Winter Landscape (1850–1877)

Attributed to Gustave Courbet

Oil on canvas on panel

Rijksmuseum

This painting depicts a view within a snow-covered forest, rendered in oil on canvas laid on panel. It is held in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and bears the initials 'G.C.', which has led to its attribution to the French Realist painter Gustave Courbet (1819–1877), though that attribution has also been formally questioned by the museum. Courbet was a leading figure of Realism who became particularly celebrated for his winter landscapes and snow scenes, which were widely admired for their bold, tactile handling of paint and unflinching observation of nature. The Rijksmuseum dates the work broadly to 1850–1877, reflecting uncertainty about its precise place within Courbet's oeuvre or that of a close follower.