The Courbet Museum – celebrating the life and works of French realist painter Gustave Courbet – has reopened in the commune of Ornans in eastern France, reports Routard.
Closed three years for major renovations, the museum has now reopened to the public with quadruple the exhibit space. Measuring 1,100 square meters, the museum features 45 works from the renowned painter, famous for his bold social commentary.
"I am fifty years old and I have always lived in freedom," the artist once wrote in a letter. "Let me end my life free; when I am dead let this be said of me: ‘He belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least of all to any regime except the regime of liberty.’"
Visitors can trace the evolution of the artist’s career as they wander through the renovated exhibit space – which features elegant parquet flooring and ornamental woodwork in addition to a garden with stone walls. A glass bridge leads visitors over the Loue River, once a source of inspiration for the painter.