Gustave Courbet’s Pavilion of Realism

In what Hans Ulrich Obrist considers the birth of Modernism, Gustave Courbet erected—at his own expense—the Pavilion of Realism in 1855, eight years prior to the Salon des Refusés. Courbet’s earlier rejection of Salon authority came after his works were excluded from the official Salon following a public dispute with Comte Nieuwerkerke, its influential superintendent of fine arts. The exhibition was either a bold act of defiance against the restrictive artistic norms of his time or the result of a petty beef. It was intentionally set directly adjacent to the prestigious Universal Exposition in Paris from which Courbet’s work was also rejected due to his spat with Nieuwerkerke. Within his Pavilion, Courbet showcased The Painter’s Studio, a monumental painting that exemplified his commitment to portraying the truth of contemporary life. Along with it was the equally scandalous masterpiece, A Burial at Ornans. Obrist explains the importance of the exhibition: “Courbet’s self-mounted exhibition inaugurated the modern period in painting, in which the artist, rather than [their] patron, became the protagonist of art.” [Ways of Curating, 37]