Amateur finds new part of painting
Women’s head may be the top of Courbet’s notorious The Origin of the World
AN AMATEUR art-lover may have found a missing section of one of the world’s most notorious – and explicit – artworks, Gustave Courbet's The Origin of the World.
The original painting, in the Musée d’Orsay since 1995, shows a woman’s genitalia and now the unnamed amateur says he has found the model’s head in a separate piece that he bought in an antiques shop.
The new painting, of a woman’s head tipped back in seeming ecstasy, is revealed in Paris-Match which says it has been authenticated by leading Courbet expert Jean-Jacques Fernier.
Originally painted towards the end of the 1860s, the artwork is said to have been cut up for a buyer who wanted only the explicit section. It may also have been done to protect the model, who has for many years been thought to be Courbet’s lover the Irishwoman Joanna Hifferman.
If confirmed, the €1,400 painting of the head could fetch up to €35 million as a new work by Courbet and with its links to The Origin of the World.
The amateur who found the 41cm x 33cm head had thought it was the work of a master and has spent two years confirming his suspicions.
Although Paris-Match says it has been authenticated by X-ray and infra-red examination experts at the Musée d’Orsay are not convinced. The museum is staging an exhibition on The Origin of the World in 2014.
