Description:
three quarter portrait of a middle aged man with medium length hair, seated turned slightly toward his proper left, in dark coat, white shirt and dark tie; his proper left hand is on his hip, elbow out and proper right arm parallel to bottom edge of image; the proper right vertical chair back is visible with a dark cloth draped across it; the background is sky with a plain horizon line; man; costume/uniform; portrait
Label Text:
Although the portrait of Monsieur Nodler, the elder, and that of his younger brother (Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield) are signed and dated 1866, both were painted in 1865 when Courbet spent the summer working in the fashionable resort town of Trouville. The earlier date is confirmed by the artist's letter to Urbain Cuenot, written September 16, 1865, in which the artist mentions he has completed a portrait of "M Nodeler [sic] fils" and was to paint his brother and father as well. According to Helene Toussaint ('Gustave Courbet', 1977-1978), this discrepancy between actual and apparent dates can be explained by Courbet's habit of assigning recent dates to works prior to exhibition. Courbet thus presumably "post-dated" the Nodler portraits before their showing at the Pavillon de l'Alma in 1867.
Other label: This painting is unlike Courbet’s confrontational realist scenes of contemporary French life, represented in the Museum’s collection by the monumental Preparation of the Dead Girl, on view nearby. In contrast, this canvas is a society portrait, painted in the seaside resort town of Trouville. Here, the elder Nodler brother is shown as a prosperous gentleman, with his cane or riding crop in hand. He is seated at leisure, but formally posed against a backdrop of sea and sand. The Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, Massachusetts, owns Courbet’s portrait of Nodler’s younger brother.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1935.3 |
