Rejection

        There is a plethora of information when it comes to "How to be an Artist" with tips like “ When you finish your first sketchbook, buy another! By the time you've finished that you'll have improved so much" and "Get your work out there by trying to get your artwork into art galleries"[1], which is great advise. But this exhibition will be focusing on an aspect of the artist that is often over looked.  Although not uncommon ground for the avant-garde and/or controversial artist, it is still an unpleasant part of being an artist and that is rejection.  But instead of feelings of dejection and sorrowful, these pieces from famous artist are intriguing and some are responsible for the start of an art movement but all were at some point rejected by an art exhibition. Here are 5 artist and their pieces that we're rejected.

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 Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet

French (1819-1877)

The Painter's Studio (L'Atelier du peintre): A Real Allegory of a Seven Year Phase in my Artistic and Moral Life

1855

Oil on Canvas

235.43"  x 141.34"  (361 x 598 cm)

Musée d'Orsay

Paris, France

            Considered to be Courbet's most mysterious composition[2] was completed in 6 weeks[3] and was submitted it to the 1855 Exposition Universelle. Eleven of his works were accepted; this painting was not one of them. Not too pleased with this rejection Courbet found the funds to stage his own exhibition, this too also failed. One to not be defeated Courbet has gone down in history as a courageous innovator who would not accept rejection and has paved the way to Realism. [4]

Paul Cézanne

French (1839-1906)

The Abduction

1867

Oil on Canvas

35^1/4" x 41^1/2" (90.5 x 117 cm)

Paintings Drawing and Prints, Fitzwilliam Museum

Cambridge, UK

            Wanting to paint something ‘immense’ Cézanne painted The Abduction, with subject matter of violence and eroticism, was painted at the home of his childhood friend Emile Zola.[5] Painted during what is referred to as Cézanne's Dark Period because of it use of dark hues and subject matter, this was more and likely rejected by Paris Salon with the rest of his submissions that are from 1864 to 1869.[6]  An outcast to his community as well as to other artist Cézanne painted up to the day he died and is remembered as being one of the greatest of the Postimpressionists.[7]                              

Édouard Manet

French (1832–1883)

Nana

1877

Oil on Canvas

60.6" × 45.3" (154 × 115 cm)

19th. Century, Kunsthalle Hamburg

Hamburg, Germany

            Feasibly inspired by Emile Zola's book L'Assommoir, which explored content pertaining to poverty and alcoholism in the working-class of the 19th century. Needless to say, Nana was not readily accepted when it was submitted to the Salon of Paris in 1877, rejected on the grounds of being too controversial.[8]  179 paintings, pastels, drawings, and prints later, some of which earned medals in his lifetime[9], Manet is known for today as being innovative and accomplishing the transition between Realism and Impressionism.[10]

Georges-Pierre Seurat (1859 – 1891)

French (1859-1891)

Bathers in Asnières (Une baignade à Asnières)

1884, retouched 1887

Oil on Canvas

79 x 118 1/2 (201 × 300 cm)

Beyond Impressionism: Pissarro and Seurat, National Gallery

London, UK

            Consisting of 62 sketches before the final piece was created[11], Seurat submission of Bathers in Asnières to the Salon of Paris was rejected. Instead it was shown in Groupe des Artistes Indépendants.[12] It is interesting to note that Bathers in Asnières is not painted in the painting technique that Seurat is famous for, pointillism because he hadn't invented it yet.

Marcel Duchamp

French (1887-1968)

Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (Nu descendant un escalier n° 2)

1912

Oil on Canvas

57 7/8" x 35 1/8" (147 x 89.2 cm)

The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia, PA

            Considered an outrage, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 was the painting that made Duchamp famous in America.[13]  Submitted to the Salon des Indépendants exhibition in Paris it was his own two brothers, who were fellow artist and committee members for the salon that informed Duchamp that his painted was rejected. The reason it was rejected was according to Cubist painters "A nude never descends the stairs--a nude reclines."[14] Later that year Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 was shown in Salon de la Section d'Or and Duchamp who is associated with Cubism, Dadaism and Surrealism leaves a legacy of humor and unconventionality.[15]

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[1] "How to Become an Artist". http://www.wikihow.com, April 22, 2013. http://www.wikihow.com/Become-an-Artist

