How did Gustave Courbet respond after The Painter’s Studio was rejected by the 1855 Universal Exposition?

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Painting by Gustave Courbet showing the artist at his easel in a crowded studio, surrounded by figures including a nude model, onlookers, and a child with a white dog. — Realism *The Painter's Studio*, showing Gustave Courbet at the easel, oil on canvas by Courbet, 1854–55; in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

After the jury for the 1855 Universal Exposition rejected his painting The Painter’s Studio, Gustave Courbet responded with a bold act of defiance. With the financial support of a friend, he opened his own "pavilion of Realism" to exhibit his works at a site located near the official exposition.1

Although this independent enterprise ultimately failed to achieve commercial success, it served as a significant statement of his commitment to the Realist movement, asserting his independence from the established art world's conventions.1