Origin of the World

Yesterday's Paris Match scooped the art world with this cover picture showing Gustave Courbet's The Origin of the World (1866) together with the head of the model who allegedly posed for it. An art collector bought the portrait in a Paris antique shop in 2010 and contacted Courbet expert Jean-Jacques Fernier, who initially had reservations about the connection. He is now convinced the face belongs to Courbet's model Jo Higgerman (CLICK). The face painting could be worth as much as 40 million euros (nearly £34m).