4.9/5
Khalil Bey, Joanna Hiffernan, and the Scandal of 1866
Two nude women lie asleep in a warm embrace on a bed. Gustave Courbet painted this quiet, intimate scene in Paris. [1] He signed and dated the canvas in the bottom right corner as 'G. Courbet, 66'. [2] The bright, focused light makes their pale skin stand out beautifully from the deep shadows of the room.
A Turkish diplomat named Khalil Bey commissioned the artwork for his private collection of erotic art. [3] This collection also held The Origin of the World. [3] The piece is also called Sleep, The Two Friends, or Indolence and Lust. [2] The models are Joanna Hiffernan and Constance Quéniaux. [2] Joanna Hiffernan served as one of the two nude models. [4]
The Blue Decanter, Rumpled Sheets, and Luminous Realism
Courbet worked in the paintings in the Realism style tradition, painting life exactly as he saw it. On the sheet, a broken pearl necklace and a small hairpin show their recent intimacy. [1] In the 1860s, the canvas belonged to Halil Şerif Pasha, and then to Jean-Baptiste Faure in 1868. [2] A police report targeted the work in 1872, banning public display until 1988. [3]
Sizing Gustave Courbet's Bold Canvas for Your Bedroom Wall
Ordering the sleepers reproduction brings these beautiful, hand-painted details to your home. We paint each canvas brushstroke-by-brushstroke using fine oils on museum-grade linen. We offer seven sizes, starting from $350. If you need a different scale, you can commission a bespoke size. You can also view our reproductions of works by Gustave Courbet, including Female Nude with a Dog, or check our hundred most acclaimed paintings list.
