Gustave Courbet

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work has been restored. The restoration seems reasonably competent, although a re-examination of the retouching could be beneficial. The canvas has an old French glue lining. The paint layer is fairly clean and heavily varnished. Under ultraviolet light, one can see numerous small spots of retouching beneath the varnish throughout the composition, with the only real focus being in one spot in the upper left quadrant above the branch of the tree. These retouches address very small paint losses that occurred over time, partly because of abrasion in cleaning and partly because of instability to the paint layer. The retouches are not particularly specific. While retouching is probably necessary, a more careful and focused effort would be beneficial, given the unique character of the artist's technique. Courbet used a palette knife and did not aim to cover the canvas in a traditional way. Therefore, some of this retouching may well be unnecessary. However, the work could also be hung in its current state.
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The present lot is similar in subject and composition to Paysage de la Région d’Ornans (circa 1869-70) in the National Gallery of Prague (RF 731).  The interesting rock formations of the Franche-Comté appear with great frequency in Courbet’s landscapes executed around Ornans, however when Jean-Jacques Fernier examined this painting in 2002 he proposed that the setting was more likely to have been from the Saintonge region near the Roche-Courbon.  Fernier speculated that this landscape was inspired by Courbet’s 1863 trip to Saintonge, and that the artist was so captivated by the area’s dramatic cliffs, that he recreated them in the context of his Ornans landscapes when he returned home.  However, most of Courbet’s landscapes with rock formations and winding streams were inspired by the terrain of the Franche-Comté, a region in France that is well-known for such natural landmarks and is therefore more likely to be the setting of this painting.

Please note that this lot is sold unframed.