Few artists have been so directly invoved in the events of their time as Gustave Courbert. Amid the social transformations of the mid-19th century, Courberts unconventional and stark paintings came to embody values with radical political implications. Rebuffed by the Parisian art world and attacked as a"Realist", he seized upon that name to assert his sympathy for ordinary citizens and their down-to-earth experience. Coubert painted subjects from the world around him: from rural labourersand family gatherings to sensuous landscapes, hunting scenes, still lifes, portraits and erotic nudes. James Rubin addresses the full range of Courbet's work and combines a close reading of the paintings with a discussion of the personal, political, economic and social circumstances in which they were created.