Édouard Manet is undoubtedly one of the most influential artists of the 19th century. Born on January 23, 1832, in Paris, he stands at the crossroads between tradition and modernity. His bold work, often controversial, marked a break with the academicism of his time and paved the way for Impressionism, while maintaining an aesthetic all his own. Manet was able to capture the essence of modern society through representations of urban life, striking portraits, and compositions that challenged established conventions.
This article details the life of Édouard Manet, his key works, his influence on modern art, and the lasting impact he left on the international art scene.
1. A bourgeois childhood and traditional artistic training
Édouard Manet was born into a wealthy family of the Parisian bourgeoisie. His father, Auguste Manet, was a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Justice, while his mother, Eugénie-Désirée Fournier, descended from a family of diplomats and military officers. Because of his background, young Édouard was destined to follow a respectable career, far from the artistic aspirations that nevertheless mattered deeply to him. From a very young age, he showed great interest in drawing, but his parents hoped he would follow his father's path and become a lawyer.
However, Manet was a free spirit and, after several unsuccessful attempts to enter a conventional career, he managed to convince his parents to let him pursue his passion. In 1848, at the age of 16, he embarked on a sea voyage on a training ship to become a merchant navy officer. This experience lasted only a year but deeply marked the young man. During this trip, he stopped in Brazil, where he discovered exotic landscapes and a different culture that awakened a new sensitivity in him, although this was not yet directly visible in his work.
Back in Paris, he decided to devote himself fully to painting. In 1850, he entered the studio of Thomas Couture, a renowned academic painter, where he stayed for six years. This apprenticeship provided him with rigorous classical training, where he acquired solid technical skills, but he quickly rebelled against the strict rules imposed by Couture. Manet aspired to more freedom in his art and, unlike academicism which valued mythological or historical narratives, he wished to paint scenes of daily and modern life. During this period, he spent long hours at the Louvre, where he studied the great masters of painting such as Titian, Rubens, Velázquez, and Goya, from whom he would draw inspiration throughout his career.
2. The early works and rejection of academic conventions
Manet's beginnings as an artist were marked by experimentation and a personal quest to find his own artistic path. His early works, although influenced by his academic training, already show a desire to break with the prevailing codes. In 1859, he presented his painting "The Absinthe Drinker" at the Paris Salon, the most prestigious art exhibition of the time. The painting was rejected by the jury, a first setback for the young painter, but this rejection only strengthened his determination to follow his own path.
In 1863, Manet created one of his most famous and controversial paintings: "The Luncheon on the Grass". This work depicts two clothed men and a nude woman sitting outdoors, in a scene inspired by classical works, notably compositions from the Italian Renaissance. This bold mix of contemporary figures and references to ancient art shocked the public and critics. The painting was rejected by the Salon but was exhibited at the Salon des Refusés, an exhibition organized that year by Napoleon III to present works rejected by the official jury. The painting caused a resounding scandal. Critics accused Manet of vulgarity, but some artists and intellectuals praised his boldness and originality.
Far from being discouraged by these critiques, Manet persisted in his desire to paint contemporary reality directly and without embellishment. It was in this context that he created in 1865 "Olympia", another major work that disrupted the conventions of academic painting. Inspired by the tradition of classical nudes, notably "The Venus of Urbino" by Titian, "Olympia" depicts a nude woman lying on a bed, looking at the viewer with disconcerting confidence. It is not so much the nude that shocks, but the way Manet treats it. The model, a courtesan, is portrayed frontally, without idealization or romanticism. The work was perceived as provocative, and Manet was again at the heart of an artistic controversy. Yet, "Olympia" is now recognized as one of the most innovative paintings of modern art, heralding the upheavals to come in the representation of the female body and painting in general.
