What city hosted the 1855 Exposition Universelle where Courbet built his Pavilion of Realism? Paris hosted it.
The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was held in Paris, chiefly around the Champs-Élysées, from 15 May to 15 November. It was a major international showcase of industry, agriculture, and the fine arts under Napoleon III’s Second Empire.
Gustave Courbet’s independent Pavilion of Realism stood beside the official exhibition after several of his paintings were rejected or excluded. There he displayed about forty works, including “The Artist’s Studio,” making the pavilion an important early example of an artist presenting a self-curated alternative to official art institutions.
The fair followed London’s Great Exhibition of 1851 and was designed partly to demonstrate French prestige. It attracted more than five million visitors and included participants from dozens of countries. The event also helped produce the famous Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855.
Paris is sometimes confused with London because London hosted the earlier 1851 exhibition and the later 1862 international exhibition. Courbet’s pavilion, however, was specifically associated with the 1855 Paris exposition.