Stilleven met appels
1871 - 1872
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
48; 59; 10; 85.5; 74.5
About this artwork
olieverf op doek
Art Historical Context
Gustave Courbet’s “Stilleven met appels” (Still Life with Apples) offers a quiet yet powerful example of the artist’s realist approach. Painted between 1871 and 1872, the modest oil-on-canvas work measures just 59 by 48 centimeters, inviting viewers to linger over the simple arrangement of fruit. Courbet, a leading figure of the Realist movement, rejected idealized subjects in favor of direct observation, rendering the apples with tangible weight, subtle color shifts, and the soft play of light across their skins. The choice of oil paint allowed Courbet to build rich textures and depth, captu...
About the Artist
Gustave Courbet · 1819–1877
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was a French painter who revolutionized 19th-century art as the founding figure of the Realism movement. Born in Ornans, a small town in the Doubs region of France, Courbet came from a prosperous farming family with anti-monarchical roots—his maternal grandfather had participated in the French Revolution. This background shaped his lifelong commitment to dep...