Museum Folkwang is dedicating a major retrospective – I, Gustave Courbet. Painter and Rebel – to one of the most influential artists of the 19th century. From 17 July to 8 November 2026, the Museum Folkwang will be exhibiting 100 works from all periods of the French artist’s career – including 85 paintings. The exhibition is complemented by drawings by the artist, as well as a carefully curated selection of historical photographs and contemporary documents.
The exhibition focuses on Gustave Courbet’s (1819–1877) significance as a pioneer of modern painting. Courbet was not only an artistic innovator, but also helped shape a new self-image of the artist as an independent, outspoken and public figure. He rejected the idealised aesthetics of his time and instead depicted the lives of ordinary people and social reality in his art.
Courbet viewed painting as a form of resistance: his approach to traditional pictorial genres and his painting technique, which often allows the material presence of the paint to shine through, make him one of the most important exponents of realism. Courbet grew to became a role model for subsequent generations of artists far beyond France’s borders.
The extensive exhibition in Essen features around 90 works, including major pieces such as Le Fou de peur (1844), L’Après-dînée à Ornans (1849), Jo, la belle Irlandaise (1866), L’Origine du Monde (1866) and L’Homme à la pipe (1849). Spanning some 900 square metres, the exhibition brings together loans from international museums and collections, including Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Nasjonalmuseet in Oslo, Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin and Musée Fabre in Montpellier as well as from numerous private collections.
The Retrospective
For Museum Folkwang, the retrospective presents a unique opportunity: it ties in with the museum’s significant collection of French art. For example, Cézanne’s The Bibémus Quarry from the Folkwang Collection in Essen will be shown alongside works by Courbet. This allows visitors in Essen to experience first-hand Courbet’s influence on the development of modern painting.
The exhibition’s nine sections are devoted to the key stages of the artist’s life and the central themes of his work. It explores key motifs in Courbet’s extensive oeuvre: self-image and landscape, social reality, the public sphere, nude depictions as well as politics and exile.
The exhibition opens with Courbet’s striking self-portraits, which trace his development from a young, as yet largely unknown artist to a central figure in the French art world. He portrays himself as a rebel, a dreamer or a loner, thereby consciously shaping his public image as an artist. Major works such as Le Fou de peur reveal just how closely his self-image and artistic programme were intertwined from the very beginning.
Another focus is on the landscapes of his home region, Franche-Comté, around his birthplace, Ornans. Courbet saw direct observation of nature as a means of depicting reality and of approaching an unadulterated truth through his painting. The landscapes, rock formations, caves and waterfalls became the starting point for his new conception of nature. With his material-focused, impasto style of painting, Courbet developed a visual language that paved the way for modernism.
Equally influential are Courbet’s depictions of social reality. Works such as L’Après-dînée à Ornans mark his radical break with academic ideals: instead of historical or mythological subjects, the focus shifts to everyday people and social reality.
Courbet’s conflict-ridden relationship with the Academy and the Salon, as well as his deliberate assertion of his independence as an artist, are the focus of the following sections of the exhibition. Hunting scenes and seascapes reveal his fascination with nature in all its forms: from dramatic depictions of animals to the powerful wave scenes of the French coastline.
A separate gallery is devoted to portraits and nudes of women. Courbet broke away from the ideals of academic beauty and depicted women with a directness that was unprecedented at the time.
Rather than idealised beauty, the focus is on real physicality, the materiality of the painting style and the immediacy of the figures. At the same time, he draws on traditional pictorial conventions and develops them further – for example in Jo, la belle Irlandaise or L’Origine du Monde, in which Courbet radicalises the directness of the nude and focuses exclusively on the female genitalia.
A separate chapter explores Courbet’s engagement with the then-fledgling art of photography: historical photographs by leading French photographers such as Gustave Le Gray and Henri Le Secq, drawn from the Museum Folkwang’s internationally renowned photographic collection, are juxtaposed with Courbet’s landscapes, seascapes and still lifes. These comparisons open up new perspectives on Courbet’s artistic vision and reveal the close links between painting and the medium of photography.
The exhibition then explores Courbet’s political activism during the Paris Commune and his conviction. It concludes with works from his exile in Switzerland. These works speak of the loss of his homeland and the melancholy of his final years, yet at the same time of the unbroken creative energy of an artist whose influence extends well into the modern era.
“The exhibition presents Courbet as a driven figure who took on various roles, studied the history of painting, revitalised art and strove for success – not by conforming, but as a rebel and revolutionary – in art as in life. The fact that so many exceptional international loans from museums and private collections are coming to Essen is a great success and the result of close collaboration with the Leopold Museum in Vienna and numerous lenders,” says Peter Gorschlüter, Director of the Museum Folkwang.
