Edouard Manet Research Paper

Edouard Manet was a French painter born in Paris, France on January 23rd, 1832. Manet was the son of a high government official, Auguste Manet. At twelve years old Manet was sent to a boarding school, the College Rollin, to continue his education. During these years Manet befriended Antonin Proust, who later wrote a book about his childhood friend. Manet and Proust frequently visited the Louvre, accompanied by Manet’s uncle, Captain Eduoard Fournier, who encouraged his nephew’s interest in art by paying for drawing lessons (McConnell).

Manet excelled in drawing and soon expressed his wish to follow an artistic career (McConnell). This is not what Manet’s father had wanted for him. Auguste Manet wanted his son to become a lawyer not an artist.

Soon Edouard Manet’s teachers had found him distracted and not on task, because of this Auguste Manet made a deal with Edouard in which he would apply for Ecole Navale or naval school. Edouard failed the entrance examination to the school and embarked on a training ship instead (McConnell).
After sailing on the training ship and returning to Paris, he once again tried to pass the entrance examination to the naval school but failed. After this failure he was finally allowed to study for an artistic career (McConnell). After his return from sea, Edouard and his brother began to take piano lessons from Suzanne Leenhoff. Soon after the lessons began, Suzanne had fallen in love with Manet. They had to keep their relationship secret because Manet still had to obtain his father’s permission to go out at night. Manet kept Suzanne a secret and also the child they shared by claiming the child to be her little brother. After Manet’s father had passed away the two were able to marry (McConnell).
By January 1850, Manet registered as an art student to copy paintings in the Louvre and in September he and Antonin Proust had joined the studio of Thomas Couture a noted painter of innovative, though no revolutionary, sympathies (McConnell). Manet and his teacher had a stormy relationship but Couture was a good choice as a teacher. Couture represented a middle ground between the academic side of French art, with its often-rigid adherence to tradition, and the experimental, individualistic tendencies of artist (McConnell). Manet often copied paintings in the Louvre and elsewhere. He was particularly attracted to Spanish masters such as Diego Velaquez but also copied works by Peter Paul Rubens and Eugene Delacroix from whom he personally requested permission to copy The Barque of Dante (McConnell). Six short years later Manet left Couture’s studio but would occasionally stop by with his works for Couture to critique. Manet’s primary type of artwork was paintings. He painted many watercolors and pastels and hundreds of oil paintings.
Even though Manet came from an upper class with a comfortable background, he had an appreciation for urban poor. Manet painted art that gave the public an outcry. They did not appreciate his artwork as he had hoped. Manet was seen as a rebel with the types of subjects and predicaments he chose to paint and display. Manet had a choice to paint pretty things and be held at a higher esteem but instead for reasons unknown he chose not to paint traditional art of the time. He painted what he saw not what he thought the public wanted to see.
Manet helped create the impressionist style but did not like to label his own work.

Manet became the reluctant leader of an enthusiastic group of young painters who later formed the group known as the Impressionists (Funk & Wagnalls). Impressionism is a style of painting that originated in France about 1870. Paintings of casual contemporary subjects were executed outdoors using divided brushstrokes to capture the light and mood of a particular moment and the transitory effects of natural light and color (Frank). Manet drew close to this group of young artist known as impressionist. He borrowed the light and color of his younger friends Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, but his canvases are more deliberately composed and are much less extraverted than theirs of the same period (McConnell). Manet used warm earth tones and simplified details where as Monet used cool earth tones and paid attention to the small fine details. One of Manet’s paintings particularly showcases the impressionism style is The Rue Mosnier with Pavers (1878), which brings the spontaneous brushwork, subtle coloration, light and movement of the Argenteuil paintings back to the streets of Paris (McConnell). Impressionist took their canvases outdoors and painted. Manet was popular for painting the streets of Paris; it is something that he enjoyed

doing.
By late 1878, Manet’s paintings began to change because of his health. During this time Manet was having trouble with his leg and by September of the following year was seeking treatment for it (McConnell). Because of this particular ailment Manet was unable to move around as much because of the pain he was in. The reason for his aliment was never specified, but speculations suggest that he was suffering from advanced stages of a syphilitic infection contracted in his youth (McConnell). His art went from large canvas paintings to small drawings and oil paintings. In early April 1883, as Manet’s health began to decline, he briefly considered taking lessons in miniature painting from a friend, but by April 20 his condition required that his left leg be amputated, and on April 30 he died (McConnell).
During Manet’s lifetime he was not revered as the artist he wanted to be because of the rebellious ways he painted. Manet’s paintings were seen as scandalous due to the subject matter. He also did not paint the traditional way and ruffled a few feathers among art critics. Manet was once quoted saying, “The attacks of which I have been the object have broken the spring of life in me... People don't realize what it feels like to be constantly insulted.” After his death his wife