| This thesis is the first original, scholarly study of American responses to Courbet in the nineteenth century. Principal exhibitions of Courbet's work are discussed at length, and analyzed in the context of America's evolving artistic milieu. Rich in primary source material, the essay provides numerous excerpts from critical reviews and biographical sketches, and illuminates how the latter affected patronage and criticism of Courbet's work, Courbet's American collectors are profiled, and works by his hand are identified (where possible) and discussed in the context of individual and regional collecting patterns. Appendices provide biographical sketches of Courbet's two American pupils, Thomas Harris Robinson and Edward Lamson Henry, as well as a chronological listing of Courbet's American exhibitions, works displayed, and critical reviews. The reader may also wish to consult the author's adaptation of this essay, "Courbet's Reception in America Before 1900," in the exhibition catalogue Courbet Reconsidered (The Brooklyn Museum, 1988), pp. 67-75. |
