The product of a lifetime's scholarship: Linda Nochlin's complete writings on Courbet's work. Linda Nochlin is one of the most influential art historians of our time. For more than four decades, she has been at the forefront of the feminist critique of art history, playing a pivotal role in shaping the course of the discipline. Ever since completing a doctorate on Gustave Courbet in the early 1960s, she has devoted herself to a lifelong study of the artist, arguably the most radical of all nineteenth-century painters and one of the fathers of modern art. Now, in this landmark volume, every aspect of Courbet's oeuvre comes under Nochlin's scrutiny—from his vast realist depictions of provincial French life, allegorical works, and paint-encrusted landscapes to his dark, brooding portraits, sensual nudes, and earthy still lifes. In a specially written introduction, she considers Courbet's lasting impact not only on later painting but also on the practice of art history itself. With essays spanning forty years, "Courbet" is much more than a monograph on a single artist. It is also the story of the intellectual development of one of our leading writers on the visual arts. 130 illustrations, 10 in color.