art homework 1000 words

1. Let’s look at Courbet’s Stonebreakers. Consider the following statement with regard to the painting:” Courbet’s Stonebreakersscandalised the Salon-goers of 1850. Inspired by the “complete expression of human misery” in an encounter with an old road worker in tattered clothes and his young assistant, Courbet asked them to pose for him in his studio. Painting the road workers life size on a large canvas, Courbet showed them absorbed in their task, faceless and anonymous, dulled by the relentless, numbingly repetitive task of breaking stone to build a road. Unflaggingly honest, Courbet, much like Caravaggio in the seventeenth century, violated rules of artistic propriety by setting every detail his lowborn workers’ wretched state before the viewer.”

 Source:Gifford, K. (2000, March 14). Emily Dickinson [Online].

2. This painting seems to have some mystery attached to it. Here we see what looks like a woman being dressed for a happy occasion but upon further inspection it was revealed that it was originally nothing of the sort.  Read this article and look closely at the details of the central figure.

Additional questions to consider:

Do you think this painting was changed by someone other than the artist? If so, should art restorers try to “fix” it? 

Please explain why you think the changes were made.

Does one have the right to change a work of art because they own it?

Should the work still be considered a Courbet?

Does the change affect the value of the work

http://www.gustave-courbet.com/dressing-the-dead-girl.jsp

Dressing the Dead Girl, 1850’s by Gustave Courbet

3. How does Courbet’s Stonebreakers compare to this work of Realism from the 1850s. Let’s look at Millet’s Woman with a Rake in comparison.

Woman with a Rake, probably 1856–57Jean–François Millet (French, 1814–1875)Oil on canvas; 15 5/8 x 13 1/2 in. (39.7 x 34.3 cm)Signed (lower right): J.F. MilletGift of Stephen C. Clark, 1938 (38.75)