1858
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Mère Grégoire is a 1858 oil by Gustave Courbet, a Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see a woman sitting in a room, dressed in old-fashioned clothes. She looks serious and proper. The painting has an interesting history: it was inspired by a popular song from the 1820s, and the artist changed it a lot over time, adding more details and scenes. The woman in the song was actually the owner of a house of prostitution, which is surprising given her demure appearance in the painting. You can learn more about the artist who created this work, Gustave Courbet.
The demurely dressed subject of Mère Grégoire was inspired by the lead character in a popular song written in the 1820s by French lyricist Pierre-Jean de Béranger. Béranger often penned ribald lyrics; his “Madame Grégoire” was the proprietor of a house of prostitution. Gustave Courbet began this work in 1855 as a simple head on a horizontal canvas, but enlarged it to its present dimensions and transformed it into an elaborate genre scene between 1857 and 1859. The artist depicted the woman here in the midst of a transaction, with coins scattered on a marble-topped counter and a ledger beneath…
Possession of the artist [for this and the following until 1873 see Riat 1906 and Fernier 1977]; stolen between 1872–73; found by Étienne Baudry at an art dealer in Paris, 1873. Galerie Barbzanges, Paris, by 1912 [Saint Petersburg 1912]. Possibly Alexandre Louis Philippe Marie Berthier, 4th Prince of Wagram (died 1918), Paris [according to Art Institute of Chicago 1961 and Fernier 1977]; possibly at his death to his sister, Elisabeth de la Tour d’Auvergne (née Elisabeth Bertier de Wagram), Paris (according to Art Institute of Chicago 1961 and Fernier 1977). Alex Reid & Lefèvre, Ltd., London,…
Paris, Rond-Point de l’Alma, Exposition des œuvres de M. G. Courbet, 1867, cat. 96. Saint-Petersburg, Exposition centennale de l’art français à Saint-Petersbourg, 1912, cat. 347. Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1933, cat. 237. Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1934, cat. 176. Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, 43 Portraits, January 26–February 10, 1937, cat. 37. Toledo Museum of Art, The Spirit of Modern France: An Essay on Painting in…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (UK: KOOR-bay; US: koor-BAY; French: ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting.
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