Gustave Courbet was one of the first French artists to use his talents to open up realism to paintings and drawings that featured common men and women of society in them, as well as members of the upper class. Courbet was born in 1819 and his early life was a privileged one. Those who knew him best expected him to study law when he moved to Paris in the early 1840s. Instead, Courbet had the courage to embark on an artistic adventure few others would have undertaken. Some of his best works are reviewed in this video, including "The Stone Breakers" and "A Burial at Ornans." In his later years, Courbet concentrated on painting many nature scenes. It is believed that his many seascapes greatly impacted the Impressionists. His political beliefs as a socialist eventually led to both imprisonment and his later flight to Switzerland where he eventually died.