Review by John Adams

I'll bet that most of you would rather chew off your own leg rather than be trapped watching a documentary on a dead 19th century French painter. But the leg would come out the winner on this one because it would still get to see Facets' snappy DVD set of three docs about French artist Gustave Courbet.

Gustave Courbet is one of the main pillars of modern art, and that includes film. Indeed his brand of realism is pretty much what we today would understand as "realism." It is hard to imagine that, until very recently, the idea of a "realistic" depiction of the world around you -- that is without idealism -- was not only unknown but antithetical to art itself. Courbet and his painting changed all that.

So why haven't you heard of Courbet with the same monotonous drumbeat as, say Picasso? Perhaps it is because Courbet's work has always been too politically incorrect, in the true sense of, "incompatible with the current political environment," in particular his affinity for poor people, the ordinary life and the particularly vulgar. Consider his "L'origine du Monde," a gynecological study in oils that was so radioactively radical and explicit that it remained hidden from all public view and unknown for 100 years.

And there may be a change in the air as Courbet's work has been enjoying a recent comeback. There was a major show of his work in Paris and a lot of that collection is making its way to the US for an equally big show at the New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. You'll be hearing the name "Courbet" a lot in the coming year, so why not get up to speed on what all the fuss is about? This set of docs will be a great place the place to get started.

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