Was Courbet's art considered controversial?
Indeed, my work was often met with controversy and outrage. By presenting the unvarnished reality of life, including its less glamorous aspects, I confronted the sensibilities of the Salon and the bourgeois public. 'A Burial at Ornans,' for example, was criticized for its lack of heroic figures and its direct, almost stark, depiction of a provincial funeral. This resistance confirmed that I was disturbing established norms.
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