Gustave Courbet

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 recent exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Courbet’s interest in landscape painting from 1861 to 1865 increased four times that of the previous years (M. Morgan, Courbet and the Modern Landscape, exh. cat., Los Angeles, 2006, p. 4).  Dated 1865, the present painting coincides with this rich period in Courbet’s landscape production.  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 his trademark splashes of stippled paint, this time in a palette of russet-orange to represent the dry autumn leaves.   While not depicting a landmark known by a proper name, such as the Source of the Loue, Courbet was still inspired to paint a recognizable scene – the first tree announcing to the world that autumn has arrived.