“Manet and His Influence on Impressionism”
In 1832 Manet was born and the art world was never to be the same again. He was considered a rebel for much of his career, yet his genius can scarcely be ignored. Even as a young art student under the tutelage of Couture, Manet was at odds with the traditional way of learning and doing things. His art teacher is quoted as saying that Manet should set up a school of his own (Adler 18).
Manet would later be considered one of the founders of Impressionism. His break with the traditional forms and rhetoric of painting caused his work to be unfavorably received at times, nonetheless, his contributions cannot be ignored. Degas makes the comment of his friend Manet, after his death “We did not know he was this great”(Schneider 7).
By all appearances Manet did not seem to be likely to cause such a revolution in painting. In his quest for spontaneity and the search for the heroism of modern life, Manet rejects the old notions of the past and forges into new territory that most of his contemporaries did not understand. Many of his most outstanding works were ridiculed by his colleagues and scarcely appreciated, some works were outright scandalous. The frigid reception that his painting Olympia received was evidenced in the fact that it treated the subject matter in a way that too bold for public at the time. Yet, throughout his career Manet wished to be praised and receive acclaim for his work. His friend Baudelaire once wrote to Manet that even someone as great as Wagner was laughed at and ridiculed at one time or another and that public opinion should affect him so much. Manet’s time eventually came when he was awarded the chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
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Manet was able to tear down the old attitudes toward art. His treatment of subjects in his work was to bring a sense of immediacy to them as opposed to the heroic style of painting, with its dramatic lighting and dark colors, that was in practice at the time. Also, he was able to cause a fundamental shift in the way that painting was seen. Until Manet’s time painting was seen as a window to the world, in its realistic treatment of subjects and the idealized version of beauty represented on canvas, Manet was able to transcend this with his approach of seeing the canvas as a sort of laboratory where colors could mingle and produce startling new images, where the subject was not as important as the shapes and textures that the paint could produce. Manet is considered the first to venture into this area and later was to become a significant influence to future generations of Impressionists. This break with tradition gives us the first serious step towards the abstraction of art that has culminated itself in some of the more extreme forms of today’s abstract modern art. Thus, the words of his early teacher ring true when he said to Manet to start a school of his own.
Some of the pieces that will be examined will be Dante and Virgil in Hell, The Absinthe Drinker, Picnic on the Grass, Olympia, and The Execution of Emperor Maximillian. These works are chosen because they best demonstrate Manet’s talent and tend to be the milestone works of art that differentiate Manet from the rest of his peers. Each piece will be analyzed visually, contextually, compositionally, and comparatively to other works and the critics of then as opposed to the critics of today.
In one of his earlier works, Manet decides to copy Delacroix’s Dante and Virgil in Hell. Delacroix was and somewhat of a hero to young Manet and his friend Antonin Proust. Though it was rumored that Delacroix was very cold, Proust’s account of the affair was that Delacroix had received them with great courtesy (Adler 20).
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In his life Manet copied this painting twice which shows that he greatly admired and respected the work calling it a choice piece. Not much is said about the painting other than it exhibits his initial tendency to break with traditional forms. Although the color gradations still show hints of Couture influence, it can be seen that Manet early on preferred the drier harmonies of Spanish painting (Hanson 39).
The painting is basically a study in the compositional techniques of Delacroix, but the brushwork and color are decidedly that of Manet with hints of Couture’s influence that can be seen. As a young student Couture impressed upon Manet the technique of ebauche’, which is the preliminary rendering of a subject with the focus only on the earth colors and can be seen in some of his earlier work. This is essentially an impressionistic work of an earlier period. There is not much in terms of critical review of this work considering it is a student work. The impressionistic tendencies are clearly seen, although they do undergo quite a bit of refinement.
In The absinthe drinker Manet uses an even bolder approach to painting. The boldness in this painting is in terms of the subject, which was considered inappropriate and inconsistent with the idealization of the common people. This not only includes the subsequent artistic technique, but also the selection of his subject. It was rejected from the Salon of 1859, and his former teacher is noted to have remarked “only another absinthe drinker could have painted so foolishly” which effectively ended their strained relationship (Wadley 30).
It seems that the critics of the time do not understand where Manet is trying to go with this portrait, Manet himself states that he simply painted a Parisian with the simplicity of technique that he had discovered in Velasquez (Wadley 30).
His treatment of the subject is different and quite detached. Manet does not flatter the subject, and what is more visually striking is that he begins to eliminate the halftones that are imperceptible to the eye. It is noted that only Delacroix voted for it to be hung in the Salon. It is speculated that the elimination of the graduated tones may have prompted this decision, because the painting did not conform with the standard practices of the time. Manet later goes on to state that if he had depicted a Spanish subject that it would have been more favorably received. In 1861 he submits the Spanish Guitarist where it gets and honorable mention and his assumption is correct. The Absinthe Drinker shows heavy influence from Velasquez whom Manet went to visit at one point and also found several other subjects to paint while in Spain, namely The Dead Toreador.
