In this insightful book, Chu (who edited and translated Gustave Courbet's letters) examines how the painter (1819–1877) used the press to market his work. Courbet, who once called himself "the proudest and most arrogant man in France," relished any kind of publicity and courted journalists, critics and editors who reviewed his work and published letters in which he explained his paintings and expounded his antiestablishment philosophy. He claimed that art could not be taught and that it should not be controlled by the state, and his paintings often attacked such institutions as the church and the academy. Analyzing many of these paintings, Chu shows how their subtly subversive content caused public debate while eluding the censors. Courbet's proudest moment came in 1870, when he refused a knighthood cross in the French Legion of Honor and published a letter saying that the state was "incompetent in matters of art." But facing punishment for participating in the riots of 1871, he fled to Switzerland and died there several years later. Chu's brilliant study of Courbet's paintings and marketing strategies sheds much light on his work and the artistic milieu of the 19th century. B&w and color illus.
(May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Chu details the rise, the fall, and the tireless machinations of art's first recognizably modern careerist.... In Chu's telling, Courbet seems to have done nothing without an eye to the main chance. He took pains to advertise his prominence in republican literary and artistic circles--the distinguished as well as the delectably louche. He made much of knowing the celebrated anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon ('Property is theft!'), upon whose death, in 1865, he made a nostalgic portrait that was not only splendid but pantingly opportunistic.... Chu's most original analysis of Courbet's reputation in his day concerns its mixed effects on a newly 'bi-gendered' public. -- Peter Schjeldahl, New Yorker
Will surely become essential for all future Courbet studies...The title of Chu's book is self-explanatory, but in the exploration of her theme, she inevitably casts light on the artist's character. -- John Golding, New York Review of Books
[Chu's] enjoyable account shows how little we know about Courbet's intentions and procedures....[Her] richly illustrated study suggests a mind whose curious complexities were expressed only in paint. -- Graham Robb, Times Literary Supplement
In this insightful book, Chu (who edited and translated Gustave Courbet's letters) examines how the painter (1819-1877) used the press to market his work. . . . Chu's brilliant study of Courbet's paintings and marketing strategies sheds much light on his work and the artistic milieu of the 19th century. -- Publishers Weekly
A study of how Courbet wisely perceived himself to be witnessing new technologies that could, if properly integrated and exploited, further rather than threaten his vision. -- George Fetherling, Seven Oaks Magazine
In
The Most Arrogant Man in France Petra Ten-Doesschate Chu takes up Courbet's relationship with the growing number of newspapers and journals of 19th-century France, and he shows how this clever artist made use of a very willing media to make his name a household word in France and elsewhere in Europe, and to increase the sales of his paintings...The best part of Ms. Chu's amply illustrated book deals with Courbet's strongest work. In his series of self-portraits...she traces Courbet's shedding of the Romantic conventions of his youth and his development (in his own words) into 'a man confident in his principles, a free man.' -- Stephen Goode, Washington Times
Petra Chu, a renowned expert on Courbet and editor of the
Letters of Gustave Courbet (1992), presents a fascinating portrait of the media-conscious young artist....Chu's well-illustrated book offers readers not only a deeper understanding of this extraordinarily versatile activist-artist but also of the complex social and economic milieus in which he worked. -- Peter Skinner, ForeWord
With this book, Chu adds to her reputation as a leading scholar of Courbet and of 19th-century French art in general...Well illustrated and a pleasure to read, Chu's book is sure to inspire further research on the role of the popular press in the development of modern art. -- D.E. Gliem, Choice
[Chu] seeks to replace the long-standing image of the artist as a heroic
artiste engagé with a more complicated picture of the man and his art . . . Chu's book holds out the promise of a fascinating rereading of the artist and his work. . . . What we are left with, by the end of Chu's book, is a picture of Courbet as a cynical operator, ready to exploit the press and the burgeoning audience for provocative, antiestablishment art, and who pursues fame for fame's sake. -- Aruna D'Souza, Art Bulletin
[W]ell-researched, perceptive, and beautifully illustrated text. . . . Chu's book is an important new contribution to the field of nineteenth-century art. It will undoubtedly become a key text for scholars grappling with the mysteries and ambiguities at the heart of Courbet's work. -- Gretchen Sinnett, CAA Reviews
