Edouard Manet

Edouard Manet is considered by art pundits and historians as one of the most significant painters of the transitional period from Classic to Modern art. He was destined for an upscale Parisian family in January 1832. His father was a judge, Auguste, and his mother, Eugénie-Desirée Fournier was related to Swedish royalty, and her father was a diplomat. Manet's uncle, Edmond Fournier, was the main relative who stimulated his adoration for art, taking him to visit the Louver - in contrast to his father, who wanted that Manet examined law. At the age of thirteen, the youthful aspiring artist met the politician and journalist Antonin Proust as he took a crack at drawing exercises. Proust later became the Minister of Fine Arts, as well as Manet's great companion. In 1850, the French painter began to examine under Thomas Couture, an Academic artist, after he failed the admission test for the Navy. He kept reading with Couture for six years, in addition to replicating works of past masters in the Louver. During this time of studies, Manet also traveled widely to locations like Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, interacting with artwork by Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya, and Frans Hals, all who enlivened him profoundly.

After finishing up his travels and concentrates on Couture in 1856, he opened his own studio. At this point, Manet was adopting themes of Realist artists like Gustave Courbet, emphasizing contemporary themes instead of Classical subjects of strict or mythological stories - The Absinthe Drinker closed in 1859, is an example of a painting with a modern theme. In 1861, Manet got acknowledgment from the Academy when two of his paintings were accepted at the esteemed Paris Salon, including the masterpiece The Spanish Singer. Although academically trained, Manet utilized looser brushstrokes and improved details, which astonished many youthful artists. One of the artist's first masterpiece was Luncheon on the Grass, which was dismissed from the Paris Salon. The artwork was viewed as controversial and was appeared in the parallel display Salon des Refusés, organized by the Impressionists. Manet joined traditional structures and references of Classic art in paintings with contemporary themes that stunned pundits and the open alike. The nude Olympia, painted in 1863 was another controversial masterpiece that references the Classic artwork, Venus of Urbino (1538), by Titian as well as The Nude Maja by Goya. Olympia, a portrayal of a claimed whore, was eventually accepted into the Paris Salon, however not without creating a scandal. The same year Manet finished up the artwork, he married Suzanne Leenhoff, who appears in many paintings, including Reading.

Berthe Morisot is answerable for getting Manet to join the Modern ways of painting around 1868, such as painting en Plein air, which she learned through Camille Corot. Through her, he met and got to know many painters of Impressionism, like Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, and Alfred Sisley.

The artist's body began to feel the health impacts of his contracted syphilis by his mid-forties, especially extraordinary pain. His legs became partially paralyzed, and he created challenges in controlling his developments, known as locomotor ataxia. Manet was able to paint small artworks, for the most part still lifes, similar to The Lemon and A Bunch of Asparagus, during the final phase of his life. In 1882, he saw his last masterpiece accepted in the Paris Salon; A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (Un Bar aux Folies-Bergère). He passed away in 1883 in his old neighborhood, about fourteen days after amputating his gangrened foot. Manet was an outstanding artist, who created beautiful Classic Realist paintings, yet additionally dug into the modern universe of Impressionism, and keeps on moving until today.