Gustave Courbet Correspondence

This series (Folders 1 through 5) consists of sixty letters written by Gustave Courbet to his family and friends, followed by one letter written to him. All of the letters written by Gustave Courbet are arranged chronologically according to the dating in Petra ten-Doesschate Chu's book The Letters of Gustave Courbet, available in French and English. Chu's identifying numbers, prefaced by the abbreviation "LGC," have been added to the item level list to facilitate identification and dating.

Items of particular interest are an August 26, 1842 letter in which Courbet mentions acquiring a little black dog, which is the dog in his Self Portrait with a Black Dog; two letters from early 1845 in which he mentions sending paintings to an exhibition and the acceptance of Guittarrero; and a letter to his friend Urbain Cuenot from circa 1866 in which he discusses a myriad of topics including his work, an American exhibition, his health, and his plans for the orchards at Ornans (with sketch). Two letters of historic note from circa August of 1870 and February 23, 1871, relate Courbet's opinions of the Franco-Prussian War and its affect on Ornans, Napoleon III, the theft of his paintings, and the Vendôme Column. Of interest regarding Courbet's personal life, in letters dated July 20, 1873, and May 29, 1875, he discusses leaving for Switzerland, his upcoming trial and certainty of conviction, the death of his sister Zélie, and his anger at his sister Zoé and her husband.

For each item, the locations of the letter-writer, and of the recipient, are included if known.