''Le Sommeil'' (translated in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

variously as ''The Sleepers'' and ''Sleep'') is an

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

Dorothy M. Kosinski
Gustave Courbet's ''The Sleepers.'' The Lesbian Image in Nineteenth Century French Art and Literature
Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 9, No. 18 (1988), p.187 oil painting on canvas by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

artist

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 ...

created in 1866. The painting, which depicts a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

couple, is also known as the ''Two Friends'' (''Les Deux Amies'') and ''Indolence and Lust'' (''Paresse et Luxure'').

History

''Le Sommeil'' was originally commissioned by the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

diplomat and art collector of the

late Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

Ottoman era,

Halil Şerif Paşa Halil Şerif Pasha, transliterated variously as Khalil Sherif Pasha ( sq, Halil Sherif Pasha, 20 June 1831 – 12 January 1879), was an Ottoman-Egyptian statesman, diplomat and art collector, who lived during the Tanzimat period. His collec ...

, who had lived 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 ...

since 1860.Le Sommeil
Petit Palais The painting was not permitted to be shown publicly until 1988, like a number of Courbet's other works such as '' L'Origine du monde''. When ''Le Sommeil'' was exhibited by a picture dealer in 1872, it became the subject of a police report. One of the models for the painting was Joanna Hiffernan, who was the mistress of fellow painter James Abbott Whistler at the time. Whistler's relationship with Hiffernan ended soon afterwards, and his opinion of Courbet soured. The ''Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures'' describes ''Le Sommeil'' as a "famous" painting. The painting created an impact in 19th-century art, because after the public display of ''Le Sommeil'', a number of contemporary artists were influenced by the theme of lesbian couples. Repetition of this theme helped to lower the taboos associated with lesbian relationships. Today ''Le Sommeil'' is in the collection of the Petit Palais, a Paris museum.

Description

The painting shows two naked women lying asleep on a bed entwined in an erotic embrace, resting after sexual intercourse. The setting is a bedroom with various textiles and ornamental furnishing. In the background there is a dark blue velvet curtain and in the right corner a table with a decorative flower vase. In the foreground is a small wooden table holding three items – a colored

flacon A ''flacon'' (from Late Latin , meaning "bottle"; cf. "flagon") is a small, often decorative, bottle. It has an opening seal or stopper and is designed to hold valuable liquids which may deteriorate upon contact with the air. They are widespread in ...

(a small vessel), a transparent crystal vase, and a cup. Except for these few furnishings, there is nothing in the painting to overshadow the main image – the women. One of the sleeping women is

redhead Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...

, the other is

brunette Brown hair, also referred to as brunet (male) or brunette (female), is the second most common human hair color, after black hair. It varies from light brown to a medium dark hair. It is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumela ...

. For color contrast, Courbet worked curves between the women. A broken pearl necklace and a hairpin scattered in the bed reference the nature of their previous activity.

Analysis

The painting was inspired by

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

's poem "

Delphine et Hippolyte ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...

", from his collection '' Les Fleurs du mal''. ''Le Sommeil'' has been interpreted as a realist painting, detailing the bodies without glossing over their imperfections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sommeil 1866 paintings Paintings by Gustave Courbet Erotic art Lesbian erotica Nude art Paintings in the collection of the Petit Palais