Le déjeuner sur l'herbe by Edouard Manet

Today this is one of the most famous of Manet's paintings but when exhibited for the first time it was a scandal.

The naked woman was the reason. After the post below it is funny to think it was a scandal but at that time naked women in paintings were not a contemporaneous woman as this one. She is a woman of that time and this is one of the reasons people thought it was immoral.

If she was a goddess there was not problem but she stares at you without any shame and how dare her being with two men?

The Luncheon on the Grass by Manet and Picasso's version

The Luncheon on the Grass (left) is one of the most Manet's painting. When first exhibited it was a scandal just like Olympia. Although it has references to old masters:

"The Lunch on the Grass is a painting with several overlaid themes:

- the reference to the old masters, Manet having taken his inspiration from Titian's Concert champêtre in the Musée du Louvre, and from The Judgement of Paris, an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi, after Raphael.

- the issue of the nude, "It seems I'll have to paint a nude. Very well then, I'll paint a nude for them", Manet had declared to Antonin Proust.

- the question of the subject, the reason for all the uproar surrounding it. "We cannot regard as chaste a work in which a woman, seated in the woods, surrounded by students in berets and coats, is clothed only in the shadows of the leaves" (Ernest Chesneau, quoted by Françoise Cachin in Manet, RMN, 1983).

- finally, the issue of the outdoor setting: the real open air, according to Emile Zola,

"In this painting, what one must see […] is the entire landscape, full of atmosphere, this corner of nature rendered with a simplicity so accurate…". "In this painting, what one must see […] is the entire landscape, full of atmosphere, this corner of nature rendered with a simplicity so accurate...""

The sight of these contemporary people, especially a naked woman, being exhibited next to nudes that was mythological thus very far from touch was outrageous.

Picasso repeated the scandal with his versions of Manet's painting. I truly believe that one of thousands art's functions is to change the way we see things and it is funny to see that these paintings today are considered part of cultural heritage and we can even think that Manet's nude woman is a little bit overweighted.

Bar at the Folie Bergère by Édouard Manet

Leftt: "Bar at the Folie Bergère", 1881, by Édouard Manet. Right: Detail This is a very famous of Manet's painting. At the back of the girl there is a mirror showing the scene in front of her and she doesn't seem to pay attention to any particular person or event. Take a look at her image at the mirror at the right side of the painting. The mirror shows what is parallel to the girl but her back is painted in another angle as if it was another mirror. The man looking at her should also be depicted as if he was facing us. Manet's solution is far more interesting and accurate than if he had painted it following the mirror's rules. This is far more warm and, why not, realistic? I believe that if we were in front of the girl our heads would turn to see the man.

Olympia by Edouard Manet

At the post about Goya's Majas I said that there was a Manet to come and there she is: Olympia, 1863, depicting the courtesan Victorine.

These are the historical facts:

"Yet the greatest uproar was reserved for the painting in which Victorine’s sexuality is finally fully unleashed: Olympia (1863). Depicted as a prostitute, Victorine reclines queenlike on her bed, unabashedly confronting the viewer with her naked body. Olympiaappears to mock the barriers Manet previously erected against Victorine’s sexuality. Here, what little clothing Victorine wears - especially her slippers - merely serve to accentuate her nudity rather than covering it. The one real attempt at concealment is the hand that rests nonchalantly over Victorine’s genitals, and even this is less of a disguise than an emphasis upon them. It is now the model who seems in control, not the artist; she is a monster unleashed. The crowds at the Salon of 1865 reacted as if she was, at least: Empress Eugénie herself hit the painting with her umbrella as an expression of disgust, inspiring so many imitators that Olympia had to be re-hung higher on the wall, out of range (Siebert 159). Victorine’s body had burst its bonds, creating a scandal practically of its own accord. If the furor surrounding Déjeuner sur l’herbe could be attributed to the juxtaposition of men in modern dress with naked women, viewers’ strong reaction to Olympia is certainly all about Victorine. Olympia is her great victory."

