The Painter's Studio

Gustave Courbet

1854–1855 · Oil on canvas · Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

The Painter's Studio

A Burial at Ornans

The Meeting (Bonjour Monsieur Courbet)

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Gustave Courbet (1819–1877)
Year: 1854–1855
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 361 × 598 cm
Collection: Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Movement: Realism

Courbet sits at his easel in the centre of a vast studio painting a landscape of his native Franche-Comté, with a nude model looking over his shoulder, a small boy watching and a white cat at his feet. To the right are his friends and supporters, Baudelaire reading at the far edge, the critic Champfleury, the collector Bruyas, the philosopher Proudhon; to the left the figures of everyday life, a priest, a hunter, a merchant, a gravedigger, an Irish beggar woman, and a Jewish peddler, a cast he described as those who live on death and those who live on life. He subtitled it a real allegory summing up seven years of my artistic and moral life. Rejected by the 1855 Exposition Universelle, it was shown in his own Pavilion of Realism next door. The Louvre bought it by public subscription in 1920; it is in the Musée d'Orsay.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

A crowded studio with a painter at his easel, a nude model and a cat at the centre, in browns, greys and a flash of landscape, a very wide painting for a living room, studio or library at 24×36 in black. Warm grey, olive or deep red walls suit it; pair it with A Burial at Ornans.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Exhibition poster of a Realism painting
Era: 19th century (1854–1855)
Orientation: Portrait
Palette: cream & beige
Mood: grand
Rooms: living room, study or library, dining room, hallway or entryway
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. 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

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is The Painter's Studio: A Real Allegory in the public domain?

Yes. Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Musée d'Orsay.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was The Painter's Studio: A Real Allegory painted, and in what medium?

The Painter's Studio: A Real Allegory dates from 1854–1855 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 361 × 598 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For The Painter's Studio: A Real Allegory we'd choose 24×36.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Gustave Courbet's The Painter's Studio — the painter at his easel in a crowded studio with a nude model and a boy looking on — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. Courbet and The Birth of Realism, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

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