illustrations, which include reproductions of Courbet's letters, some accompa nied by caricatures that appeared in the press of the time, of his major paint

ings and of a great number of splendid portraits Courbet had done of his

friends. The end-notes to each letter offer a wealth of information and back

ground on all aspects of Courbet's life and work, as well as on the historical,

literary and political events of his time.

Courbet's correspondence is indeed extensive; among his many correspon dents one finds, besides his family, well-known men of letters such as Max

Buchón, the novelist and poet; Champfleury, Realist critic, novelist, early de

fender of Courbet's work (he later broke off his friendship with Courbet);

Castagnary, lawyer, art critic and journalist, Courbet's most loyal and devoted

supporter; Francis Wey, author and close friend; Alfred Bruyas, the wealthy art

collector from Montpellier; the social thinker, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon; and

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Reviews 527

numerous other friends, foes, lawyers, women friends, politicians, art dealers, etc. Overall, the letters provide a richly textured panorama of cultural currents

and events of mid-nineteenth century France, as well as new insights into the

master painter's character and art.

The first period of the correspondence begins with the young Courbet's let

ters to his family in Ornans, written from the "Collège Royal de Besançon" in

the 1830's, and express his unhappiness and complaints concerning the living and learning conditions in the Collège. Then come the letters from Paris, in the

1840's. They describe his beginning struggles in the Parisian art scene, his am

bition, his first successes and his ambivalence at the turmoil caused by the

1848 Revolution. Indeed, Courbet at this time was not involved in the street

fighting: "I don't fight for two reasons. First, because I do not believe in wars

fought with guns and cannon, and because it runs counter to my principles (to

his family, June 26, 1848). And again: 'To each his own: I am a painter and 1

make paintings." The letters written in the 1850's and 1860's cover the pivotal

years in the evolution of his Realism in art, the creation of his major works, the

controversies surrounding his art and personality, and his constant fight

against the official academic establishment. One glimpses the workings of the

Salons and Courbet's struggles. Throughout his mature years, Courbet coura

geously expressed his need for freedom and independence. To A. Bruyas, his

friend and admirer, he wrote a description of the well-known stormy meeting and quarrel with the Count of Nieuwerkerke, the Superintendent of the Fine

Arts Administration, who had asked the artist to "renounce his ways" of Realist

art. Courbet shocked the minister with his rage and rebellious stance: "Sir, I am

the proudest and most arrogant man in France" (Oct. 1853). The numerous let

ters to A. Bruyas are particularly revealing, since they show Courbet's great

sensitivity, psychological insight and capacity for friendship. In Nov-Dec. 1854, he wrote to Bruyas in a moment of sadness: "Behind the laughing mask that

you are familiar with, I hide, deep down, grief, bitterness, and a sorrow that

clings to the heart like a vampire." Other letters, such as those written to J.-P.

Proudhon, express a variety of aphorisms on art, morality and ethics, which

Courbet hoped to see included in Proudhon's famous treatise on art: Du

principe de l'art et de sa destination sociale (1865). Some of the letters of these

years contain descriptions of his paintings, their meaning, and the creative

process; others tell of his many trips, to Holland, Belgium, Frankfurt,

Montpellier, Normandy, etc., places where Courbet was received in triumph and feted with honors and decorations. Occasionally one comes across letters

to his mistresses, and to women friends, such as Lydie Joliclerc, his confidante.

His attitude towards women (except for his sisters, patrons and close friends) is

ambivalent and at times scornful: "... women should concern themselves only with cabbage soup and housekeeping" (letter to Max Buchón, 1868); marriage is not for him, it is "reactionary." Money matters and concerns, business deals, law-suits over sales of paintings are topics which also reoccur frequently

throughout his correspondence. The last period, letters written in the 1870's, deal primarily with the stormy

years in Courbet's life: the Franco-Prussian war, the Commune, the infamous

episode of the destruction of the Vendôme column, his imprisonment, exile

and final illness. His most steady correspondents in those years were: his family

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528 Nineteenth-Century French Studies

(his father and sister Juliette), his friend, author and patron, Etienne Baudry and his devoted friend Castagnary, whom Courbet trusted completely with all

his practical and financial affairs. The story of Courbet's involvement in the

Commune and in the "déboulonnement" of the Vendôme column is well

known; so are the persecution, trials and accusations made by the vengeful Versailles government, which will ultimately lead to Courbet's defeat and

death. Bitterness and distress now fill his letters. To his sister Juliette he writes:

"It doesn't take many years like this to age a man. It is that unspeakable

Napoléon who is the cause of everything." (March 1872). To Castagnary he

writes: "In spite of my efforts,... the court had decreed that I was responsible for the fall of the Column." Despite numerous appeals and letters to ministers,

despite his desperate efforts to prove his innocence, Courbet loses and in the

struggle, becomes gravely ill: "1 have consulted every possible doctor ..."

(Nov. 1877), he writes to a friend. Dropsy, caused partly by heavy drinking,

compounded by sorrow will finally kill him. He writes (dictates) a moving letter

to Castagnary shortly before his death in Switzerland: "And now, my dear

Castagnary, I take leave of you, expressing the wish . . . that our unhappy coun

try will soon emerge from the terrible crisis it is going through." (Dec. 12, 1877).

The letters of these "dark" years are deeply moving, they allow us to follow

closely the tragic effects of his involvement in the Commune, the injustices and

personal pain inflicted on him.

Finally, with regard to the quality of the translation: it is highly readable,

polished, faithful, and idiomatic. Petra ten-Doesschate Chu captured the tone

and flavor of the original texts; she also, at the same time, corrected Courbet's

notorious errors in syntax and spelling. (For a look at Courbet's letters in their

original form, I refer you to Courbet familier, the Catalogue of the exhibit in

Ornans, 28 June-2 Nov., 1980, organized by "Les Amis de Gustave Courbet.")

One could perhaps wish that, as part of the "Editorial Principles," stated at the

book's beginning, a few comments had been included on the various problems and difficulties encountered in the translating process, and how they had been

solved.

What emerges then from a careful reading of Courbet's correspondence is

a complex, multi-faceted and engaging personality, firmly rooted in its time

and society; a powerful voice, in turn enthusiastic, boastful, affectionate, indig

nant, angry, petty, arrogant, humorous, yet sincere and individualistic. The

style is most often conversational and natural, but can also be highly lyrical,

poetic, as in his descriptions of nature, dramatic and at times even philosophi cal. One can only agree with Petra ten-Doesschate Chu's opinion that these let

ters do indeed have literary merit and prove that Courbet was more cultured

and better read than what the traditional view of him would suggest. Petra ten

Doesschate Chu is to be congratulated for producing this splendid volume and

placing it at our disposal; it is a crucial tool not only for art historians, Courbet

specialists, but also for all those interested in the "bataille réaliste", its major

figures and background, the political turmoil of the Second Empire, the

Franco-Prussian war, the early Third Republic, and the entire social, historical,

economic and philosophical climate of the period.

Palomba Paves-Yashinsky Université York University

Palomba Paves-Yashinsky

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