“I have studied the art of the ancients and the art of the moderns, avoiding any preconceived system and without prejudice. I no longer wanted to imitate the one than to copy the other; nor, furthermore, was it my intention to attain the trivial goal of "art for art's sake". No! I simply wanted to draw forth, from a complete acquaintance with tradition, the reasoned and independent consciousness of my own individuality.”

—  Gustave Courbet

1840s - 1850s, Realist Manifesto', 1851/1855

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Gustave Courbet photo
Gustave Courbet30
French painter 1819–1877

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