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Thread: Édouard Manet (1832-83) was a French modern painter whose work bridges the evolution of naturalism into Impressionism. He is particularly loved by artists who appreciate his technical approach to depiction. 
Manet was born into a rich aristocratic milieu. From 1845 he started art classes. From 1850-6 he studied under Couture & visited galleries in Germany, Italy & Holland to study artworks (1853-6). Copy after Delacroix (1854) & Jupiter & Antiope (1856)
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In 1856 he opened his own studio & painted in a Realist manner influenced by Courbet. Woman with Jug (1858-60), Boy with Cherries (1859) & Surprised Nymph (1859-61). Photography had become available in 1850s France & Manet appears to have studied how photographs present reality.
The boy who figures in much of his later work may have been his or his father’s lovechild, it’s not known as he married his dad’s mistress. Boy with Dog (1860-1), Madame Brunet (c1860-3) & The Spanish Singer (1860)
His work was accepted in the Salon of 1861. His relaxed, less precise, style was considered slap-dash, however. In 1862 he painted Music in the Tuileries, his early masterpiece belonging to @TheHughLane The idea is depicting the feel of the scene rather than a direct depiction.
The Luncheon on the Grass (1863) followed. This is his most famed work & a homage to Giorgione/Titian. The Salon rejected it so he showed at the Salon des Refusés. The clothed men & the nude smacked of porn to some, others didn’t like its loose brushwork.
Olympia (1863) was painted next. Where we see a confident woman, contemporaries saw a blatant prostitute & so the work garnered controversy. Jesus Mocked (1864-5) & Stem of Peonies & Secateurs (1864)
He married in 1863 & became friends with Degas, Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Cézanne & Pissarro thru his friend Berthe Morisot. She got him to paint en plein air & was his sister-in-law. Vase of Peonies (1864), The Reading (c1865-73) & The Fifer (1866)
Eva Gonzalés was his student. Monet & Morisot were his main influences. Eva Gonzalés (1870), Berthe Morisot (1870) & Berthe Moridot (1870). The latter is a ravishing depiction of his friend. The role of Morisot highlights her as probably the greatest Impressionist.
From 1867-9 he painted works devoted to the French intervention in Mexico with his Execution of the Emperor Maximilian. Versions of the work date from 1867-8. These works show he was inspired by Goya’s famous firing squad.
He painted The Railway in 1873. It too met with confusion. On the Beach (1873) & Boating (1874). Railways were still new & the height of modernity. The painting has been interpreted in many ways. Manet painted many boring shipping scenes (I’ve left them out).
Manet illustrated a work by Poe in (the Raven) 1875. La Parisienne (1874), Monet is his floating Studio (1874) & The Grand Canal, Venice (1874). All the Impressionists were particularly impressed by Monet’s water studio & he often sailed along with them.
His images of Nana would have shocked too - it’s clear he was painting the life of a prostitute - a popular idea of Impressionism & thus painting the ‘modern’ world. Before the Mirror (1876-7), A Cafe (1877-8) & Nana (1877)
The artist was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1881. Plum Brandy (1877), Corner of a Cafe-Concert (1878-80) & Self (1878-9). I love the glumness of the prostitute bored waiting for a pickup. He was a modern painter, painting modern modes.
By 1879 his health was failing. He was quite incapacitated & so painted more interiors & still lifes. Woman fastening her Garter (1878-9), Young Girl (1878) & The Garden of Pere Lathuille (1879). Unlike Degas his women, unawares, are celebrations of sexuality & empathy.
Manet loved women, had female friends & was fascinated with their inner life. You can see why he & Morisot saw eye to eye. Monsieur Brun (c1879), Young Woman among the Flowers (1879) & La Viennoise (1880-2)
The Garden is a magnificently beautiful essay in light & colour. Just as big a triumph is his Brioche. Madame Manet (1880), Still Life with Brioche (1880) & the Garden at Bellevue (1880)
Young Woman in the Garden (1880), Young Woman (1881) & Bar at the Follies-Bergere (1881). The latter is a first idea for the subject - he did many & the Courtauld in London has the best one.
A Bar at the Follies-Bergère (1882), Pinks & Clematis (1882) & Portrait of Mery Laurent (1882). The Bar is another masterpiece. Not only is the alcohol for sale, so is the lady. I love her deadpan look. Manet reflects the John in the mirror to the right.
He died in 1883, aged 51. His painting style is endlessly fascinating in integrating the lighting of photography, and Impressionism into modern art. Flowers (nd) & The Milliner (nd). Although relatively minor I do love his flowerpieces. Go look at him again! A pivotal artist.
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