The Source of the Loue

Gustave Courbet, a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting, was born on this day in 1819. He rejected academic convention and the Romanticism of the previous generation of visual artists. His independence set an important example for later artists like the Impressionists and the Cubists.

Although he is widely known for his works with a social commentary, today we will present one of his amazing landscapes.

Courbet frequently painted the dramatic spring grotto of the Loue River, a tributary of the Doubs that runs through his hometown of Ornans in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. This natural formation, with its rugged rocks and rushing water, became one of his favored motifs. In a letter to his dealer Luquet in the spring of 1864, Courbet noted: “I’ve been to the source of the Loue these last days and made four landscapes” likely referring to this series. Painted between 1863 and 1864, the four works—known collectively as The Source of the Loue—depict the river as it flows beneath steep cliffs and into rocky grottoes. These paintings show Courbet’s Realist approach and his naturalist sensibility, emphasizing the unidealized power and texture of the landscape. His distinctive use of a palette knife to apply thick layers of pigment gives the scenes a tactile, almost sculptural quality.

P.S. 19th-century Realism was controversial and short-lived but it produced some memorable artworks. Discover Realism in 10 paintings!

P.P.S. Do you know that Edgar Degas considered himself to be a Realist? Learn more in our French Impressionism Mega Online Course!