The Source at Ornans 1873

Gustave Courbet painted The Source at Ornans using oil on canvas. Courbet was famous for his down-to-earth approach. He didn't idealize his subjects, but instead focused on the real world around him. Look closely, and you’ll see how he used layers of paint to build up the scene. The brushstrokes are visible, giving the landscape a sense of texture and depth. The painting captures a moment in time, a specific place, and the artist’s direct experience of it. In this work, Courbet engaged with traditions of landscape painting, but he brought to it a new level of detail, making the landscape and experience of it more immediate for the viewer. It is important to consider how Courbet saw art as a way to connect with everyday life. By focusing on materiality, making, and the social context, we get a fuller understanding of his artistic vision and the world he lived in.