Self-Portrait with Upraised Arm c. 1840

Here we see Gustave Courbet's "Self-Portrait with Upraised Arm," created with graphite on paper. Courbet lived through a period of profound political and social upheaval in France, including the 1848 Revolution and the rise of the Paris Commune. This drawing reflects his identity as a radical and a rebel. The upward-pointing arm can be seen as a gesture of defiance or aspiration. Courbet challenges the traditional conventions of portraiture by presenting himself as a man of action. The rendering of his physique is a raw, sensual celebration of the human body. Note how Courbet subverts the established norms of academic art, instead embracing Realism to depict the world and himself as he saw it. As Courbet once said: "Painting is essentially a concrete art and can only consist of the representation of real and existing things." This self-portrait stands as an assertion of artistic independence and a statement of personal conviction.