Biography
Édouard Manet (1832-1883), French painter and graphic artist, with his art anticipated the emergence of impressionism and became one of its founders. Practically during all his biography, Manet’s creativity is faced with opposition and difficulties. His father was the head of the department of the Ministry of Justice and was preparing his son for a career as a lawyer. He was an ardent opponent of art education for his son.
And the young artist has to constantly struggle with the demands of an influential father, which forces him to leave the house. Innovative artwork of Edouard Manet was subjected to violent attacks of criticism, who considered the artist a rebel in art. Using and rethinking the subjects and motifs of the famous paintings of the old masters, Manet sought to fill them with a sharp modern sound, polemically introducing into the famous classical compositions of modern man (Breakfast on the Grass, 1863). Under the influence of parents, the young Manet attempts to enter one of the Maritime schools.
Examination Manet does not stand. After that, he goes on a journey to the shores of South America. The journey takes place on the ship “Le Havre and Guadeloupe,” where the young Manet was boating and served as a cabin boy.
Key Ideas in painting
During this long journey, the young man made a lot of drawings.
Basically, these are portraits and sketches of the crew members of the ship. After returning from the trip, he again tries to enter the Naval School, where he again fails. After a second failure, with the consent of the parents, Manet begins painting. The training, which lasted more than six years, takes place in the workshop of Tom Couture, a fairly well-known academic artist. While studying, he undertakes trips to Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, where he gets acquainted with the largest museums and monuments of European art. The training lasted until 1856.
Since the end of the period of study and until 1870, Manet continues his work as an artist. The main device, in his work, is figurative compositions and portraits. During the German siege of Paris, in 1870, the artist becomes an artilleryman and is among the defenders of the city. He tries to capture the city during his blockade and hunger. In the same years, there is an acquaintance, and the artist’s communication with the famous impressionists of the time, such as Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, and others.
In the 1880s, while already seriously ill, Manet wrote a still life that was unusual for his portraitist style.
Famous paintings made by Edouard Manet
The work of this artist was not particularly recognized until the 1890s when his painting was imposed on the Louvre Museum, his friends. After that, paintings by Manet began to acquire and other museums and private collectors. Since 1881 he is sick with ataxia – a violation of coordination of movements. Further life of the artist is associated with the constant development of the disease.
April 19, 1883, he was amputated to his left leg, and 11 days later he died in terrible agony. Edouard Manet was the idol of those who believed that painting in France ceased to develop and needs to be updated. He did not intend to rebel and wanted his paintings to be appreciated. On May 15, 1863, the famous “Salon of Outcasts” opened, where artists who were denied the right to participate in the official exhibition could show their paintings. Since the number of candidates rejected by the official jury was great, Emperor Napoleon III, wishing to gain a reputation as a defender of freedoms, suggested organizing a separate exposition for them.
Breakfast on the Grass
It was Manet who exhibited his “Breakfast on the Grass” (1863) in the “Salon of the Outcasts”, which the critics and the public deemed absolutely “inedible”.
Especially they were sarcastic about the fact that the gentlemen on Manet’s canvas, hung out in the “exhibition of the so-called” painting “, are given” in full parade, “and the ladies for some reason -” nude. «In this canvas, they saw “the artist’s challenge to common sense. ”
Then this picture was almost one defender. But what! Zola wrote: “In the picture, you need to see not breakfast on the grass, but the entire landscape with strong and thin places, a wide and stable foreground and so light and delicate backdrops. This is a solid flesh, modeled by powerful streams of light. A corner of nature, transmitted with such truthfulness and simplicity. “. Zola became a friend and protector of Manet for many years.
Olympia
Created in 1863, the painting “Olympia” immediately attracted attention. True, not for this kind of resonance was calculated by its creator Edward Manet. Today, we are tempted by the audience, it is difficult to believe it, but a naked girl, reclining on white sheets, caused a storm of indignation. Salon of 1865 went down in history as one of the most scandalous in the history of world art. People openly resented, scolded the artist, tried to spit on the canvas, and some even tried to pierce it with umbrellas or a cane. In the end, the management of the exhibition had to outweigh it to the ceiling, and below put the guard.
What is so much offended viewer’s view, because this is not the first work in the nude style in the visual arts? The thing is that before Edouard Manet the painters portrayed the heroines of myths, beautiful goddesses, and the painter ventured to “undress” in his work a modern woman, quite specific. The model for the work was a favorite model of Edward Manet Quiz Mehran and inspired the master to write the canvas just like the classics – Titian, Velasquez, Giordano, and Goya. The attentive spectator will notice that the author of “Olympia” completely copied the composition scheme of his famous predecessors. But even though the canvas carries a clear imprint of the “Venus of Urbino” Titian, Manet managed to breathe into his work an entirely different character through his style, as well as to address a real heroine. The author, as it were, tried to tell the spectator: contemporaries are no less attractive than the many times sung Venus of the past.Young Olympia lies on a white bed, while her fresh light golden skin contrasts with the sheets painted with a cold blue shade. Her posture is relaxed and free, but a strong-willed unruly look, directed straight at the viewer, gives her image dynamism and hidden grandeur. The figure for it (unlike the classic examples) is devoid of underlined roundness; on the contrary, it reads a kind of “angularity” – the author’s intentional reception. By this, he wanted to emphasize the modernity of his model, and also to point to the strong-willed character and independence.
