I, Gustave Courbet: Painter and Rebel

Museum Folkwang is dedicating a major retrospective—I, Gustave Courbet. Painter and Rebel—to one of the most influential artists of the 19th century. This major exhibition will be held from July 17 to November 8, 2026.

The exhibition focuses on Gustave Courbet’s (1819–1877) influence on modern art. Courbet was not only an artistic innovator, but also a lively and politically engaged figure. He rejected the idealised aesthetics of his time and instead depicted the lives of ordinary people and social reality in his art.

Courbet viewed painting as a form of resistance: his approach to traditional pictorial genres and his painting technique, which often allows the material presence of the paint to shine through, make him one of the most important exponents of realism. Courbet grew to became a role model for subsequent generations of artists far beyond France’s borders.

The extensive exhibition in Essen features around 90 works by Courbet, including major pieces such as Le Fou de peur (1844), L’Après-dînée à Ornans (1849), Jo, la belle Irlandaise (1866) and L’Homme à la pipe (1849). Spanning some 900 square metres, the exhibition brings together loans from international museums and collections, including Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Kunstmuseum Bern, Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Leopold Museum in Vienna and Musée Fabre in Montpellier. 

In the summer and autumn of 2026, Essen will become a major international hub for exploring the work of Gustave Courbet and 19th-century realism. Many of the works of display, including L’Origine du monde (1866), have rarely been loaned out before or have never been seen in Germany—some are scarcely accessible to the public, even in France.

For Museum Folkwang, the retrospective presents a unique opportunity: it ties in with the museum’s significant collection of French art. For example, Cézanne’s The Bibémus Quarry from the Folkwang Collection in Essen will be shown alongside works by Courbet. The exhibition thus provides a first-hand opportunity to witness Courbet’s influence on the development of modern painting.

Another aspect shown in Essen is the relationship between Courbet’s painting and the emerging photography of his time. Historical photographs by important French photographers such as Gustave Le Gray or Henri Le Secq—from Museum Folkwang’s internationally renowned photographic collection—are juxtaposed with Courbet’s landscapes, seascapes and still lifes. By guiding the visitor and providing insights into artistic working methods, the exhibition impressively highlights parallels between painting and photography.

The exhibition’s nine sections are devoted to the key stages of the artist’s life and the central themes of his work. It explores key motifs in Courbet’s extensive oeuvre: self-image and the public sphere, social reality, nude depictions as well as landscape, homeland and exile.

Cooperation between Leopold Museum and Museum Folkwang 
I, Gustave Courbet. Painter and Rebel is being organised in collaboration with Leopold Museum in Vienna. The exhibition has already attracted over 100,000 visitors during its first run in Vienna; as a highlight, it will be shown at Museum Folkwang from July 17 onwards. Time-slot tickets for the Essen exhibition can be booked at museum-folkwang.ticketfritz.de.

Under the High Patronage of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, and the Honorary Patronage of Alexander Van der Bellen, Federal President of the Republic of Austria.

Information

I, Gustave Courbet. Painter and Rebel
July 17–November 8, 2026
Opening: Thursday, July 16, 7 pm

In cooperation with the Leopold Museum, Vienna

Main sponsor: E.ON
Sponsors: GENO BANK ESSEN and Bankhaus Bauer
Funded by: Ministry of Culture and Science of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia

Admission: 16 EUR (regular) / 12 EUR (reduced)
Tickets: museum-folkwang.ticketfritz.de

Guided tours (Visitors’ Centre): +49 201 8845444, info@museum-folkwang.essen.de

The catalogue is edited by Niklaus Manuel Güdel and Hans-Peter Wipplinger, and published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne
Price: 39,90 EUR
ISBN: 978-3-7533-0965-1