I wonder what kind of nudity would cause reaction nowadays and I am sure that it can be done.

Women reading as theme for painters

This is a preview of a post I am doing about women reading. Put your mouse at each painting an you will see the title and the name of the painter at the status bar. Yes, the biggest is Maria Magdalena reading the bible, a 1500-10 painting by Piero di Cosimo. This is very interesting that he did this work after Dan Brown's discover. :) The animated .gif is just for fun. Have a great and peaceful weekend.

Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin's legacy for the impressionists

Top-right:Boy Playing with cards, 1740, by Jean B. Chardin Top-left: Girl with Racket and Shuttlecock, 1740, Jean B. Chardin Left: Soap Bubles, 1734, by Jean B. S. Chardin Although he was the painter of aristocratic world in the late of the 17 century Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, a French painter, also depicted quotidian life and one of his themes were young people playing. At this post there is Manet's "soap bubble children and he received the inspiration from the left painting. This is what Wikipedia says about his legacy:

Chardin's influence on the art of the modern era was wide-ranging, and has been well-documented.^[11] Edouard Manet's half-length Boy Blowing Bubbles and the still lifes of Paul Cézanne are equally indebted to their predecessor.^[12] He was one of Henri Matisse's most admired painters; as an art student Matisse made copies of four Chardin paintings in the Louvre.^[13] Chaim Soutine's still lifes looked to Chardin for inspiration, as did the paintings of Georges Braque, and later, Giorgio Morandi.^[12] In 1999 Lucian Freud painted and etched several copies after The Young Schoolmistress (National Gallery, London).[1]

Matisse's favorite painter? I am not sure. Anyway... he studied Chardin and this is already quite an homage! I like this universe of children playing and it's amazing that Chardin's son has died at a early age probably because of suicide. Sad, too sad. Unfortunately these reproductions do not show half of Chardin's skills.

Bazille - Studio at Condamine Street

"The scene is set in the studio in the rue de la Condamine which Bazille shared with Renoir from January 1st 1868 to May 15th 1870. Bazille is in the centre, a palette in his hand. But as he wrote in a letter to his father: "Manet painted me in". One can in fact see Manet's vigorous style in the tall, slim figure of the young man. And indeed, Manet, wearing a hat, is looking at the canvas placed on the easel. On the right, Edmond Maître, a friend of Bazille, is seated at the piano. Above him, a still life by Monet is a reminder that Bazille helped him financially by buying his work. The three characters on the left are more difficult to identify – possibly Monet, Renoir or even Zacharie Astruc... By surrounding Manet and his admirers with some of his paintings that were refused by the Salon, such as The Toilette (Montpellier, Musée Fabre) above the sofa, and Fisherman with a Net (Zürich, Fondation Rau) higher up on the left, and even more realistically Renoir's "landscape with two people" rejected at the 1866 Salon (the large, framed canvas to the right of the window), Bazille is expressing his criticism of the Academy, and affirming his own vision of art. His death in combat some months later, during the Franco-Prussian war, made this work a moving testament." Text from Musée d'Orsay. Click to enlarge.

Berthe Morisot and the Manet brothers

Right: Berthe Morisot portrayed by Edouart Manet her brother-in-law. Left: Eugene Manet portrayed by his wife Berthe Morisot.

Manet - Soup Bubbles - The Suicide

The most known of Manet's paintings is Olympia. It was a scandal when first exhibited in 1863 although the public and critics had already seen many naked women in art history. However, they could not stand watching this contemporary woman, a courtesan, looking at them right in the eyes. Through the times Olympia has been the inspiration for many artists that have done their version of this painting and perhaps Olympia is still shocking. Few people got inspiration from this boy who is just playing with soup bubbles. I believe it is quite beautiful and makes us see that simple things of quotidian life can also inspire artists. Of course tragedy is also part of artists concerns and life: "The Suicide", 1877, is one subject that is hard to believe that Manet would paint.