Introduction.
Object of study in this course work appears the work of the French painter of the 19th century Edouard Manet.
Subject of research is a painting "Olympia", 1863
The degree of knowledge. Many studies have been devoted to the study of E. Manet's work. Basically, articles about E. Manet appear in works related to impressionism.
One of the most famous works on French impressionism is D. Revald's book "History of Impressionism". The author relies on the testimonies of contemporaries, on original documents. Rewald characterizes Manet's manner as being "between the so-called realistic and romantic". His work was "a manifestation of the new school".
Just like founder of impressionism Manet is considered by numerous Western researchers 1 .
Janson H.V. and Janson E.F. it is believed that Manet made a "revolution of the colorful spot", i.e. approved the value of painting in itself, the right to combine the details of the picture solely for the sake of aesthetic effect. The authors find that these principles will later form the theory of "art for art's sake". Many of Manet's works "translate the paintings of the old masters into the contemporary language of painting" 2 .
The biography of A. Perryusho is notable for its ease of presentation. The author pays special attention to the environment of the artist, the social life of Paris, the worldview of the era, the artistic atmosphere. Perruchot presents the work "Olympia" as a kind of visiting card of Manet's work. He writes: “Manet, the author of Olympia, found himself in the very center of the era ...” 3
Domestic art historian B.N. Ternovets focuses on the realism of Manet. He writes that the artist broke with the system of academic conventions and gave in his work a picture of modern society. He emphasizes this, even based on Manet's technique: "a strong, wide stroke of the brush has little in common with the fractional separate stroke of the Impressionists" 4 . The author also believes that in the work of Manet there are many points of contact with the realism of Flaubert and Maupassant.
Catalin Geller 5 believes that flatness, an active decorative principle in Manet's paintings - for which Courbet repeatedly reproached him - is associated with the influence of Japanese engraving, which spread to Europe in the 19th century. Other researchers agree with this opinion.
A. Yakimovich 6 in the article "On the construction of space in a modern picture" highlights the key figures, "nodes" in the entire history of art, who introduced a fundamentally new concepts of spatial construction. Among them are Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Dürer, Brueghel, Velasquez, Vermeer, Goya, Cezanne, Matisse, Petrov-Vodkin.
Among these figures, the author also refers to E. Manet. He believes that E. Manet introduced the principle of "obscuring plane". Such "ideographic" flatness is associated with an appeal to the traditions of the primitive, folklore and archaic. In the case of E. Manet, such flatness is most likely due to the influence of Japanese art on him, in particular, engravings.
Due to the fact that Manet was friends with the poet C. Baudelaire, there is a tradition to compare their work. So, P. Valery draws a parallel between the plots of Manet's paintings and the themes of Baudelaire's poems: he compares "The Absinthe Drinker" (1860) with "The Garbage Man's Wine", and "Olympia" with the cycle of poems "Paris Pictures".
M.N. Prokofiev indicates Manet's non-indifference to political events: his work was formed and evolved in the era of the 2nd Empire and the 3rd Republic, and Manet never remained indifferent to the events in Paris. The author also expresses the opinion that Manet "seemed to experiment" 7 with the public, offering either paintings on Spanish themes, or plots with modern Parisians, or plein-air works.
Relevance and novelty of the study. As can be seen from the review of works, none of the researchers considers the artist as a thinker. Moreover, there is often mention of an interest only in new pictorial effects, shades, a new interpretation of the surface. Not a single publication presents a philosophical and art history analysis of the masterpiece.
"Olympia" is one of the most conceptual works of Manet, expressing not only new discoveries in the technique of painting, but also a certain way of thinking of the artist, his ideas embodied in this work. In this study, E. Manet will be considered as a thinker, as a master who expressed a certain range of ideas in his masterpiece. This can be considered a novelty of the work.
Also, all researchers consider E. Manet an impressionist. In this work, the artist's work is presented as an independent phenomenon in the history of art.
The novelty of the work is also the comparison and juxtaposition of the picturesque and artistic ideas of "Olympia" with Titian's painting "Venus of Urbino" 1538.
Goal of the work. Identification of the essence of the work in the course of philosophical and art criticism analysis.
Tasks.
Consider the atmosphere contemporary to the artist: politics, economics, religion, customs, artistic situation. Determine the place of the artist in this atmosphere.
Describe the work, isolate signs and systems of signs.
Compare with Titian's "Venus of Urbino" 1538.
To study the work of the master, highlight the milestone works, determine the range of problems that the artist solves in all works.
Conduct an art history analysis: consider the plot, study the paint layer, the peculiarity of the master’s technique, the tradition and innovation of Manet in painting.
Conduct a philosophical and art history analysis of the work, highlight the range of artistic and philosophical ideas of the master.
