Performance Artist Sits in Front of Courbet's "Origin of the World," Reveals Her Origin of the World

A performance artist at the Musée d’Orsay sat in front of Courbet's shocking painting and made it even more shocking.

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Complex Original

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So far, 2014 in performance art went a little something like this: a woman threw up colorful milk on Lady Gaga, a man danced around with a rooster tied to his penis, and a woman gave birth to paint-filled eggs—all of which pales in comparison to the latest act by an artist who has no fear of baring it all in public.

On May 29, Deborah de Robertis, a performance artist from Luxembourg, strutted into Paris'Museé d'Orsayin a gold, sequined dress, plopped down in front of Gustave Courbet's Origin of the World, and spread her legs to reveal everything...and we mean everything. 

This might not make a lot of sense to you who are unfamiliar with Courbet's masterpiece, but the famous painting actually depicts a woman's vagina in all its incredible detail, something only a Realist painter like Courbet could pull off.

Mimicking Courbet's painting, which shook the sensibility of audiences in 1866 to their core, Robertis shows that a woman's genitalia can turn just as many heads today—shocker.

As soon as she lifted up her skirt at the museum, guards descended on Robertis while many visitors applauded her bravado. You can watch the whole NSFW incident go down here. 

RELATED: A Woman Publicly "Gave Birth" to a Painting at Art Cologne
RELATED: Artist Is Found Guilty of Sexual Exhibitionism for Dancing With a Rooster Tied to His Penis

[via Hyperallergic

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