Proudhon and His Children

Painted in 1865 and now in the Petit Palais, Paris, this portrait of the philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon with his children in a garden celebrates the friendship between Courbet and the radical anarchist political philosopher — arguably the most intellectually significant relationship in his life. Proudhon, who died in 1865 while the painting was being completed, had profoundly shaped Courbet's thinking about art's social function, and his essay 'Du principe de l'art et de sa destination sociale' was co-written with Courbet's input. The painting is both portrait and memorial: Proudhon as a working philosopher surrounded by his daughters, the domestic and intellectual aspects of his life held together. The composition was completed after Proudhon's death using photographs and memory.

The outdoor garden setting required Courbet to manage dappled natural light across the group — the philosopher at work, the children playing nearby. The still-life elements of the scene — books, papers, baskets — are rendered with the material precision of his standalone still-life work. The memorial quality of the portrait gives the image an unusually deliberate, commemorative gravitas.