Qatar revealed as owner of famed Courbet self-portrait

Paris: Qatar has revealed itself as the owner of a famous self portrait by French realist master Gustave Courbet and will loan the painting to Paris s...

Paris: Qatar has revealed itself as the owner of a famous self-portrait by French realist master Gustave Courbet and will loan the painting to Paris's Musee d'Orsay for five years, museum officials said on Monday.

"The Desperate Man" depicts Courbet with a wild-eyed stare looking out of the canvas in a work that is one of his best known alongside "The Stone Breakers" and "The Origin of the World".

It was exhibited in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2010 in a show devoted to the painter and was last seen in France in a major retrospective in 2007-2008, which also travelled to New York.

Attendees look at French painter Gustave Courbet's oil-on-canvas "Self Portrait", also known as "Desperation" and "The Desperate Man" (1843-1845) exhibited on loan at the Musee d'Orsay, in Paris, on October 13, 2025. (Photo by Ian LANGSDON / AFP)

At this time, the painting was loaned by an unknown private collector with help from French bank BNP Paribas, but has since been acquired by Qatar Museums, a state body responsible for developing the art scene in the country.