La Grotte de la Loue

Gustave Courbet

National Gallery of Art

A pair of arched cave openings yawn in a steep, rocky cliff face that fills this horizontal painting. The cliff face is painted with dabs and textured strokes of slate gray, peachy tan, and muted blue, and some moss grows along crevices to our left. The opening to our left of center is four times the size of the smaller opening next to it. Murky green water reflects the shadowy openings and the pier-like stone between them. The water churns white over large boulders to our right, in the lower corner of the canvas. A pale-skinned man, minuscule in scale in front of the larger opening, stands barefoot with his back to us. His pants are rolled up over his knees and the long shirt sleeves up to the elbow under a vest. One hand is raised to hold a long stick. He is on what might be a pier stretching across the water. The artist signed the work with red paint in the lower left corner, “Gustave Courbet.”