''The Meeting'' or ''"Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet"'' (French: ''La rencontre, ou "Bonjour Monsieur Courbet"'') is an oil on canvas painting by
Gustave Courbet
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and t ...
, made in 1854. It depicts the artist on his way to
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
meeting his patron
Alfred Bruyas
Alfred Bruyas (15 August 1821 – 1 January 1877) was an art collector and a personal friend of many important artists of his time, among them Gustave Courbet. He donated his collection to the Musée Fabre, in Montpellier.
Born Jacques Louis Br ...
, his servant Calas and his dog. One of the most emblematic works by the artist, it is also one of his most popular. The composition is based on the myth of
the Wandering Jew.
History and description
The painting was commissioned by Alfred Bruyas from Gustave Courbet. This work immortalizes the arrival of Gustave Courbet in Montpellier in 1854. It also represents the meeting of the painter with the one who will become his patron, Alfred Bruyas. The painting is inspired by a popular print engraved by Pierre Leloup du Mans in 1831, named ''The bourgeois of the city talking to the wandering Jew''.
''The Meeting'' was exhibited in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
at the
1855 Exhibition Universelle, where critics ridiculed it as "Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet". Bruyas did not exhibit ''The Meeting'' until he donated it to the
Musée Fabre
The Musée Fabre is a museum in the southern French city of Montpellier, capital of the Hérault ''département''.
The museum was founded by François-Xavier Fabre, a Montpellier painter, in 1825. Beginning in 2003, the museum underwent a 61.2 m ...
in
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
in 1868.
[Hilaire, Michel; Amic, Sylvain (2004). ''Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet!: the Bruyas collection from the Musée Fabre, Montpellier.'' Réunion des musées nationaux, ]
The work depicts the scene taking place in a road between Saint-Jean de Védas and
Mireval
Mireval (; oc, Miravau) is a commune in the Hérault department in Occitanie in southern France. Vic-Mireval station has rail connections to Narbonne, Montpellier and Avignon.
It is famous for its muscat wine, the ''Muscat de Mireval'', about ...
, when Alfred Bruyas, patron collector, accompanied by his valet and his dog, comes to meet Courbet. Surprisingly, the artist represents himself on the same level as his protector. He even appears proud and robust while the latter is depicted as puny and stuffy.
[Sarah Lees, ''Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet!: The Bruyas Collection from the Musée Fabre'', Montpellier, Yale University Press, 2004 ]
References
External links
Courbet's ''Bonjour Monsieur Courbet'' essay at
Smarthistory
Smarthistory is a free resource for the study of art history created by art historians Beth Harris and Steven Zucker. Smarthistory is an independent not-for-profit organization and the official partner to Khan Academy for art history.
Smarthisto ...
1854 paintings
Paintings by Gustave Courbet
Wandering Jew
Dogs in art
Paintings in the collection of the Musée Fabre
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