The Origin of the World

E68857

The Origin of the World is an 1866 realist oil painting by Gustave Courbet that provocatively depicts a close-up view of a woman's genitals, challenging 19th-century artistic and social conventions.

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf oil painting
painting
realist painting
acquisitionDate 1995
artHistoricalContext 19th-century French art
artisticTheme eroticism
female body
origin of life
provocation
sexuality
artworkSurface canvas
catalogCode Musée d'Orsay
surface form: Musée d’Orsay RF 1995-3
collection Musée d'Orsay
surface form: Musée d’Orsay
collectionType public museum collection
countryOfOrigin France
creator Gustave Courbet
creatorGender male
creatorNationality French
depicts abdomen of a woman
female genitals
female nude
pubic hair
thighs of a woman
genre Realism
hasCensorshipHistory true
hasCommissioner Khalil-Bey
hasDepictionAngle close-up view
hasOnlineCensorshipIncidents true
hasReference often discussed in art history literature
inception 1866
influenced discussions of artistic freedom
feminist art criticism
later debates on pornography and art
locatedIn France
Paris
location Musée d'Orsay
surface form: Musée d’Orsay
materialUsed oil paint
movement Realism
notableFor challenge to 19th-century artistic conventions
challenge to 19th-century social conventions
controversial subject matter
explicit depiction of female genitals
originalLanguageTitle L’Origine du monde
paintingTechnique realist technique
previousOwner Jacques Lacan
Khalil-Bey
Sylvia Bataille
subjectGender female
title The Origin of the World self-link

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Gustave Courbet notableWork The Origin of the World
The Origin of the World title The Origin of the World self-link