Our intrepid art critic, Beth Gersh-Nesic, and I had more fun with with her review of the Gustave Courbet exhibition (on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through May 18) than anything else over which we've batted around ideas. Courbet was such a Bad Boy, courter-of-controversy and, above all, technically proficient artist that he can, all these years later, be completely forgiven for consciously bending the star-making machinery to fatten his bank account.

For these reasons, yes, Gustave Courbet certainly resembles a contemporary rock star, movie star or any "celebrity" with a good publicist. Me, I rather thought his early self-portraits resembled a gorgeous young Jim Morrison of The Doors fame--the Lizard King before he became, as did Courbet, bloated from drink. Beth thought, no, the handsome actor Jake Gyllenhaal would more fittingly represent the painter at the start of his career. Both of us agreed wholeheartedly that Johnny Depp would play a perfect Courbet. (I invite you to look at The Desperate Man pictured here, and compare it to a photo of Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow.)

While Beth's review of Gustave Courbet has its seriously informative side, you are hereby invited to play along with us after reading. To whom in the Celebrity Sphere would you compare this artist?

Related viewing:

• Gustave Courbet - selected images form the exhibition

Image credit:

Gustave Courbet (French, 1819-1877)
The Desperate Man, 1844-45
Oil on canvas
17 3/4 x 21 5/8 in. (45 x 55 cm)
Private Collection, courtesy of BNP Paribas Art Advisory
Photo: © Michel Nguyen