Oppression is always Offensive

Post #2 

The Stone Breakers 

I believe that the reason Gustave Courbet's painting, "The Stone Breakers" is so realistic is because he painted without censoring what the Bourgeoisie class would turn their gaze away from. Bourgeoisie means wealthy or upper middle class people; it basically refers to the kind of people who never have to get their hands dirty to afford their next meal. However, by having so much money in that time period, when so many were suffering and working hard to survive, the  Bourgeoisie people did nothing to help. That may have been why this beautiful painting of two working men making ends meet was so disgracefully revolting for them to look at.  

That would require them to actually look at the suffering souls around them. 

The anonymity of these two men further illustrates their accusatory thoughts as they carried heavy baskets of rocks, or stooped over a pile of even more rocks to hammer away. you cant see their faces, but that doesnt stop the viewer from identifying with them. their clothes are dirty and ragged, torn and worn and yet the men in this picture feel no shame, because they are working their hardest for a chance to bring home some coin and feed their families. I think a similar comparison to a painting such as this in a culture, would be for someone to paint a large picture of a homeless man begging for money on the sidewalk. In reality people usually avoid their glances and keep walking, or even speed up their pace to get away from them. so how would it look for someone to paint this subject matter up close and in your face huge, and then enter it into the Salon next to historical and other popular styles of painting? It probably wouldnt go over too well, I'd imagine anyway. 

This painting had a similar response; although I see it for its simple beauty and talent of artistry, people were threatened and repulsed that an artist would dedicate such a large canvas painting to such lowly subject matter. I also believe that in a way Gustave Courbet elevated these two individuals to a higher level than some of the wealthy aristocratic Bourgeoisie people that had yet to receive a painting portrait of themselves. Could it truly be, that some of these people were so self centered and calloused from the world around them, that they couldnt even appreciate this painting for its simple beauty? the two men are obviously very lavishally painted with beautifully painted creases in their pants and shirts, dirt painted in to make it seem dirty, even the lines on the skin of the older man are insanely replicated and beautiful. But they didnt see any of it. all they saw was poverty and blame being pointed in their direction for it. 

I guess when you look at your own guilt, your eyes are already clouded with repulsion. 

The men in these images cant even look at the viewer, but then again they didnt have to. They were too busy working to turn around and acknowledge the artist and to take the time to have their identities recorded in history. But this is better I think, because it allows the viewer to blame themselves if they had any guilt, and to truly look at the pain and suffering of these people.