Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in the 19th-century, committed to painting only what he could see—real people and situations of his contemporary moment. His evocative self-portrait The Desperate Man (1843-45) plays with romantic stereotypes of artists, depicting himself as a tortured genius. His billowy white shirt and blue smock mark him as an artist, while his intense gaze, unkempt hair, and hands highlight his anguished state of mind. While his later public persona was known to be proud and arrogant, this earlier emotional fragility stayed with the artist as he kept the painting with him his entire life.

Learn more about the work that inspired this pin HERE.