Gypsy in Reflection|Gustave Courbet |Search Collection | The National Museum of Western Art

Updated 19 June 2025

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Currently not on display

Gustave Courbet

Ornans, 1819 - La Tour-de-Peilz, 1877

Gypsy in Reflection

Date	1869
Materials and Techniques	oil on canvas
Size（cm）	50.3 x 61
Inscriptions	Signed and dated lower right: 69 / G. Courbet.
Credit Line	Matsukata Collection
Standard ref.	Fernier 663; 329
Category	Paintings
Collection Number	P.1959-0060

Courbet's images of the nude, such as those seen in Bathing Women (Musée Fabre, Montpellier), incurred public indignation with their depiction of uncouth, less than ideal figures, and they eventually led to scandal. On the other hand, his images of clothed women, with their expression of his splendid sense of realism, received wide acclaim. This work was painted in 1869, when Courbet was socially accepted and came to maturity. A young gypsy with luxuriant hair falling around her shoulders stands in deep reflection. The close-up view of the woman's torso provides an excellent example of Courbet's superb sense of sensuality, however we can also find a quiet poesy in this work. Courbet struck an aggressive posture in the face of power throughout his life, and was quite self-revealing. Courbet's sentiments are apparent in this image of a gypsy lost in thought. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no.64)

Provenance

Etienne Baudry, 1882; sale, X...and Z..., Amsterdam, 13 November 1917, lot 138; Galerie J. Allard, Paris, stock no. 6890; purchased from the above by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe, 1921 [see letter from Galerie J. Allard to Léonce Bénédite, dated 15 November 1921, in the Bibliothèque centrale des musées nationaux, Paris (copy in NMWA curatorial file)]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.

Exhibition History

1882: Des œuvres de Gustave Courbet, École National des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 0 1882 - 0 1882, cat. no. 15
1923: Peintres français des XIXe et XXe siècles, Praha, 0 1923 - 0 1923, cat. no. 78, repr.
1924: Exposition d'art français, San Francisco, 0 1924 - 0 1925
1929: Gustave Courbet, Petit Palais, Paris, 0 1929 - 0 1929, cat. no. 128
1952: Gustave Courbet, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Besançon, 0 1952 - 0 1952, cat. no. 41
1955: Mostra di capolavori della pittura francese dell'ottocento, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, 0 February 1955 - 0 March 1955
1976: Millet, Corot, Courbet et l' École de Barbizon, Musée Départemental d'Art Tochigi, Utsunomiya, 20 November 1976 - 24 December 1976, cat. no. 75, repr.
1984: Millet, Corot, Courbet, Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art, 1 September 1984 - 10 October 1984, cat. no. 63, repr.
1989: Gustave Courbet, Bridgestone Museum of Art, 3 June 1989 - 6 August 1989, cat. no. 45, col. repr.
1996: The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 89
2012: Bohémes: De Léonard da Vinci à Picasso, Grand Palais, Paris, 26 September 2012 - 14 January 2013, cat. no. 46, col. repr., FUNDACIÓＮ MAPFRE, Madrid, 6 February - 5 May 2013, cat no. 29
2017: [Traveling Exhibitions Presenting National Art Museum Collections, Fiscal 2017] Muse: Women before the Artists' Eyes: From the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, 22 April 2017 - 2 July 2017, Akita Museum of Modern Art, 15 July-18 September, cat. no. 35
2022: Renoir—Monet—Gauguin: Images of a Floating World: the Collections of Kōjirō Matsukata and Karl Ernst Osthaus, Museum Folkwang, 6 February 2022 - 15 May 2022
2023: Imaged and Imagined: Spain Seen through Prints from Japanese Collections, Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, 8 April 2023 - 11 June 2023, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 4 July-3 September, pp. 78, 224-225, cat. no. 2-38

Bibliography

1929: Gronkowski, C. L'exposition Gustave Courbet au Petit Palais. Gazette des Beaux-Arts. ser. 6, tome 2, 1929, pp. 19-37, fig. 6.
1955: La Collection Matsukata, Tokyo, Asahi- Shimbun, 1955 (Japanese), no. 2, col. repr.
1959: Zusetsu Sekai Bunkashi Taikei. vol. 10, Tokyo, Kadokawa Shoten, 1959 (Japanese), p. 86, no.3, col. repr.
1959: Mizue: Tokushu Matsukata Korekushon no Kaiga. no. 651, Tokyo, Bijutsu Shuppansha, July 1959 (Japanese), , n. p. repr.
1961: Catalogue du Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1961 (Préface and Catalogue Général in Japanese and French), P-84.
1971: Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1971 (Japanese), no. 15, repr.
1975: Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1975 (Japanese), no. 25, repr.
1978: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1978 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 31, repr.
1978: Fernier, R. La vie et l'œuvre de Gustave Courbet. tome 2, Lausanne/Paris, 1978, p. 72, no. 663, repr.
1979: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of Paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 72, repr.
1984: Millet Corot Courbet (exh. cat.). Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art. [Chiba], Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art, [1984], cat. no. 63, repr.
1989: Catalogue de l'exposition Gustave Courbet (exh. cat.). Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation, ed. [Tokyo], Japan Broadcasting Corporation, 1989, pp. 101, 143, cat. no. 45, col. repr.
1990: The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 489.
2006: Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 64, col. repr.
2009: Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 64, col. repr.
2012: Bohèmes: De Léonard da Vinci à Picasso(exh. cat.). Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais, c2012, Paris: cat. no. 46, col. repr.; Madrid: cat. no. 29, col. repr.
2013: Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 79, col. repr.
2017: Muse: Women before the Artists' Eyes: from the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Traveling Exhibitions Presenting National Art Museum Collections, Fiscal 2017 (exh. cat.). Nakada, Asuka, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2017, pp. 61, 139, cat. no. 35, col. repr.
2018: The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 1: Paintings, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2018, cat. no. 329, col. repr.
2022: Renoir—Monet—Gauguin: Images of a Floating World: the Collections of Kōjirō Matsukata and Karl Ernst Osthaus (exh.cat.). Engel, Nadine; Herlemann, Rebecca, eds. Berlin, Hatje Cantz, [2022], pp. 269, 363, col. repr.
2023: Imaged and Imagined: Spain Seen through Prints from Japanese Collections (exh. cat.). Kawase, Yusuke; Inaba, Yuta; Nakada, Asuka et al., eds. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2023, pp. 78, 224-225, cat. no. 2-38, col. repr.

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