''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 ...

, made in 1854. It depicts the artist on his way to Montpellier 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 ...

, 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 The Wandering Jew is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion was then cursed to walk the Earth until the Second Coming. ...

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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

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 mi ...

in Montpellier 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'', ab ...

, 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 {{19C-painting-stub