Methodological basis for this course work is the theory of V.I. Zhukovsky about visual thinking, the concept of synthetic thinking by D.V. Pivovarov, G. Hegel's theory of reflection.
Theoretical and practical significance. This work is a preparation for writing a diploma, it can be included in the thesis as an integral part.
Main part.
Cultural and historical situation in France in the second half of the 19th century.
Early 50s. 19th century marks a turning point in the development of French society. Socio-historical upheavals - the suppression of the June labor movement in 1848, then the Caesarist coup of Louis Bonaparte on December 2. 1851, soon approved Second empire , left a deep imprint on the attitude of the creative intelligentsia.
The time of the Second Empire, up to its collapse in 1870-71 as a result of the defeat in the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune, is a special period in the history of French culture.
In line with the desire to imitate earlier systems of government, so characteristic of everyone, during the Restoration (1814-1830) and the 2nd Empire (1852-1871), stylistic elements of different eras were reproduced in art. Many public and religious buildings were built in a similar style, for example, the Parisian Grand Opera in the New Baroque style (1860-1874). Under Napoleon III G.E. Haussman completely changed the face of the capital, making it a modern city with transport arteries.
The events of French history attracted Manet from childhood, but for the most part he was only interested in the outside. So, he is interested in barricades, patrolling the streets by the army. He will definitely come to see it.
Becoming an emperor Napoleon III in January 1853 he married Eugenia Montijo, who belongs to an old Spanish family. Spain is in vogue with the French. Many paintings by Spanish painters are brought to the Louvre, Manet carefully copies them. E. Mane says about Velasquez: "... that's who will beat off ... the taste for unhealthy food" 8
Napoleon III began to implement a policy of strengthening prestige outside the country. He arranges the Second World Exhibition, for which a huge building is being built - the Palace of Industry. For artists, there is a special palace nearby, where artists exhibit over five hundred works. The classic paintings by Ingres and Couture take first place.
Courbet arranges an exhibition of his works in a nearby pavilion. Mane is present at both events. Courbet's painting is closer to him, but it is still "too dark" 9 .
The 19th century is an era of intensive development of various schools in European art, which, coexisting in time, are in a state of mutual controversy. Among these schools are neoclassicism, romanticism, realism and impressionism.
In the second half of the century, there was a turn towards realism in art - the novels of Gustave Flaubert, A. Daudet, E. Zola, short stories by Guy de Maupassant; painting by Courbet, Millet.
Since E. Manet's social circle mostly consisted of literary figures, let's consider the main ideas of French writers and poets.
E. Zola put forward the concept naturalism as a concrete historical literary trend of the 60-80s. Zola writes a twenty-volume series of novels - "Rougon-Macquarts", which presents "the natural and social history of one family during the Second Empire" 10 . Zola's theory of the scientific novel follows the general course of the positivist passions of the era. It is closely related to the success of the natural sciences. Zola is even against the term "character" - the word "temperament" is much clearer to him, which means, from his point of view, the physiological constitution of a person. In the 60s. he writes articles about art - the collection "My Salons", where he admires the paintings of Courbet and Manet. According to E. Zola, "it is impossible ... that for Mr. Manet the day of triumph does not come, so that he does not crush the cowardly mediocrity that surrounds him."
S. Baudelaire. In the collection "Flowers of Evil" urban sketches appear, mainly placed in the section "Parisian paintings" - the embodiment of the "spirit of modernity" (modernite). Baudelaire wrote: "" Beauty in art, obtained by melting down everyday "dirt" hitherto repulsive with its unsightliness, into "gold" of the highest standard, is always historical and uniquely personal "".
Beauty is a sphere saved from egoism, it is a world of higher truth and higher justice. Beauty is free from purpose and meaning, it is itself the highest goal and the last refuge from the ugly real life. The separation of beauty from real life introduces the requirement of "unusualness" into aesthetics. The "ordinary" is stained with evil and selfishness. Only the special, rare, unique is beautiful. Even nature seems banal to Baudelaire. But, on the other hand, the requirement of artificial originality leads to the fact that the rare deserves to be depicted in art even when it is ugly. The ugly - the secret vices of the city, the soul of a harlot, the dreams of a drug addict, the decay and decay of dead flesh - act as "flowers of evil", and Baudelaire's evil receives aesthetic rehabilitation. He not only exposes vice, but also aestheticizes it.
Baudelaire saw in E. Manet a "real painter", he always supported the artist, suggested plots and themes of paintings.
C. Baudelaire argued that E. Manet would be a real painter, "who will be able to capture the epic side in modern life" 11 .
