Gustave Courbet
The Shaded Stream at Le Puits Noir
1859-1864
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Gustave Courbet
The Shaded Stream at Le Puits Noir
1859-1864
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 26 x 32 3/8 in. (66 x 82.2 cm.)
Framed: 35 1/4 x 41 5/8 x 4 3/8 in.
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.202
In the late 1850s and 1860s, Courbet turned increasingly to landscape painting. This site near Ornans, the picturesque town where the artist was born, constantly inspired him and he painted several views of the locale. A stream surrounded by luxuriant vegetation flows from within a grotto- like arrangement of cliffs and boulders. The overall arrangement suggests solitude, mystery, and nature revealed.
Courbet, the leader of the mid-nineteenth-century realist movement in French painting, came from a well-to-do farming family in eastern France. He arrived in Paris in 1839, determined to become an artist. During the 1840s, he was intent on recording the ordinary lives of peasants and laborers, however harsh and unappealing these images might seem. In doing so he shocked a public accustomed to more idealized, pleasurable subjects.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by bequest, 1929; Claribel Cone, Baltimore, by purchase, 1929; Paul Vallotton, Lausanne
Adelyn D. Breeskin, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture", April 1-December 1, 1930, no. 4. (Exhibited as "Grotto")
Ronald J. McKinney, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Exhibition of Baltimore Owned Art Treasures", January 17-March 27, 1933, no. 13,. (Exhibited as "Sous Bois")
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection", May 12-October 1, 1934 (exhibited as "Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "An Exhibition of Paintings by Courbet", May 3-May 29, 1938, no. 22 (exhibited as "La Grotte").
Adelyn Breeskin, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940", June 6-September 1, 1941 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7-December 31, 1949, no. 9 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 23-November 22, 1953 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, October 28-November 24, 1958 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
Jane Harrison Cone, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to Wildenstein and Company, New York, March 29-May 4, 1974, no. 6 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Spirit of Appreciation: Masterpieces from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6-November 24, 1985; circulated to the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14, 1985-February 9, 1986.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse", March 12-July 16, 2000, no. 25; circulated to The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, August 13-November 26, 2000; The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, January 8-March 11, 2001; Royal Academy of Arts, London, July 12-October 7, 2001; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, November 3, 2001-January 6, 2002.
Sona K. Johnson, BMA, Baltimore, "Barbizon and Impressionist Works from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated by Brain Trust to Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, January 11-February 16, 2003; Sakura City Museum of Art, Chiba, February 27-March 30, 2003; Okazaki City Museum, April 5-May 18, 2003; Suntory Museum, Osaka, May 24-July 6, 2003; Miyazaki Prefectural Museum, July 12-August 17, 2003.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and The Walters Art Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, "Courbet and the Modern Landscape", February 21-May 14, 2006, no. 16; circulated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 18-September 10, 2006; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, October 15, 2006-January 7, 2007.
Katherine Rothkopf, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape", February 11, 2006-May 13, 2007.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Communauté d'agglomération de Montpellier/Musée Fabre, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, "Gustave Courbet", October 8, 2007-January 28, 2008, no. 86; circulated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, February 25-May 18, 2008.
Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore", circulated to The Jewish Museum, New York, 6 May-25 September 2011, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2 June-23 September 2012, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 3 November 2012-10 February 2013.
Ulk Küster, Fondation Beyeler, Switzerland, "Gustave Courbet", September 7, 2014-January 18 2015.
Ronald J. McKinney, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Exhibition of Baltimore Owned Art Treasures", January 17-March 27, 1933, no. 13,. (Exhibited as "Sous Bois")
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection", May 12-October 1, 1934 (exhibited as "Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "An Exhibition of Paintings by Courbet", May 3-May 29, 1938, no. 22 (exhibited as "La Grotte").
Adelyn Breeskin, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940", June 6-September 1, 1941 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
Gertrude Rosenthal, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Selections from the Cone Collection", October 7-December 31, 1949, no. 9 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 23-November 22, 1953 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Cone Collection", circulated to The Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, October 28-November 24, 1958 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
Jane Harrison Cone, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to Wildenstein and Company, New York, March 29-May 4, 1974, no. 6 (exhibited as "The Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Spirit of Appreciation: Masterpieces from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, October 6-November 24, 1985; circulated to the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, December 14, 1985-February 9, 1986.
Brenda Richardson, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Van Gogh to Matisse: Impressionist and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 21, 1993-January 30, 1994.
The Baltimore Museum of Art and The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse", March 12-July 16, 2000, no. 25; circulated to The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, August 13-November 26, 2000; The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, January 8-March 11, 2001; Royal Academy of Arts, London, July 12-October 7, 2001; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, November 3, 2001-January 6, 2002.
Sona K. Johnson, BMA, Baltimore, "Barbizon and Impressionist Works from The Baltimore Museum of Art", circulated by Brain Trust to Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, January 11-February 16, 2003; Sakura City Museum of Art, Chiba, February 27-March 30, 2003; Okazaki City Museum, April 5-May 18, 2003; Suntory Museum, Osaka, May 24-July 6, 2003; Miyazaki Prefectural Museum, July 12-August 17, 2003.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and The Walters Art Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, "Courbet and the Modern Landscape", February 21-May 14, 2006, no. 16; circulated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 18-September 10, 2006; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, October 15, 2006-January 7, 2007.
Katherine Rothkopf, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape", February 11, 2006-May 13, 2007.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, the Musée d'Orsay, and the Communauté d'agglomération de Montpellier/Musée Fabre, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, "Gustave Courbet", October 8, 2007-January 28, 2008, no. 86; circulated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, February 25-May 18, 2008.
Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore", circulated to The Jewish Museum, New York, 6 May-25 September 2011, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2 June-23 September 2012, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 3 November 2012-10 February 2013.
Ulk Küster, Fondation Beyeler, Switzerland, "Gustave Courbet", September 7, 2014-January 18 2015.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1930, no. 4, p. 5 (published as "Grotto").
M.I.C., "Gustave Courbet, Stormy Petrel Leader of French Realists," "The Baltimore Sun," February 26, 1933, p. 4, section 2 (published as "Sous Bois”).
Ronald J. McKinney, "Exhibition of Baltimore Owned Art Treasures," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1933, p. 12, no. 13 (published as "Sous Bois').
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore-Maryland," Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, p. 23, pl. 4, ill. (published as "La Grotte").
George Boas, "An Exhibition of Paintings by Courbet," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1938, no. 22 (published as "La Grotte").
Leslie Cheek, Jr., "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1941, p. 81 (published as "The Grotto").
George Boas, Adelyn D. Breeskin, and J.G. D'Arcy Paul, "Selections from the Cone Collection," "News of The Baltimore Museum of Art," October 1949, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 12 (published as "The Grotto").
"Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta, Collectors," "Art News," vol. XLVIII, no. 9, January 1950, p. 40 (published as "The Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection: A Handbook with a Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, p. 28, no. 17 (published as The Grotto").
George Boas, Adelyn Breeskin, and Gertrude Rosenthal, "Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings in the Cone Collection," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1967, p. 65, no. 14 (published as "The Grotto").
Bernard Goldman, "Courbet, Realism & The Radical Left," "Arts in Virginia," Winter 1972, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 14-15, no. 2, ill. (published as "The Grotto").
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection from The Baltimore Museum of Art: A Benefit Exhibition at Wildenstein," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1974, no. 6 (published as "The Grotto").
Robert Fernier, "La Vie et l'Oeuvre de Gustave Courbet, Catalogue Raisonné, Tome I: 1819-1865, Peintures" Lausanne-Paris: La Bibliothèque des Arts, 1977, pp. 212-213, 278, no. 380, ill. (published as "Le Puits Noir").
Michael Fried, "Representing Representation: On the Central Group in Courbet's 'Studio'," Art in America, September 1981, vol. 69, no. 7, pp. 169, 171, 173, fig. 8, ill. (published as "The Grotto [Le Puits noir]").
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 119, 181, 182, 200, p. 181, ill.
