-
Courbet – The Desperate Man
In his Desperate Man, Courbet represents a man that stares at the viewer with a look full of fear and discomfort. The hands of the subject are in his-own hair and this gesture increases the sensation of annihilation. The man is young, in his late twenties probably.
The figure occupies the whole painting and, thanks to a light coming from the right side of the scene, is full of light’s and colour’s contrasts. The background is empty, highlighting the centrality of the man. It is an oil painting on canvas.
I think that in considering the meaning of the artwork cannot be neglected what it really is: this is a Courbet’s self-portrait and so, if the figure by its-own simply reflects what the name of the painting suggests: desperation, fear and discomfort, this new information adds to the sensations a new point of view on the work. So, if from one side it is possible to appreciate the realistic representation of the body, it is also interesting to try to figure out what pushed the author to represent himself in such a way.
The style recalls the XVIII century artworks, like Romanticism or Neoclassicism ones, but the lack of a “greater subject” such as the nature celebration or a political message suggests the distance from the movements. This is coherent with the Courbet figure, since him was the founder of the Realistic movement in France at the beginning of the XIX century.
The purpose of the painting is aligned to the sensations it transmits: interpretations say that Courbet wants to express the moral and social discomfort he felt, a painted reinterpretation of the Baudelaire’s spleen.
Extra comment: I want to make a confession, I have thought for like ten years that the name of this painting was ‘The fool’ and not ‘The desperate Man’, I don’t know why.
-
2 Replies
-
Hi @lucia (Happy new year!)
Thank you for this piece of writing. I personally find the painting both stunning and disturbing, which unsettles me somewhat! I think your piece is incredibly insightful and as I was reading it I was thinking “I could never express myself in this way in a second language!” Well done.
I only need to highlight a few things to help you improve:
> is full of light’s and colour’s contrasts should be is full of light and colour contrasts
> I think that in considering the meaning of the artwork cannot be neglected what it really is:
it is better to use the active voice here and because it is a fairly long sentence, a comma will help the flow: I think that in considering the meaning of the artwork, we cannot neglect what it really is:
> like Romanticism or Neoclassicism ones > delete ‘ones’ (not necessary. When we use ism noun, the meaning is explicit)
> the nature – delete ‘the’ (these bloody articles 😂)
> This is coherent with the Courbet figure, since HE was (probably just a typo!)
🙌
-
Thank you for your feedback Kerin!
The last one was a typo indeed.
Log in to reply.
