Landscape with Stag 

Gustave Courbet painted this "Landscape with Stag" using oil on canvas. Notice how the composition is structured by contrasting elements: the verticality of the waterfall against the horizontal layers of rock, creating a dynamic interplay. Courbet’s use of brown and grey tonalities for the rocks and foliage juxtaposes with the brilliant white of the cascading water, drawing our eye centrally. The stag and does are strategically placed to guide the viewer's gaze, creating a balance between wildlife and the environment. Courbet challenges traditional landscape painting, in which nature serves merely as a backdrop. Here, the structural organization of forms suggests a deeper connection between the organic and inorganic, questioning the established hierarchy between man and nature. The rugged texture of the rocks, rendered through thick impasto, highlights the materiality of the paint itself. By emphasizing the tangible qualities of the medium, Courbet draws attention to the artwork as a constructed object, and not just a transparent window onto the world.