CHARLOTTE HALE: Courbet wrote to his parents, "It's impossible to tell you all the insults my painting of this year has won me." He continued, "But, I don't care, for when I'm no longer controversial, I'll no longer be important."

KEITH CHRISTIANSEN: To our eyes, it is hard to understand how Gustave Courbet’s painting could have provoked controversy, when it was first exhibited in 1852. But even the barking dog was decried as “ridiculous.” And the three young women—who were his sisters—were attacked for their common features and dress. Conservator Charlotte Hale:

CHARLOTTE HALE: They were wearing fancy clothes out in this quite wild landscape, and that was considered inappropriate. And it was also that people thought that they were jumped up country girls. The rules of decorum had been broken here. And Courbet knew it.

KEITH CHRISTIANSEN: Courbet chose as the subject of his art the landscape and people he knew—and he painted them with uncompromising directness, never seeking to prettify what he saw. In this, he flouted convention and he invited condemnation—even the disproportionately small cattle were attacked by critics.

CHARLOTTE HALE: We recently examined this painting. And x-rays showed us that he did actually enlarge them. And maybe you can see the original positions of their backs through the paint, which has become a bit more transparent over time. So, while he mocked his critics, it's possible that Courbet was more sensitive to their comments than he let on. In any case, Courbet's paintings of the experiences of ordinary people not only flouted the conventions of the Parisian art world. They changed the course of art history.