Perhaps the most common epithet endowed with the painting by Edward Manet "Breakfast on the Grass" is - "notorious." What is the matter?
The French artist Eduard Manet (1832–1883) played a significant role on the stage of 19th-century European art. He developed his unique style and brought the gap between the main artistic styles of his time: realism and impressionism. One of his most famous works, Breakfast on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l'herbe), can serve as an illustration of this approach.
Before considering this picture, we will try to learn a little about the artist.
Who is Eduard Manet?
1. Eduard Manet, "Self-portrait with a palette" (circa 1878-1879). 2. Photo portrait of Eduard Manet, 1870. Felix Nadar
Eduard (Édouard) Manet (Édouard Manet) was born in Paris. The father did not welcome his son's interest in painting. However, his uncle, Edmond-Edouard Fournier's mother’s brother, supported his nephew’s hobby: he paid for painting lectures and took him to museums.
Edward made an attempt to enroll in a nautical school. At the age of 17, he went on a sailboat for a long training voyage, during which he drew a lot.
After his son returned home in the summer of 1849, his father became convinced of his artistic talent and, finally, supported his desire to study painting. But even then, Eduard Manet showed the character and independence of artistic thinking. Instead of the School of Fine Arts with its rigorous academic program, he entered the studio of then-fashionable artist Tom Couture. But he soon became disillusioned with his approach, precisely because of Couture's rigorous adherence to Académie standards.
Eduard Manet became an artist known for his modernist approach to painting. Unlike many of his predecessors, Manet rejected the traditional tastes of the Academy of Fine Arts (Acquémie des Beaux-Arts), the organization responsible for hosting the annual art salons in France. Instead of allegorical, historical and mythological scenes, he preferred to depict scenes from everyday life.
The painter considered himself a realist for most of his career. However, after meeting with impressionist artists in 1868, he developed his own style, in which he easily mixed heterogeneous approaches.
5 years before meeting with the impressionists, his large-scale oil painting "Breakfast on the Grass" (1863) already reflected this distinctive attitude to painting and became the forerunner of impressionism.
"Breakfast on the grass" outside the canons
The situation depicted by the author in the picture, it would seem usual, - men and women had a picnic in the fresh air. But something looks completely unusual. One of the women sits in a close circle with two men, their legs are almost intertwined, while she is completely naked and shamelessly stares at the audience. This does not bother anyone in the company depicted. But the audience is not just embarrassed, but indignant.
At that time, only gods and goddesses were allowed to appear naked in works of art. Mythical or allegorical nude figures were widespread throughout the history of art, but not images of ordinary worldly women in their daily lives. Edouard Manet broke this taboo.
The artist did not write on classic topics that were popular then, but was inspired by them. The composition "Breakfast on the Grass" directly refers to such works of Italian art of the 16th century as the painting "Outdoor Concert" ("Pastoral Concert", "Rural Concert") by Giorgione and / or Titian and Marcantonio Raimondi engraving "The Court of Paris" based on the lost original Raphael Santi. Mane was inspired by the poses of the two gods of the river and the water nymph in the lower right corner of the engraving, as well as the company of naked women and dressed men in the picture.
1. Eduard Manet "Breakfast on the Grass." 2. "Pastoral Concert", "Rural Concert") Giorgione and / or Titian. 3. Engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi "The Court of Paris" based on the lost original by Rafael Santi. 3a. A fragment of the engraving "The Court of Paris".
A large size of the canvas for a painting with a secular theme was also an innovation: 208 × 264.5 cm. Usually, a canvas of this size was used for academic paintings with allegorical images or on mythological and historical themes.
It is noteworthy that Manet wrote in the foreground of the people he knew. One of the men is the sculptor Ferdinand Leenhoff, and the second is one of the Manet brothers: either Eugene or Gustav. The woman in the foreground of the image is the Quiz by Louise Mouran, who posed for the equally scandalous Olympia written in the same year and for other paintings by Eduard Manet.
Eduard Manet. Portrait of the Quiz of Muran, 1862
