The National Museum of Western Art

Updated 09 April 2025

Currently not on display

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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
Mizue: Tokushu Matsukata Korekushon no Kaiga. no. 651, Tokyo, Bijutsu Shuppansha, July 1959 (Japanese), , n. p. repr.
1959
Zusetsu Sekai Bunkashi Taikei. vol. 10, Tokyo, Kadokawa Shoten, 1959 (Japanese), p. 86, no.3, col. 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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