Gustave Courbet by Jeanne Willette | Sep 3, 2010 | Modern, Modern Aesthetics, Modern Art, Modern CultureAVANT-GARDE REALISM IN FRANCE: GUSTAVE COURBET In 1845, The art critic, Théophile Thoré (who “discovered” the Dutch artist, Jan Vermeer) complained that French art was “…without system, without direction, and abandoned to individual fantasy.”...