Contemporary artist marks bicentenary of Gustave Courbet's birth For the bicentenary of Gustave Courbet's birth, contemporary artist Pei-Ming Yan took up residence in the painter's original studio in Ornans in the Doubs region of France. He is currently working on a series of paintings, a dialogue between himself and Courbet. A huge black and white portrait of Courbet is one of the highlights. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES