After Gustave Courbet, 'The Man with the Leather Belt: Portrait of the Artist', probably early 1880s
On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland About the work
Overview
From around 1842 and into the 1850s Courbet painted about 20 self portraits in which he presented himself in different guises. This portrait is a reduced version of The Man with the Leather Belt (Musée d’Orsay, Paris), which Courbet painted around 1845–6.
Courbet painted replicas of at least three of his self portraits and it was previously thought that he also painted this version of The Man with the Leather Belt. However, although this portrait is close in almost all details to the original, there are major differences between them. In particular, unlike the very finely painted Orsay picture, the brushwork is more cursory and less detailed.
Recent research into the picture’s support and a label on the back also suggests that the painting dates from the early 1880s, and therefore could not have been painted by Courbet himself, who died in 1877. It is instead a copy by someone who had an excellent understanding of the original.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Man with the Leather Belt: Portrait of the Artist
- Artist
- After Gustave Courbet
- Artist dates
- 1819 - 1877
- Date made
- probably early 1880s
- Medium and support
- oil on board
- Dimensions
- 45 × 37.8 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, The National Gallery, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
- Inventory number
- NG3240
- Location
- On loan: Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031), Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin, Ireland
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Sarah Herring, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Nineteenth Century French Paintings’, vol. 1, ‘The Barbizon School’, London 2019; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2006Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2006 - 2019)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane31 December 2006 - 18 April 2021
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2010Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and DiscoveriesThe National Gallery (London)30 June 2010 - 12 September 2010
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2021Long Loan to The Hugh Lane (2019 - 2031)Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane24 February 2021 - 23 February 2031
Bibliography
-
1932T. Bodkin, Hugh Lane and his Pictures, Dublin 1932
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1948C. Léger, Courbet et son temps, Paris 1948
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1957Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
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1970Davies, Martin, and Cecil Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc., London 1970
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1973M.-T. Lemoyne de Forges, Autoportraits de Courbet (exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, 1973), Paris 1973
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1977H. Toussaint et al., Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) (exh. cat., Galeries nationales d'exposition du Grand Palais, Paris), Paris 1977
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1977R. Fernier, La vie et l'oeuvre de Gustave Courbet: Catalogue raisonné, 2 vols, Paris 1977
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1978H. Toussaint et al., Gustave Courbet 1819-1877 (exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London), London 1978
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1994C. Phillips, 'National Gallery, II: Sir Hugh Lane's Pictures', in J. House, Impressionism for England: Samuel Courtauld as Patron and Collector, London 1994
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2019Herring, Sarah, National Gallery Catalogues: The Nineteenth Century French Paintings, 1, The Barbizon School, London 2019
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
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