France is the only nation in which astoundingly small numbers of civilized patrons reside.

Meaning of the quote

According to the French artist Gustave Courbet, France has very few wealthy and educated people who support the arts. In other words, France has a small number of people who can financially and intellectually appreciate and promote art and culture.

About Gustave Courbet

Gustave Courbet was a pioneering French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French art. His independent and unconventional approach to art influenced later movements like Impressionism and Cubism. Courbet’s paintings often depicted unidealized peasants and workers, making bold social statements through his work.

More about the author

More quotes from Gustave Courbet

Fine art is knowledge made visible.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)

When we see men of worth, we should think of equalling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inward and examine ourselves.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)

Painting is the representation of visible forms. The essence of realism is its negation of the ideal.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)

I hope to live all my life for my art, without abandoning my principles one iota.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)

The expression of beauty is in direct ratio to the power of conception the artist has acquired.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)

The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)

Beauty, like truth, is relative to the time when one lives and to the individual who can grasp it. The expression of beauty is in direct ratio to the power of conception the artist has acquired.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)

France is the only nation in which astoundingly small numbers of civilized patrons reside.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)

Painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist of the representation of real and existing things.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)

I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom; I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients.

Gustave Courbet

French painter (1819-1877)