Details

Object type

painting

Title

Apple, Pear and Orange

Artist/Maker

Jean Desiré Gustave Courbet artist

Culture/School

French

Date

circa 1871 - 1872

Materials

oil on panel

Dimensions

unframed: 130 x 207 mm; framed: 310 x 380 mm

Description

This small work shows Courbet’s ability to convey to us the realism of the fruit he is painting. Using subtle touches of light and shade he suggests the roundness and volume of the fruit. The rich colour and texture of the apple, pear and orange are heightened by being placed against a simple dark background.

In September 1871 Courbet was imprisoned in Sainte-Pélagie, in Paris, after having been found guilty, at trial, of participating in the destruction of the Vendôme Column. In prison he was given permission to paint in his cell. He executed a series of still lifes, many, like this, of fruit, a subject he had never before attempted. In their perception of form and beauty of touch many of these paintings anticipate Cézanne’s still lifes of the following decade.

Just as Manet would later paint a series of small flower still lifes from bouquets brought to him during his last illness, Courbet’s still lifes were painted from the fruit and flowers brought to him by his sisters and friends during his imprisonment. Courbet was paroled for health reasons on December 30, 1871 and was moved to Dr. Duval’s clinic in Neuilly.

At Neuilly, Courbet continued to paint. According to his biographer Gerstle Mack, while waiting to undergo an operation for haemorrhoids – characteristically Courbet refused any anaesthetic – the artist was presented by Madame Duval with an orange that still had its stem and leaves attached. An hour or two later Courbet had executed a painting of the fruit, which he gave to Madame Duval as a New Year gift.

Like many of the French paintings in the collection of Glasgow Museums, this work passed through the hands of the Glasgow dealer Alex. Reid. Reid’s portrait, painted by Vincent van Gogh is in the collection of Glasgow Museums. Reid sold this Courbet still life to the Glasgow ship-owner, Leonard Gow.

The painting subsequently entered the collection of another Glasgow ship-owner – and partner of Gow – William McInnes (1868-1944). McInnes left his entire collection of over seventy French and Scottish paintings, along with prints, drawings, porcelain, silver and glass to the city of Glasgow. The collection is today housed in the Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove.

Credit Line/Donor

Bequeathed by William McInnes, 1944

ID Number

2384

Location

Kelvingrove French Art Gallery