Things as they were
Realism
Painting from the middle of the eighteen hundreds that looked hard at ordinary things and did not dress them up. Rosa Bonheur's horse fair churning up the dust, Courbet's young ladies of the village giving alms to a cowherd girl, weeders bent over a field at dusk, sheep brought home to the fold, a great cheese on a kitchen table. Heavy paint, earth colours and working light.
As a puzzle
A steady, satisfying build. The animals are the gift, since hide, fleece and a horse's flank all carry a direction, and the still lifes are dense with small things. The earth colours are the patient part: a field, a wall and a shadow can share one brown, so sort those by value, light to dark. Most come out wider than they are tall.
A good size here: 60–250 pieces.
Painters here: Henri Fantin-LatourGustave Courbet
Subjects here: AnimalsStill LifeFlowersLandscapesPortraitsEveryday Life
23 pictures, pick one to build
The Horse Fair Rosa Bonheur, 1852–55 
The Woman in the Waves Gustave Courbet, 1868 
Young Ladies of the Village Gustave Courbet, 1851–52 
Woman with a Parrot Gustave Courbet, 1866 
Study of a Nude Man Attributed to Gustave Courbet, early 1840s 
The Fishing Boat Gustave Courbet, 1865 
Still Life with Flowers and Fruit Henri Fantin-Latour, 1866 
Still Life with Pansies Henri Fantin-Latour, 1874 
A Shepherdess and Her Flock Anton Mauve 
Twilight Anton Mauve 
Sheep in a Landscape Eugène-Joseph Verboeckhoven, 1870 
The Return to the Fold Anton Mauve 
Cows in a Landscape Eugène-Joseph Verboeckhoven, 19th century 
Weaning the Calves Rosa Bonheur, 1879 
Still Life with Cheese Antoine Vollon, probably late 1870s 
Louis Gueymard (1822–1880) as Robert le Diable Gustave Courbet, 1857 
The Weeders Jules Breton, 1868 
Portrait of a Woman Henri Fantin-Latour, 1885 
Grandmother's Treasure Jozef Israëls 
Self-Portrait Henri Fantin-Latour, ca. 1858 
Potted Pansies Henri Fantin-Latour, 1883 
Summer Flowers Henri Fantin-Latour, 1880 
Still Life with Roses and Fruit Henri Fantin-Latour, 1863