Guy Ducrey and Marina Ducrey, "La Galerie Paul Vallotton Dupuis 1913," Lausanne: Galerie Paul Vallotton, 1988, p. 67, p. 76, n. 31 (published as "La Grotte").
Michael Fried, "La Métaphysique de Courbet: une lecture de 'La Curée'," "La Part de l'Oeil," 1989, no. 5, p. 90, fig. 8, ill. (published as "Le puits noir").
Michael Fried, "Courbet's Realism," Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1990, pp. ix, 213, 217, 238, 241, 254, 372, pl. 13, ill. (published as "Le Puits noir").
Michael Fried, "Le Réalisme de Courbet," Paris: Éditions Gallimard, 1993, pp. 409, 415, no. 94, pl. 13, ill. (published as "Le Puits Noir").
Nobuyuki Senzoku and Akira Tomita, "Matisse and Modern Masters from the Cone Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art," Tokyo: Brain Trust Inc., 1996, p. 146, ill.
Sona K. Johnston and William R. Johnston, "The Triumph of French Painting: Masterpieces from Ingres to Matisse," London: Scala Publishers, 2000, pp. front flap, 32, 90-91, 155, no. 25, ill.
Jay Fisher, "Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone: A Collection of Modern Art for Baltimore," in Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, ed., "Before Peggy Guggenheim: American Woman Art Collectors," Venice: Marsilio, 2001, p. 122.
Mary Gabriel, The Art of Acquiring: A Portrait of Etta and Claribel Cone. [Baltimore, MD]: Bancroft Press, 2002, unpaged plate section.
Sarah Faunce and Leon Wieseltier, "Gustave Courbet," New York: Salander-O'Reilly, 2003, p. 28.
Sona K. Johnson et al, "Barbizon and Impressionist Works from The Baltimore Museum of Art," Tokyo: "Barbizon and Impressionist Works from The Baltimore Museum of Art" catalogue committee, 2003, no. 73, p. 104, ill. pp. 104-105.
John House, "Impressionism: Paint and Politics," New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004, pp. 149-150, 252, pl. 136, ill. (published as "The Stream of the Puits Noir [Le Ruisseau du Puits Noir]").
Ségolène Le Men, "Courbet," Paris: Éditions Citadells & Mazenod, 2007, pp. 258-259, 261, 266, 275, 293, 397, no. 205, ill. (published as "Le Puits-Noir").
Mary Morton and Charlotte Eyerman, "Courbet and the Modern Landscape," Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2006, pp. 55, 77, 135, 140, pl. 16, ill.
Sylvain Amie, Laurence des Cars, Dominique de Font-Réaulx, Thomas Galifot, Kathryn Calley Galitz, Michel Hilaire, Dominique Lobstein, Bruno Mottin and Bertrand Tillier, "Gustave Courbet," New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008, pp. 241-243, no. 86, ill.
Roberta Smith, "Courbet: A Seductive Rebel Who Kept It Real," "The New York Times," Friday, February 29, 2008, p. B33 (published as "The Stream of the Puits-Noir").
John Golding, "The Born Rebel Artist", The New York Review.
Karen Levitov, "Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore," New York: The Jewish Museum, 2011, pp. 48, 74, 76, pl. 24, ill.
Fillion, Susan. Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America. Boston: David R. Godine, 2011, page 64.
Ulk Küster, Editors, "Gustave Courbet," Basel: Foundation Beyeler, 2014, color ill. p. 88-89.
Courbet e la natura. Ferrara: Fondazione Ferrara Arte, 2018.
Gustave Moreau: Vers le songe et l'abstrait. Paris: Somogy éditions d'art; Paris: Musée Gustave Moreau, 2018.
Machalíková, Pavla (editor). Josef Mánes: Let s voskovými křídly. Prague: Arbor vitae societas, 2022. ill. p. 16.
Inscribed: Recto: "G. Courbet." in red paint on the lower right Verso: "25 ¾ wide" vertically in graphite on the middle of the center stretcher The painting has been wax lined and there are no inscriptions visible on the back of the canvas. Frame Inscriptions: "18630" on the bottom center and inside the top center of the frame
On View at the BMA
