The Meeting (Bonjour Monsieur Courbet)
1854 · Oil on canvas · Musée Fabre, Montpellier
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About this work
- Artist
- Gustave Courbet (1819–1877)
- Year
- 1854
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 132.4 × 151 cm
- Collection
- Musée Fabre, Montpellier
- Movement
- Realism
On a road near Montpellier the painter, with his staff, knapsack and paintbox on his back, is greeted by his patron Alfred Bruyas, who raises his hat, and Bruyas's servant Calas, who bows, while a dog looks on and the painter's carriage waits behind. Courbet painted the scene in 1854 during a stay with Bruyas, a wealthy collector who had bought several of his pictures, and it records, with a certain swagger, the artist meeting his patron as an equal: Courbet stands tallest and holds his head highest. Exhibited at the 1855 Exposition Universelle it was mocked as Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet, the title that stuck, and as Fortune greeting Genius. Bruyas left his collection to his native city in 1868 and the picture is in the Musée Fabre in Montpellier.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Three men greeting each other on a sunlit road beneath a blue sky, in green, ochre and white, for a hallway, study or living room at 16×24 in natural wood. Pale blue, cream or sage walls suit the open air; pair it with The Stone Breakers.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Realism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1854)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- living room, hallway or entryway, study or library, dining room, dorm room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Meeting (Bonjour Monsieur Courbet) in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Meeting (Bonjour Monsieur Courbet) painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.




























