Courbet clearly had other goals in life and attending classes in law was not among them. In 1839, and only under the assumption that Courbet would follow law studies, he moved to Paris where he befriended Francois Bonvin, another young Realist artist, who showed him around the Louvre and introduced him to the masters of Dutch painting, and Spanish painters like Murillo, Velazquez, and Zurburan, whose dark palettes influenced the early period of Courbet’s work. Instead of enrolling in law school, he began working in studios such as those of Charles-Auguste-Guillaume Steuben and Nicolas-Auguste. He also worked in Suisse’s studio on the Île de La Cité. No instruction or criticism was given at Suisse’s studio. Nude models were the only provisions allowing students to follow their own stylistic predilections with a sense of freedom. The studio was suitable to Courbet’s learning style as he did not prefer to work under a teacher, feeling that only basics of art could be taught, the rest is up to the artist.

Due in part to his figure studies, or due to lack of funds to obtain models, Courbet’s beginning work in the 1840’s included a large number of self-portraits. He completed many self portraits throughout his life, but a majority of them were done in the 1840s.

He submitted one of his self-portraits (Autoportrait au Chien :Self Portrait with the Black Dog) to the 1844 Salon, where it was accepted while his other work was rejected. It cannot be said, however, that the fact that one of Courbet’s work was accepted was a triumph since, in response to the overly intolerant Salon juries beginning with 1841 where even Ingres was rejected, the jury of 1844 was somewhat dispirited and accepted virtually every piece. Regardless, Courbet took advantage of this, as later in his career he would find that the selectiveness of the Salon jury would continually plague his career with constant rejection creating an intense feeling of resentment and bitterness.

It was also during this period that Courbet began to solidify his realist works and personal artistic doctrines through his association with other artists and writers. Courbet was soon associating with Charles Baudelaire, and painters such as Honoré Daumier and Alexandre Décamps. While Realism had its band of devoted followers, it had yet to fully break into the Salon. In 1847 Courbet sent a portrait and two other works but they were all rejected. For some time Courbet had experienced his share of rejections, understanding that it was his artistic credo that challenged the established traditions. He recognized that as much as he only felt contempt for the jury and the Salon, he came upon the problem that all progressive artists of the nineteenth century faced. In order to establish their careers with the public, they needed the Salon exhibitions. Courbet said of the judges “Their judgment doesn’t matter; but one must exhibit to become known, and unfortunately there’s no other exhibition. In former years, when my own style was less fully developed and I still painted a little as they do, they accepted me; but now that I‘ve become myself, I must henceforth abandon hope.”

By rejecting such a vast number of artists, the jurors had enraged so many artists that they formed an association in protest and wanted to put on an independent show in a private gallery. These artists included Eugène Delacroix, Honoré Daumier, Alexandre Décamps, Theodore Rousseau, Ary Scheffer, and Antoine-Louis Barye. Despite the furor, the plan was thwarted by the 1848 Revolution. The Revolution of 1848 and the reaction to the previous year’s Salon rejections caused the same phenomenon as that of 1844, but under different circumstances. The Revolution caused a slight and short-lived liberalization of the Salon and again, under the new director Charles Blanc, virtually every work was accepted. Courbet sent seven works comprised of portraits, landscapes, and drawings. Despite his strong showing and high praises, Courbet sold nothing. This was yet another of a string of disappointments for Courbet.

Courbet first major controversy however was at the Salon of 1850/51, which also raised the question of Realism to a higher level of debate. The Salon was also called the Salon of Realism since in addition to Courbet, there were many other artists showing work with a strong Realist inflection. One of Courbet’s submissions was entitled Les Baigneuses (The Bathers) a clear rejection of the academic nude tradition, showing women in all of their voluptuousness, shying away from nothing, and offending the middle class Salon viewers and critics. As the story goes, Napoleon was so disgusted with The Bathers that he hit the canvas with his riding crop. Ladies turned away in disgust, distinguished men shrugged their shoulders, young fellows laughed and were captivated by the young girls’ embarrassment, overall there was a chorus of condemnation.

At this point Courbet’s works focused attention on recording aspects of contemporary life. As his work and style progressed, he turned to somewhat less controversial subjects such as landscapes and portraits, though not necessarily in response to his unfavourable showings. In 1858 he travelled to Germany and the following year to the Normandy coast where he painted several seascapes. Both of these journeys introduced Courbet to a new and less controversial subject for his work; it allowed his creative faculties to more fully expand beyond the boundaries of his usual imagery.

With the shift to these new images it seemed that Courbet’s popularity and acceptance was on the rise. At the Salon of 1860 Courbet received a second class medal, his third medal overall that he had received from the Salon jury. But, Courbet ever defiant stated,” What had been an honour in 1849 was now an insult”. Courbet no longer sought such great admiration from a jury that he disrespected to such a high degree.

Courbet soon began working on his next piece for the Salon entitled Le Retour de la Conference (Return from the Conference), which showed a group of drunken priests returning from an assembly. It was rejected at the Salon and even rejected at the Salon des Refusés in 1863. With his savvy sense of self-promotion, he decided to display it in his own studio where many came to see it. He most likely hid his true motives behind the execution of the work when he said, “I made the work to get it refused. I’ve succeeded. That’s the way it’ll bring me in money” Courbet then set out to organize yet another personal exhibition to compete with the upcoming 1867 Exposition Universelle. It was more ambitious than the previous one, though it was just as much of a failure. Such little attention was paid to the show that few visitors came. Courbet’s methods of self-promotions were valiant efforts, but all of them disappointing in the end.

Three years later France was again thrown into a political crisis with the Franco-Prussian war and the emergence of the Paris Commune. At this time, Courbet refused the Cross of the Legion of Honor, just as Daumier, another Realist artist, had. Despite Courbet’s refusal of the honor, the Commune government did appoint Courbet Chairman of the Arts Commission, whose sole duty was to protect the works of art in Paris from the siege. The Commune was short-lived, however, and in May of 1871 mass executions began and all Commune leaders, such as Courbet, were either executed or jailed. Courbet managed to escape by keeping a low profile; his personality was not one to flee from controversy or danger, even if it meant going to prison. On May 30th the police seized a trunk of his papers and took 106 moldy canvases, searched the studio, and sealed the door. On the June 7th he was arrested and interrogated, later thrown in prison. It was also determined that Courbet was to pay restitution of over two hundred thousand francs, which was impossible. On July 23rd, 1873 Courbet, through the assistance of a few friends, fled France for Switzerland. Courbet stayed in Switzerland for four years, growing weaker each year, afflicted with a variety of illnesses including and dropsy (swelling of soft tissues) Courbet was unwilling to see a doctor, due to lack of funds and the threat of arrest. He died, without ever returning to France, in exile on December 31st, 1877.

One of his last known quotes was, “I am fifty years old and I have always lived in freedom; let me end my life free; when I am dead let this be said of me: 'He belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least of all to any régime except the régime of liberty.”