Gustave Courbet

Sale: Paris, April 20, 1874, lot 10
E. and J. von Wisselingh, Amsterdam
Leonardus Nardens, Amsterdam (and sold: Amsterdam, Frederick Muller, June 19, 1917, lot 27)
G. A. con Hayden, Amsterdam
Sale: Sotheby's, London, April 3, 1974, lot 60
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, October 31, 2000, lot 21
Private Collector (acquired at the above sale and sold, Sotheby's, New York, October 24, 2006, lot 183)

London, The Dowdeswell Gallery, 195 Masterpieces by the Great Dutch and French Romanticists, 1889
Ornans, Museé Départemental Gustave Courbet, 2001-2004

Robert Fernier, Le vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Courbet: Catalogue Raisonné, Paris and Lucerne, 1978, vol. I, no. 480, p. 258, illustrated 

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work is technically very typical of Courbet’s work. The paint is almost exclusively applied with a palette knife. The original canvas appears to have been joined horizontally about 3 ½ inches from the top edge, and a faint line across the top edge is visible suggesting this canvas join. The painting is lined, and the paint layer seems to be cleaned. No retouching is visible to the naked eye and there is no evident weakness to the paint layer. Some dark patches can be seen in the sky under ultraviolet light; some of these areas may correspond to retouching, particularly to the seam in the canvas near the top edge. However, a lot of this slightly darker color under ultraviolet light may correspond to original paint. The restoration is good, and it is recommended that the work be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The French countryside provided an ongoing source of inspiration and subject matter for Courbet throughout his entire career.  The mountains, cliffs, valleys, streams, waterfalls and quiet pools of the Franche-Comté covered in winter snow or reflected in summer sunlight, to the giant oak trees of Fontainebleau, all played a role in Courbet’s extensive repertoire of landscapes. As stated in the catalogue for the exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Courbet’s production of landscape paintings from 1861 to 1865 increased four times that of the previous years (Mary Morgan, Courbet and the Modern Landscape, exh. cat., Los Angeles, 2006, p. 4). Dated 1865, the present painting coincides with this rich period.  It is not possible to identify the site because there are no recognizable landmarks, as was so often the case with Courbet’s  Franche-Conté, Fontainebleau or Saintonge paintings.  Judging from the rust-colored leaves, which are turning on the central tree, it is most likely early autumn.  The change of seasons has thus provided Courbet with an opportunity to use bold brushwork, this time in a palette of russet-orange to represent the dry autumn leaves.