Courbet & the Modern Landscape
Structured by quotations from Courbet and his contemporaries, this video examines many of the techniques the artist is thought to have employed at various stages of his painting process.
One of the most notorious avant-garde figures in European art, Gustave Courbet defied convention and reset the course of French landscape painting with his innovative use of tools, especially palette knives, as well as rags, sponges, and even his fingers. These new approaches laid the groundwork for a vital strain of modernist painting. The video aims at better visualizing Courbet’s innovative technique, to accompany the traveling exhibition Courbet and the Modern Landscape that originated at the Getty Center. This self-playing video features artist Peter Zokosky demonstrating techniques Courbet may have used to paint Grotto of Sarrazine, a 2004 Getty acquisition. Between these painting demonstrations, quotations from the artist and his contemporaries provide additional insight about his process.