With a major retrospective, the Leopold Museum presents the first comprehensive solo exhibition in Austria dedicated to the exceptional French artist Gustave Courbet (1819–1877).

Around 130 exhibits – including 90 paintings and 20 works on paper from all phases of his career, as well as numerous archival materials – offer a wide-ranging overview of the painterly and graphic oeuvre of the founder of Realism. In his groundbreaking portraits, nudes, landscapes and still lifes, Courbet radically challenged the idealizing conventions of the 19th century.

After years of intensive conceptual development and international collaboration, the exhibition “Gustave Courbet: Realist and Rebel” has now become a reality. We are delighted to present this extensive monographic exhibition to our audience. Given the remarkable scope of the artist’s oeuvre, a careful selection was required – one that is representative of all creative periods while also reflecting the thematic and formal facets of his work as a painter, draftsman and political actor. With Gustave Courbet, we present an outstanding avant-gardist who repeatedly broke with convention.