Manet - Still Life

"Clarity, Condour, urbanity and virtous ability to handle paint-such are the qualities which first strike us in Manet's art". A quote by John Richardson still life grapes and figs 1864 Frank Jay Gould collection. Cannes- "The dark rich tones of this painting carry in them the strong popular Spanish influence the light hitting the fruit from the left creates a startling and brilliant luminosity." Said also by John RichardsonBefore we attempt to anaylse the meaning of what's within Edouard Manet's work entitled still life, Grapes and figs, one must first identify , and note, the somewhat colorful events which occurred within the artist life, and note the way in which they must have led his work.Born in France in 1832, Manet was raised by his parents Auguste and Eugenie-Desiree a society couple, who's social standing resulted from Auguste's successful career in the Ministry of Justice , Paris. Indeed, so successful was Auguste in his chosen field that upon his retirement he was awarded the Legion of Honor. It is thought by many that the importance of Augustes role in both society and the ministry actually intimidated the young Manet, who constantly aspired throughout his adult life, to gain the same level of reverence as that which his father possessed.Manet's personal background to the analysis of the artists treatment of gender within his work, is apparent to his paintings, they showed deeper side of the artist and what "angle" he saw women.However, it is the actions of the artists youth which many therapists believe is the key to understanding the ambiguous portrayal of woman within his paintings throw out his career. It was during the late 1850's when Manet was serving as a naval cadet in Rio de Janeiro, that he met a number of slave girls, Manet had openly admitted in letters to his friends the extend to which he found their tropical beauty alluring.

Yet, is was not until Manet returned to France that he reveled the true extent of his relationships with these girls, and confessed to the fact that he had been using his time to relate to the girls in an adult way.The answer lies in the artists life long ill-health, it was in fact Manet himself who first diagnosed although now medically proven to be wrong that the physical pain from which he suffered on a daily basis was the result of a syphilis virus contracted during one of his aforementioned youthful encounters, a misconception which haunted the artist throughout his life .