My fine arts major friend actually found the thing that inspired Courbet's painting today! According to "French 19th Century Painting and Literature" by Ulrich Finke, Courbet was inspired by Hugo's poem "La Captive", specifically the first line:
Si je n'étais captive, j'aimerais ce pays. Unfortunately his paintings were lost so we won't be able to see them. But if you're interested, here's another painting based on the same poem.
http://parismuseescollections.paris.fr/ ... rincipalesAlso according to
this website there are several musical versions of "La Captive", like
this one composed by Hector Berlioz. I assumed Berlioz was inspired by Hugo's writing as well?
That Paris museum website also has a nice collection of stuff related to Hugo, including paintings by him and illustrations of his works.
http://parismuseescollections.paris.fr/ ... ugo-331933And lastly, sorry for going off topic but
this is my new ideal travel destination now. I need to see it next time I go to France!!