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Perhaps Manet’s most scandalous painting is Le Dejeuner sur l’ Herbe, which has been patterned after Raphael’s Judgement in Paris . Its initial reception at the Salon of 1863 was very harsh one critic is noted as saying “…a shameful open sore not worth exhibiting…”, but there are elements that display exceptional mastery of the subject matter. Even Napoleon III announced that it was an insult to modesty (Harris 23).
Manet incorporates various other sources for his painting, not only Raphael but also Giorgione. The main reason for such public indignation was the contemporaneity of the painting. The painting was executed in Manet’s studio and is deceptive of the plein air style. Compositional analysis reveals some interesting details about the painting. For instance, there are clothes that are piled up in the foreground, which would suggest that the women had undressed. The traditional manner in which the nude had been presented was that the figure seemed to transcend the normal conventions of this world, when contrasted with another entry that year, The Birth of Venus which depicts the nude as being transported by angels and is very sensual and erotic in its depiction, yet regarded as being so tastefully done as to avoid giving offense (Harris 25).
Although at the time the painting made Manet notorious it served as the predecessor for the same type of nudes that later Cezanne, Renoir, Monet and later Impressionist would later experiment with.
Later that same year Manet displayed Olympia, which seems to draw a great deal of influence from Titian’s Venus of Urbino, but in a similar fashion as Dejeuner was received, it too was considered scandalous. The elements that made it unacceptable to the public is the fact that there is a aloofness to the models pose and her stare is not distracted, it is as if she is meeting the gaze of the observer directly. This kind of boldness was never before experienced by the general public. Other compositional elements that made such an uproar were the black figure in the background and the black cat. Although, the elements were placed their to enhance the compositional nature of the painting and not to be scandalous. There seems to be an interesting substitution of elements in a comparison between Titian’s and Manet’s work. For example, the sleeping dog in Venus is replaced by a venomously alert black cat in Olympia. Also in Titian’s work the model is supposed to be Venus whereas in Manet’s work the model is just a regular person, considered by some to be a prostitute. Manet’s reputation suffered a great after the ensuing scandal, but also created quite a following among the avant-garde, henceforth known as la bande a Manet – Manet’s Gang (Harris 33).
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The Execution of the Emperor Maxmillian of Mexico used Goya’s 3 May 1808 as a reference for his painting. There are some similarities, but it is the differences that are more striking than anything else. The similarities are mainly those of compositional content, with Maxmillian being portrayed as a type of martyr and surrounded by two other men, much like the crucifixion of Christ. The difference in Manet’s portrayal of the execution is less dramatic and theatrical that Goya’s (Richardson 14).
Manet worked this theme several times, based on new accounts and changed the uniforms Mexican to French as if to somehow blame the French for the death of Maxmillian. He also uses a reference to the crucifixion of Christ in the placement of his characters. He places Maxmillian in the middle and gives him what might be interpreted as a sombrero halo with the two condemned criminals at his left and right, although, such placement was factually incorrect (Richardson 14).
It seems that Manet went to great lengths to achieve such realism, he borrowed from a friend Commandant Lejosne a real squad. In the initial painting there seems to be one guard who stands apart and is there to supposedly deliver the coup de grace in the event the volley delivered by the firing squad was not immediately fatal. This painting once again explores Manet’s position about society, it was known that he was decidedly anti-imperialist, and blamed Napoleon III for Maxillian’s death. At the time it was highly controversial and considered a statement about national humiliation and guilt of France.
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Although, there are many more works in which Manet extends the boundaries of his art, but the ones discussed have the ability to still remain pertinent in today’s society. The painting Olympia could easily be a statement on contemporary degradation of society, or a statement for the extension of the boundaries of freedom of expression. France in the 1800’s was not ready to see the picture of a prostitute, thus it was considered bad taste or even scandalous that such a figure would be painted, and in a direct imitation of a highly idealized theme as The Birth of Venus. Yet, the most striking aspect of Manet was that he was never the type one might consider to lead such a revolutionary assault on the accepted norms of art. He was after decidedly from a bourgeoisie background and did constantly seek public approval and praise. He was confused when he did not receive it the acclaim he thought he should have deserved. Although, late in his career he did receive the Legion of Honor which somewhat validated his place in contemporary art circles, but his ultimate legacy is the number of followers that carried on in his Impressionism.
Works Cited
Adler, Kathleen. Manet. Phaidon, Oxford,1986.
Hanson, Anne. Edouard Manet 1832-1883. Philadelphia Museum of
Art and The Art Institute of Chicago, 1967.
Harris, Nathaniel. The Art of Manet. Hamlyn Publishing Group. New
York, 1982
Richardson, John., and Adler, Kathleen. Manet. Phaidon. Oxford,
1982.
Schneider, Peirre,. Et al. The World of Manet 1832-1883. Time Life
Books. New York, 1968.
Wadley, Nicholas. Manet. Hamlyn Publishing Group. Verona,1969.