He gets out of this work exhausted, but elated. Never before had he been sure that he had achieved such a high result. “Venus” is his masterpiece. Its source is the picture of Titian; that from that! It is created by him, belongs to him entirely, it is transformed only by a single force of plastic vision inherent in him. He used to play here – and how gorgeous this game is! – The most vivid possibilities of his technique. Enjoying the image of naked beauty, the viewer looks to the left – there is a dark-skinned servant with a bouquet of flowers, which she brought to present to the woman.
The dark color of the woman’s skin contrasts sharply with both bright colors and white clothes. In order to focus the audience as much as possible on the main character, Edouard Manet did not deliberately elaborate the background, as a result, carefully drawn out Olympia comes forward as if stepping over the closed space of the picture. Not only the innovative plot and brilliantly verified composition make the picture an exceptional masterpiece – the color of the canvas deserves individual admiration. The subtlest nuance of ocher, golden, beige shades surprisingly in harmony with the blue and white color, as well as the smallest gradations of gold, to which the shawl is printed on the bed of the heroine. The picture is somewhat like a sketch. This impression is caused by a minute elaboration of details and lines in the depiction of the main character, as well as a few flat techniques of the painter – Manet deliberately refused the traditional letter ale prima.
The artist was sure that such a flat interpretation makes the work more emotional and bright. It is known that after the painting was exhibited in the Salon, the public began to persecute Manet furiously, and he even was forced to flee to the province, and after all to go to Spain. Today, the delightful “Olympia” is among the best pictures ever created, and its author has always entered the history of world art as a great and exceptional creator.
A Bar at the Folies-Bergere
“Folies-Berjar” was one of the most famous institutions in Paris, not only because of its variety and cabaret but also because it was not rare to gather artistic bohemians.
The shine of nightlife, and loneliness together with estrangement against the background of fuss and festivities – these are the main leitmotifs of the last picture of Eduard Manet. 
As a model, Manet asked to pose for the familiar barmaid Syuzon and his friend Henri Dupre in a bar at follies.
And the sketch the artist did right in the bar, to the right of the scene. Critics have raised many questions with the definition of the genre of this outstanding work of Manet. If you look closely, you can find features and genre scenes, and portrait, and still life – a complete eclectic. In addition, the work is distinguished by the elegance of performance and subtle sadness. Behind the marble counter is a young barmaid, the mirror behind her back reflects a large number of visitors in the hall.
It is her self-portrait. It seems, it is worth to listen, and you can clearly feel the roar and laughter of the walking crowd, interspersed with the cries of especially noisy guests. Opposite the girl is a young gentleman in a cylinder, but she does not look at the visitor – her gaze is directed inward. The figure of a thoughtful girl is as if sandwiched between two spaces separated from each other by a stance: a real world and a surreal world.
Hardly had they come to the Salon of 1882, the painting attracted everyone’s attention – it was scrutinized, discussed, expressed opinions in interpretation, but unanimously recognized that the world was a real masterpiece, which should be reckoned with. Edward Manet is a painter from the capital of France, who created in the XIX century and became in those years the acknowledged founder of the new trend in art – impressionism. In the period of mature creativity in 1870, the artist paints a portrait of his wife – “Suzanne. ” In general, for her whole life, she was given several canvases. But this portrait stands out with a special skill of brush, close-up and innovation of style.
Portrait of Suzanne Manet
“The portrait of Suzanne” is executed surprisingly thinly.
All attention and all light are given to the person of the heroine. The background is devoid of objectivity; it is a dark grayish background. The outlines of the upper torso of the model are written in the spirit of pencil sketches; they are also gray and plain. Only the white collar gently frames the face of his wife.
Her look is calm, thoughtful, and in the eyes themselves – the seal of the mysterious woman’s living soul.
The name Monet is well-known within the art community and even in many households where art is not necessarily their main focus.
He was a French painter born in Paris in 1840. He painted a variety of different subject, but one of the most dominant was flowers. In most cases, the flowers he painted were set in vases much like those you would order from your local florist, and they are all extremely pleasing to the eye.
Bouquet of flowers
Throughout his years as an artist, Monet produced several floral paintings. At the time it was quite a popular subject for artists to focus on. Today we still enjoy decorating our homes with floral pieces of art like pictures, photographs, and paintings. One of the most famous works by Monet is “Bouquet of flowers.” Not only do these paintings focus on the flowers but also the stunning vases in which they are arranged and the finely polished wood tables on which they have been placed.
