Gustave Courbet

Mr. Read (acquired from a New York gallery, 1896)
Paul Read (by descent from the above, his grandfather)
Milch Gallery (acquired from the above through Jay Conway: Henry Pearlman, New York, June 1957)
Hirschl & Adler, New York (by January 1973)
Isetan Gallery, Tokyo (by June 1973)
Acquired from the above in 1973

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work is in lovely condition. It has not been cleaned for many years and is noticeably dirty. The canvas has a glue lining, and the stretcher is not original. No retouches are visible under ultraviolet light, and it is doubtful that any would be revealed when the picture is cleaned. There seems to be no damage at all to the paint layer.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Courbet entered Sainte-Pélagie prison in Paris on September 22, 1871, three months after being arrested for his supposed involvement in the toppling of the Vendôme Column.  He was released in late December 1871 in order to undergo medical treatment at a clinic in Neuilly.  Courbet’s incarceration at Sainte-Pélagie was trying and difficult; he was eager to paint but the conditions were such (he was confined to his cell with no light, no model and few supplies) that very few works can be ascribed to this three month period.  In a letter to Jules Castagnary, Courbet complained about the conditions and described wanting to paint views of Paris from the rooftop of the prison “with [an emphasis on the] skies, as I would do for seascapes…They would be as interesting as my Etretat seascapes” (Petra ten-Doesschate Chu, Letters of Gustave Courbet, Chicago, 1992, p. 444, letter 71-40).  While Courbet never completed this view of Paris, he revived a genre that had been a favorite subject in happier times during his stay with Etienne Baudry at Saintonge in 1862; he returned to still-life painting.

Courbet’s Sainte-Pélagie still-lifes may have resulted out of necessity more than anything else.  His sister Zoé commented: “I bring him flowers, fruits for models.  I encourage him to paint them, even inside his room; it will distract him.” ( letter from Zoé Courbet Reverdy to Mme. Joliclerc, see Charles Léger, “La Barricade,” Bulletin des Amis de Gustave Courbet, no. 3, 1948, p. 148). Indeed,  Courbet painted fruit still-lifes while in Sainte-Pélagie using Zoé’s gifts of apples and pears as his “models”, however, many works inscribed Sainte-Pélagie were painted later during the year he spent in the Franche-Comté, or during his Swiss exile.  Even his Portrait de l'artiste à Ste-Pélagie (Collection Institut Courbet, Ornans) was painted after his Paris confinement.  Therefore our landscape — while inscribed “Ste. Pélagie” — was most likely painted later, and judging from the recognizable terrain, depicts the region around Ornans.

We may never know why Courbet inscribed several of his late works, “Ste. Pélagie”, however his talent at self-promotion was still a motivator even after the personal devastation of his imprisonment and exile.  He continued to make headlines due to his notoriety and may have been hoping for increased commercial success by linking his paintings to the time he served in prison.