Gustave Chaudey (Primary Title)

Gustave Courbet, French, 1819 - 1877 (Artist)

1868
French
oil on canvas
Unframed: 22 × 18 in. (55.88 × 45.72 cm)
Framed: 27 1/2 × 24 in. (69.85 × 60.96 cm)
84.43
This modest portrait is an important document of both a friendship and a violent political period in the history of France. Gustave Chaudey represented Courbet in business and legal affairs as his lawyer. Both men supported the socialist reformist government called the Paris Commune that ruled Paris in 1871, however, the Commune suspected Chaudey of treason and subsequently imprisoned him. Courbet argued unsuccessfully for his release and Chaudey was executed on May 29, 1871, just six days prior to the fall of the Communard government.
Signed and dated lower left: "1868 / Gustave Courbet"
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
2019-2020: "Van Gogh Monet Degas, The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", Palazzo Zabarella, Padua, Italy, October 26, 2019 - March 1, 2020

2019-2021: Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, and Their Times: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN, February 2 - May 5, 2019; Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, April 4, 2020 - January 10, 2021

2018: "Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", The Frick Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, March 17 - July 15, 2018; Oklahoma Museum of Art, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, June 22 - September 22, 2019
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC

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