IMAGES
01 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Sister Juliette, c. 1840 Oil on canvas | 22 × 27 cm Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal Photo: Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal/Medienzentrum Wuppertal
02 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Self-Portrait or Man with a Dog, 1842 Oil on canvas | 27.5 × 22 cm Collection Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Pontarlier – France Photo: 28 A 88 – Collection Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Pontarlier – France
03 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Portrait of Paul Ansout, 1844 Oil on canvas | 61 × 65.2 cm Musée de Dieppe Photo: C2RMF/Thomas Clot
04 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Man Mad with Fear, c. 1844 Oil on canvas | 60.5 × 50 cm The National Museum of Norway Photo: Nasjonalmuseet/Børre Høstland
05 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Sculptor, also called The Poet, 1845 Oil on canvas | 55.9 × 41.9 cm Private collection Photo: 2024 Christie’s Images Limited
06 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Man with the Leather Belt. Portrait of the Artist, 1845/46 Oil on canvas | 105 × 81.2 cm Paris, musée d’Orsay Photo: GrandPalaisRmn (musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski
07 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Young Man Sitting, Study. Self-Portrait at the Easel, 1847 Charcoal on paper | 45 × 34 cm Paris, musée d’Orsay, conservé au cabinet des arts graphiques du musée du Louvre Photo: GrandPalaisRmn (musée d’Orsay)/Thierry Le Mage
08 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 After Dinner at Ornans, 1849 Oil on canvas | 195 × 257 cm Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts Photo: GrandPalaisRmn (PBA, Lille)/Philipp Bernard
09 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 L’Homme à la pipe | Der Mann mit der Pfeife, um 1849 Öl auf Leinwand | 45,8 × 37,8 cm Musée Fabre, Montpellier Foto: Musée Fabre de Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole/Frédéric Jaulmes
09 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Man with a Pipe, c. 1849 Oil on canvas | 45.8 × 37.8 cm Musée Fabre, Montpellier Photo: Musée Fabre de Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole/Frédéric Jaulmes
10 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Stone Breakers, c. 1849 Oil on canvas | 75.1 × 84 cm The Swiss Confederation, Federal Office of Culture, Oskar Reinhart Collection “Am Römerholz,” Winterthur Photo: The Swiss Confederation, Federal Office of Culture, Oskar Reinhart Collection “Am Römerholz,” Winterthur
11 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Meeting or Bonjour Monsieur Courbet, 1854 Oil on canvas | 132.4 × 151 cm Musée Fabre, Montpellier Photo: Musée Fabre de Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole/Frédéric Jaulmes
12 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Stag at the Water or The Cornered Stag, 1861 Oil on canvas | 220 × 275 cm Marseille, musée des Beaux-Arts Photo: Ville de Marseille, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn/Jean Bernard
13 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Nude Woman with a Dog, 1861/62 Oil on canvas | 65.5 × 81 cm Paris, musée d’Orsay Photo: GrandPalaisRmn (musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski
14 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Source of the Lison, c. 1864 Oil on canvas | 66.5 × 80.5 cm Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie Photo: bpk/Nationalgalerie, SMB/Andres Kilger
15 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Manbouc Valley, 1865/66 Oil on canvas | 54.5 × 73 cm Leopold Museum, Vienna Photo: Leopold Museum, Vienna
16 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Calm, Seascape, 1865–1867 Oil on canvas | 45 × 54.5 cm Ville de Lons-le-Saunier, musée des Beaux-Arts, France Photo: Collection Musée de Lon-le-Saunier/Jean-Loup Mathieu
17 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Origin of the World, 1866 Oil on canvas | 46.3 × 55.4 cm Paris, musée d’Orsay Photo: GrandPalaisRmn (musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski
18 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Sleepers, 1866 Oil on canvas | 135 × 200 cm Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris Photo: Paris Musées/Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris
19 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Wounded Man, 1866 Oil on canvas | 79.5 × 99.5 cm Belvedere, Vienna Photo: Belvedere, Vienna
21 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Coastal Landscape, 1866 Oil on canvas | 46.2 × 55.6 cm Leopold Museum, Vienna Photo: Leopold Museum, Vienna
22 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Waterspout, 1867 Oil on canvas | 65.4 × 81.2 cm Collection M. Urbain, Paris Photo: Collection M. Urbain, Paris
23 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Portrait of the Poet Pierre Dupont, 1868 Oil on canvas | 54.5 × 40.5 cm Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe Photo: Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
24 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Sculptor Marcello (Duchess of Castiglione-Colonna), 1870 Oil on canvas | 60.2 × 49.3 cm Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims Photo: Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims/Christian Devleeschauwer
25 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 The Wave, 1870 Oil on canvas | 45 × 59 cm Museum Folkwang, Essen Photo: Museum Folkwang, Essen
26 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Self-Portrait in Sainte-Pélagie, 1872 Oil on canvas | 92.5 × 73.4 cm Musée départemental Gustave Courbet, Ornans Photo: Musée départemental Gustave Courbet/Pierre Guenat
27 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Trout, 1872 Oil on canvas | 52.5 × 87 cm Kunsthaus Zürich, 1936 Photo: Kunsthaus Zürich
28 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Chillon Castle, 1874 Oil on canvas | 64.8 × 80.7 cm Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Belfort Photo: Musées de Belfort/Philippe Martin
29 | GUSTAVE COURBET 1819–1877 Panorama of the Alps, c. 1876 Oil on canvas | 63.2 × 140 cm MAH Musée d’art et d’histoire, Ville de Genève Photo: Musée d’art et d’histoire, Ville de Genève/Bettina Jacot-Descombes