[2] Herve Lewandowski. "Gustave Courbet The Artist's Studio". www.musee-orsay.fr. 2009. http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/the-artists-studio-7146.html?tx_commentaire_pi1[pidLi]=509&tx_commentaire_pi1[from]=841&cHash=04a684ad7e

[3]"The Painter's Studio". en.wikipedia.org. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painter%27s_Studio

[4] "Gustave Courbet (1819 - 1877)". www.rehsgalleries.com. 2013.http://www.rehsgalleries.com/browse_by_artist.html?artist=247&sold=1

[5] "Paul Cézanne 1839 -1906 The Abduction". The Fitzwilliam Museum. 2013. http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/FrenchImpressionists/gallery/cezanne.files/Cezanne_Lenlivement_SE.html

[6] "The Abduction" www.artsmypassion.com. 2013. http://www.artsmypassion.com/The-Abduction-p/b1022.htm

[7]Nicolas Pioch. "Cézanne, Paul". Webmuseum, Paris. 2002. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/

[8] "Nana". totallyhistory.com. 2013. http://totallyhistory.com/nana/

[9] Rebecca Rabinow. "Édouard Manet (1832–1883)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mane/hd_mane.htm

[10] Nicolas Pioch. "Manet, Edouard ". Webmuseum, Paris. 2002. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/

[11] John Russell. Seurat. Norwich, Great Britain: Jarrold and Sons LTD, 1965

[12] "Georges Seurat". en.wikipedia.org. 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painter%27s_Studio

[13] "Nude Descending a Staircase". http://www.marcelduchamp.net. 2013. http://www.marcelduchamp.net/Nude_Descending_a_Staircase.php

[14] "Modern and Contemporary Art Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2)" Philadelphia Museum of Art. 2013. http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/51449.html.

[15] Andrew Stafford. "Making Sense of Marcel Duchamp". www.understandingduchamp.com. 2006. http://www.understandingduchamp.com.

Bibliography

McNee, Lori. "10 Famous Artists Who Had to Deal with Rejection During Their             Lifetime". http://www.finearttips.com, October 10, 2011.             http://www.finearttips.com/2011/10/10-famous-artists-who-died-before-            their-art-was-recognized/

"How to Become an Artist". http://www.wikihow.com. 2013.             http://www.wikihow.com/Become-an-Artist

Geist, Sidney. Interpreting Cezanne. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University             Press, 1989

Brombert, Beth Archer. Edouard Manet. Canada: Little, Brown & Company, 1996

John Russell. Seurat. Norwich, Great Britain: Jarrold and Sons LTD, 1965

"The Painter's Studio". en.wikipedia.org. 2013.             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painter%27s_Studio

Lewandowski, Herve. "Gustave Courbet The Artist's Studio". www.musee-orsay.fr.             2009. http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-            focus/painting/commentaire_id/the-artists-studio-            7146.html?tx_commentaire_pi1[pidLi]=509&tx_commentaire_pi1[from]=841            &cHash=04a684ad7e 

"Gustave Courbet (1819 - 1877)". www.rehsgalleries.com. 2013.             http://www.rehsgalleries.com/browse_by_artist.html?artist=247&sold=1

"Paul Cézanne 1839 -1906 The Abduction". The Fitzwilliam Museum. 2013.             http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/gallery/FrenchImpressionists/gallery/c            ezanne.files/Cezanne_Lenlivement_SE.html

"The Abduction" www.artsmypassion.com. 2013.             http://www.artsmypassion.com/The-Abduction-p/b1022.htm

Pioch, Nicolas. "Cézanne, Paul". Webmuseum, Paris. 2002.             http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/

King, Ross. The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World             Impressionism. Walker & Company. 2006

"Nana". totallyhistory.com. 2013. http://totallyhistory.com/nana/

Rabinow, Rebecca. "Édouard Manet (1832–1883)". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art             History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.             http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mane/hd_mane.htm

Pioch, Nicolas. "Manet, Edouard ". Webmuseum, Paris. 2002.             http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/

"Georges Seurat". en.wikipedia.org. 2013.             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painter%27s_Studio

"Nude Descending a Staircase". http://www.marcelduchamp.net. 2013.             http://www.marcelduchamp.net/Nude_Descending_a_Staircase.php

"Modern and Contemporary Art Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2)" Philadelphia             Museum of Art. 2013.             http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/51449.html.

Andrew Stafford. "Making Sense of Marcel Duchamp". www.understandingduchamp.com. 2006. http://www.understandingduchamp.com.