3. Friendship with the Impressionists and modernity in painting
Although Manet is often seen as an Impressionist, he never truly joined the group of artists who gathered around this movement. However, he maintained close ties with several major figures of Impressionism, notably Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, and Auguste Renoir. This group of artists, often marginalized by the official art system, shared a common desire to paint modern subjects and capture the effects of light and color in a new and unconventional way.
Unlike Monet, who advocated the complete abandonment of realistic representation in favor of visual sensations, Manet remained attached to a certain form of realism. He preferred to paint in the studio rather than outdoors, and his work often retains a more formal structure than that of his Impressionist friends. However, his bold use of light and color, as well as his interest in modern life, directly influenced the development of the Impressionist movement.
In 1874, when the Impressionists organized their first independent exhibition, Manet refused to participate, preferring to continue submitting his works to the official Salon. Despite this, his influence on the group is undeniable. His paintings, such as "The Balcony" (1868-69) and "The Saint-Lazare Station" (1873), demonstrate his interest in modern and urban subjects. "The Saint-Lazare Station" is particularly representative of this period. The painting shows a woman sitting with a little girl near a train station, an emblematic place of industrial modernity. Manet captures both an intimate scene and a symbol of the emerging industrial era, a theme that resonates with the concerns of his Impressionist contemporaries.
4. Late recognition and evolution towards a more classical style
In the 1870s, despite the controversies surrounding his work, Manet began to receive recognition from certain artistic circles. In 1881, he was finally awarded the Legion of Honor, marking a form of official recognition for an artist long on the margins of the academic system. However, illness began to affect Manet during this period. Suffering from rapidly progressing syphilis, he increasingly suffered and had to limit his activities. In 1882, he created "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère", a major work and one of his last great paintings.
"A Bar at the Folies-Bergère" is a depiction of a waitress in a Parisian bar, surrounded by bottles, mirrors, and reflections, in an atmosphere both worldly and solitary. The work is often interpreted as a commentary on isolation in the crowd, a recurring theme in Manet's work. This painting, of great visual and psychological complexity, is one of Manet's last major contributions to art history. He manages to integrate both the modernity of Paris and more introspective elements, creating an emblematic work of the society of the time.
5. The final years and Manet's legacy
In the following years, Manet's health continued to deteriorate. In 1883, he was forced to undergo the amputation of a leg due to complications related to his illness. He died shortly after, on April 30, 1883, at the age of 51. His death marked the end of a brilliant but often tumultuous career, marked by harsh criticism and controversies, but also by artistic innovations that redefined modern painting.
Édouard Manet's work exerted considerable influence on subsequent generations of artists. By breaking academic conventions and paving the way for a new approach to painting, Manet prepared the ground for the avant-garde movements of the 20th century, notably Fauvism and Cubism. His way of treating light, color, and modern subjects influenced artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, who saw in Manet a model of modernity and creative freedom.
Today, Manet's works are exhibited in the world's greatest museums, notably at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, which holds several of his most famous paintings, including "Olympia" and "The Luncheon on the Grass". His impact on modern art is immense, and he is now considered one of the greatest painters of all time.
6. Manet and the importance of breaking with tradition
What distinguishes Édouard Manet from his contemporaries is his ability to break with conventions while maintaining a link to pictorial tradition. Unlike other artists of his time, Manet did not completely reject academicism but rather sought to adapt it to the demands of modernity. His constant references to old masters, such as Titian and Velázquez, testify to his respect for tradition, but his innovative approach makes him a pioneer of modernity in painting.
Manet was able to capture the spirit of his time, whether it was Parisian urban life, the condition of women, or the social and industrial transformations marking 19th-century France. His paintings, often provocative, invite us to reflect on the role of the artist in society and on how art can reflect cultural and social changes.
In conclusion, Édouard Manet played an essential role in the transition between traditional painting and modern art. His works, now considered masterpieces, continue to inspire artists and art lovers worldwide. His quest for truth, his bold representation of modern life, and his refusal to conform to the artistic norms of his time make him one of the great innovators in art history.