1. Gustave Courbet
Gustave Courbet wasn’t just an artist; he was a rebel in the world of 19th-century art. With his bold Realist style, he threw out romantic ideals and painted ordinary life with raw honesty, giving farmers and laborers the same grand scale once reserved for kings and heroes. His shocking “L’Origine du monde” and his outspoken politics challenged authority, shocked polite society, and forever changed the way we see art.