Luncheon On The Grass: Art Comparison

Luncheon on the grass created an enormous amount of negativity and Manet's painting Olympia put the icing on the cake. Due to its brazen nudity it was labeled as being obscenely vulgar. Although It was painted in 1863 it was submitted and had its first showing in 1865 at the Salon. The image is of a modern French prostitute. The actual name of the lady posing is not Olympia it is Victorine Meurent. Manet used her in other paintings of his including Luncheon on the grass. The two paintings were an extremely radical break away from Academic art. People thought of them as outrageously scandalous. Manet based Olympia on Titian's Venus of Urbino painted in 1538. Of the two it's plain to see their similarities and their differences. For instance, the way they are laying is exactly

alike and both have their left hand covering their private part.

The difference is that one is considered a goddess and the other is known to be a prostitute. The goddess is depicted with a chunky body and the prostitute's body has a sensual nature. She is lying on an oriental stole on a couch. She is wearing pearl earrings, a choker around her neck, and a bracelet on her arm, a flower in her hair and the kind of shoes she has on confirms the idea that she is a lady of the night life, along with the black cat that symbolizes that she is a prostitute. Another difference is that there's a maid standing right next to her fully dressed. as if to make you more aware of her nudity. She is holding flowers and has a blank look on her face. The public or the critics could not accept or understand why he would replace a goddess with a prostitute. Also it was not the nudity that appalled people; this was common and had been for centuries but only in a different perspective. The viewers were scandalized by the brazen look on her face. It had more of a bold challenging look. The painting made a bold stand and was too much to accept. The people were so upset by it that the administration had to take extra safety measures to keep the

people from destroying it. However, not everyone was against Manet’s work. There were supporters who appreciated his painting and recognized the realism in it. But now Manet's reputation was severely damaged. Manet was upset by their reactions. He was being criticized by the critics and the public and had been rejected by the Salon once again. He was crushed.
However, Eile Zola tried to help him out by writing a series of articles praising him. In 1868 Manet painted Emole Zola sitting at a desk with a book in his hand, gazing forward as if he was in deep thought. Above him to the right is the painting Olympia. This painting however was accepted by the Salon and Manet gave it to Zola. Later, Manet exhibited 50 of his works at the World’s Fair. But despite his efforts, Manet’s modern scenes remained a target of criticism throughout the decade.
Meanwhile the Salon was busy rejecting over 3000 paintings, apposing against the new Avant –Garde painting styles. Manet was not the only one getting these negative responses from the jurors. Several other artists like Cezanne Whistler and Camille Pissarro's were rejected as well. Many artist was moving toward the new Avant-garde style of painting and the Salon was did not want to accept that. They stood their ground for the old classical, academic art and continued to reject them as they were submitted. This made the critics and the public uneasy and began to question the Jurors judgment. So, the French Emperor Napoleon III announced that the painters whose works had been rejected by the Salon Jury could exhibit their works in a venue next to the Salon. The show became known as the Salon des Refuses. The Salon's jurors continued to reject paintings of the Avant-garde movement, and eventually the artist began to organize their own shows. Manet on the other hand, continued to honor the Salon he felt that the other modern artists should continue to exhibit their works there instead of having their own individual exhibits. However, Manet was excluded from the International Exhibition of 186, he set up his own exhibition as well. His exhibits got poor reviews from the major critics but it brought him and other new artist closer together. They now shared common goals. They were stepping out of the old in to new together. Although it was his work that influenced the Impressionist movement he did not submit his works in the Impressionist exhibitions. He did not want to be considered part of a group. He wanted to keep his individuality, plus he still had that burning desire to exhibit and be accepted by the Salon.
Un bar aux Folies Bergère, Bar At The Folies Berger, was the last major painting painted by Manet. It was painted in Manet’s studio and exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1882. The painting is done with a Parisian setting. It is a painting of a barmaid having a conversation with a customer. The barmaid is an actual person called Suzon who worked at the Folies-Bergère as a prostitute. On the bar in front of her is a bowl of oranges. This was meant as an indication that the woman in the painting is a prostitute. Even though, as a barmaid she should have a welcoming attitude in order to sell drinks and as a prostitute she would be expected to have an inviting look on her face. But the look she has makes you feel like she trying to show him that she is uninterested in his conversation by looking off in to the distance. While at the same token in the reflection Manet has her leaning forward like she is trying to hear him. The painting shows great talent, but there are even more things that seem irregular. For instance the cloth worn by the people reflected in the mirror lets you know that they are of a high social class. But in the bar in front of the barmaid there's bottles of English beer called Ale. All so in the upper right hand corner there is pair of green feet that belong seem to belong to a trapeze artist, and they are just hanging. Some of the features in the painting seem to be confusing. For example there has been conversation about the accuracy of how the reflections are positioned in the mirror. He purposely painted her in the center making her the center of attraction, when her natural position in the mirror should be to the right. The inaccuracy of the reflection is that even though she is in the center he kept her reflection to the right. On the other hand the excelent way he displays realism in the textures of the velvet dress the barmaid has on, and the waxy look of the oranges and the foil on the champaign bottles all look very realistic. This pointing has soo many things that can be pointed out about it that it makes for a very interesting thing to gaze upon it totaly catches your attention and it keeps it. Plus he did all this while he was sink in the last 2 years of his life.
In 1881 Manet was finally admitted to membership in the Legion of Honor, an award he had long coveted. By then he was seriously ill. Therapy at the sanatorium at Bellevue failed to improve his health, and walking became increasingly difficult for him. In his weakened condition he found it easier to handle pastels than oils, and he produced a great many flower pieces and portraits. In the spring of 1883 his left leg was amputated, but this did not prolong his life. Manet passed and left his works for us to enjoy on April 30, 1883, in Paris France he was 51 years old. After Manet's death the respect for him as an artist increases. For example after his death there were 179 paintings of Manets exhibited at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, It seemed ironic that the art work that the critics had ridiculed and the Salon Jurors had refused was eventually housed the art school in his old neighborhood, where all the accomplished artist would attend. Manet left several unfinished works of art. From the fact that they were unfinished we can understand how important it was for him to make his pieces acceptable to his viewers and most importantly to the Solon. His close friend Antonin Proust wrote a detailed account of Manet's life as an artist, the writer Emile Zola wrote the introduction for his memorial collection and a number of his close acquaintances wrote his biography, which further increased his fame. As a result of his Artistic contribution to Avant-garde styles of painting we now have the opportunity to forever enjoy his effort.