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Gustave Courbet

 


Gustave Courbet, The Desperate Man, 1843–45

CONTEXT CLUES:

Courbet started this self-portrait when he was 24 and struggling to make a name for himself. He was having trouble getting galleries to display his artworks, and he was also struggling to find his own 'style' and decide what kind of art he wanted to make.

Courbet never tried to display or sell this painting. He always kept it in his studio, even when he moved countries. Compare The Desperate Man to Courbet's other self-portraits below. In almost all his other paintings, Courbet looks very confident, almost smug, with his head tilted back slightly. 

Though many knew him as a very confident, successful artist, he later wrote to a friend, "Through this laughing mask that you know me with, I hide the sorrow, the bitterness, and the sadness that grips the heart like a vampire from within."

Other self-portraits by Courbet:










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