Grotto of Sarrazine near Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne Gm-25274101

Gustave Courbet (French, 1819–1877) To create a living art, that is my aim.
--Gustave Courbet

Through a dynamic composition and radical painting technique, Gustave Courbet emphasized the specific qualities of this primordial cave in his native region of the Jura Mountains in eastern France. Earthy hues and textures swirl around a tunnel-like entrance, drawing attention to the clear blue stream running through it. Two large boulders stand before the vortex, several feet from a wall hugged by delicate scaffolding. To mimic the cavern's craggy and colorful surfaces, Courbet used palette knives to apply and scrape off paint and brushes to mix drying paint in with wet.

Like many tourists and scientists of his day, Courbet was probably drawn to the grotto for its geological interest. In the mid-1860s, he frequently painted caves as a means to explore composition and technique freely, and to demonstrate his strong belief that artistic subjects should be rooted in one's lived experience. He saw the basis of Realism as "the denial of the ideal," the rejection of established classical subjects and a refined style. He chose instead, to paint only what he could see.

Our Cards are all printed on 100% cotton tree-free archival paper. All Cards include a recycled kraft envelope in a protective sleeve individually hand wrapped for you. Each card is printed one at a time and hand bound here in Lugano, Switzerland. We ship all over the world via SwissPost. Please allow 5-9 business days for us to make them and 5-7 business days for transit. Art Prints are printed on heavy matte finish German art paper using the finest Canon archival inks. Frame is black natural with a white mattboard and Acrylite glazing.

Wall Murals are printed on 42" matte finish, self-adhesive Kodak PhotoText fabric panels that combine and mount easily on a non textured wall surface. We can custom make to any size, just ask.

Stretched Canvas is stretched by hand over 1.5" thick pine bars and printed on cotton poly matte finish canvas. Each canvas is hand coated with Hahnemuhle UV/Archive coating, these are Swiss quality best in industry canvases.

All our images are digitized from the original negative, printed and assembled in Switzerland to museum standards by our master printer.

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Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.