Gustave Courbet

Arthur Tooth and Sons, London Alex Reid & Lefevre Ltd., London
Captain S. W. Sykes (acquired from the above March 19, 1943)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum (on permanent loan from Captain Sykes from 21 April 1944 until 1966)

Robert Fernier, La vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Courbet: catalogue raisonné, Lausanne-Paris, 1977, vol. 1, no. 383, pp. 214-215, illustrated

In Larousse’s Grand Dictionnaire Universel, published circa 1870, Courbet is quoted as saying: ''Our mountains are covered with snow, the winter is delightful and I feel full of zest for work.'' It is therefore not surprising that the scenes of winter stand out in Courbet’s vast repertoire of subjects. The snow-covered mountains and hills of his native Franche-Comté provided the perfect setting for him to explore his medium. He captured the textures of the cold terrain around Ornans - from the delicate crystals of newly fallen snow, clinging to trees - to the hard packed layers of several hibernal storms – by using a combination of brushing, rubbing, dabbing and smoothing with a palette knife. Robert Fernier dates this painting to the mid-1860s, placing it in the period of Courbet’s most well known Ornans winter scenes (See RF 375, 381-385, 612-619). Like so many of the winter landscapes from this period, Courbet’s Franche-Comté is inhabited by two lone deer, who take shelter from the cold, beneath a snowy bank.