Mme L... (Laure Borreau)
Medium
oil on fabric
Dimensions
unframed: 81 × 61.2 cm · framed: 112.4 × 93 × 12.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1962.2
Tags
male
About this artwork
Painted during Courbet's stay in the Saintonge region of western France, this portrait depicts Laure Borreau, owner of a fabric store and ladies confectionery. As the leader of the Realist movement in France, Courbet aimed to convey his democratic and socialist ideals by portraying ordinary people in a truthful, unidealized manner. While considering himself a radical innovator, Courbet nonetheless exhibited this portrait under the title Mme L... at the Paris Salon of 1863.