# Mère Grégoire

**Gustave Courbet** (French, 1819–1877)  
1855, reworked 1857–59  
Oil on canvas  
129 × 97.5 cm (50 3/4 × 38 3/8 in.); Framed: 168 × 137.2 × 16.2 cm (66 1/8 × 54 × 6 3/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1930.78. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4428).

## About this work

Gustave Courbet played a crucial role in the development of modern French Realism. Critics and the public, however, did not easily accept his large, naturalistic, and unsentimental depictions of commonplace, often rural subjects. They called him the “apostle of ugliness.” This painting's subject, Mère Grégoire, was inspired by the heroine of a popular song, the proprietor of a brothel, written in the 1820s.

_Text from the Art Institute of Chicago._

Gustave Courbet painted this in 1855, reworked 1857–59, aged about 36. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

Dark portrait of older woman in black dress with lace collar, flowers.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Gustave Courbet](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/gustave-courbet)

French, 1819–1877; born in Ornans; died in La Tour-de-Peilz

Courbet left his native Ornans for Paris and became the standard-bearer of Realism, painting ordinary people and his own region on the scale reserved for history painting, as in A Burial at Ornans. When works were refused for the 1855 Exposition Universelle, he showed them in his own Pavilion of Realism. He also painted landscapes, seascapes and hunting scenes. After the Paris Commune of 1871 he was held responsible for the toppling of the Vendôme Column and spent his last years in exile in Switzerland.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: France
- The artist was about 36
- Real size: about 51 × 38 in (129 × 97 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 30 × 40 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Century of Progress, lace, coins, desk, flowers, foliage, France, French
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/5.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/5/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/mere-gregoire-aic-4428).