Guy de Maupassant. His prose can be called "documentary" 12 - Maupassant's Paris, its streets, houses, theaters, variety show cafes are endowed with a very clear color of time. Maupassant believed that "the task of the artist is to depict life as it is, that is, more just, more accurate, more believable than life itself"
Researchers note similarities Brothers Goncourt and impressionist painters. Goncourt works of the 60s. are based on a scrupulous selection of facts and materials, an accurate description of the details in works dedicated to the present.
Paris changes its appearance: quarters are leveled, squares are broken. Industry and commerce are developing. Rich Parisians compete in extravagance: fortunes are spent on jewelry and toilets. Crinoline is in fashion.
Paris becomes the center of entertainment. The cult of the woman reigns.
The main place where the secular residents of Paris spend their time is the Tuileries Garden. Located near the imperial palace, it attracts the citizens. Concerts are held here twice a week, which gather all of Paris around the music pavilion.
Censorship controls the print media, and comes to the fore dramaturgy .
The most famous playwright was A. Dumas son (1824-1895). His novel The Lady of the Camellias (1848), remade by the author into a melodrama of the same name (1852), provided his heroine with a long life on stage, and D. Verdi's opera La Traviata (1853) gave her immortality. It was in the middle of the 19th century that impudently bold ideas appeared to show the “fallen woman” in works of art as the main character. The heroine of A. Dumas and later D. Verdi is a Parisian courtesan who, despite the “baseness” of her profession, has high morality, the ability to sincere feelings and sacrifice in the name of true love.
Verdi writes to his friend de Sanctis: “The plot is modern. Another would not have taken up this story, perhaps because of decency, because of the era, and because of a thousand other stupid prejudices. I do it with the greatest pleasure."
A. Dumas sees the moral justification for the courtesan in the sacrifice that she brings to please bourgeois moral principles.
So, we can conclude that in the 19th century there was a tendency to bring people of the lower class and professions condemned by society as the main characters.
Formally, the dominant position was occupied by "salon" art. This art enjoyed the full support of the circles of the bourgeoisie, the press and science, filled the halls of the Salons, i.e. officially held annually in Paris, large art exhibitions. The salon is an institution regulated and controlled by the state. This is practically the only opportunity for the artist to show the work to the public. 14 The acquisition of paintings in the Salon meant their solidity and respectability.
In the 30-50s. The salon was hostile to the art of E. Delacroix, O. Daumier and G. Courbet.
In the 60-70s. he was hostile to the works of E. Manet, C. Monet, O. Rodin.
Artists of "salon" art studied at the School of Fine Arts, where T. Couture and A. Cabanel were in charge.
Napoleon III purchased the painting by A. Cabanel "The Birth of Venus" at the Salon - this work represents the official tastes of the Second Empire. (see annex 1)
Along with the Salon, which adhered to the classical trends of previous periods, during the 70s. there are symbolic and mystical tendencies, a craving for a conventionally stylized form of expression. This was the art of G. Moreau and Puvis de Chavannes, but in France it was not widely developed 15 .
The art of the Salon and the Symbolists were opposed by realistic trends and the Impressionists - C. Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Renoir.
The name "Impressionists" appeared thanks to the reporter Leroy, who on April 25, 1874, published the article "Exhibition of the Impressionists" in the Sharivari humorous leaflet.
This name, which was at first a mockery, later began to unite, although spiritually close, but still by no means a homogeneous group of artists: each of them represented an individuality.
It must be clarified that the Impressionists completely and completely contradicted popular tastes, concepts and ideas about art, not only because of their new pictorial technique, but because of a completely new attitude to the world, which for its expression found this new pictorial technique.
In the everyday life of art, objects appeared that had not been noticed before, or were considered anti-aesthetic.
For the first time, both poetry and painting fully entered the theme of a large modern city. It is interesting to note that the impressionist artists, depicting the urban landscape, saw only its beauty, while the poets sought to convey the ugliness of urban civilization 16 .
G. Courbet and E. Manet create their own special style in art, based on the desire for demythologization 17 . G. Courbet (1819-1877), the founder of the realistic school and the author of the manifesto of realistic painting, once said that he was not able to draw angels because he had never seen them.
Their art presents a huge contrast to the images of classical mythology. Artists - realists turned to a new system of values, to new plots and images, which for a long time were considered obscene and anti-aesthetic.
Demythologization of culture- one of the basic principles of realistic art of the 19th century 18 . Cultural figures of the 19th century saw their task in liberation from the irrational heritage of history for the sake of the natural sciences and the rational transformation of human society. Realistic literature strove to reflect reality in life forms adequate to it, to create an artistic history of its time. There are no traditional mythological names in this literature, but fantasy moves likened to archaic ones actively reveal the simplest elements of human existence in the newly created figurative structure, giving the whole depth and perspective. Titles such as "Resurrection" by L.N. Tolstoy or "Germinal" by E. Zola lead to mythological symbols.
It is difficult to talk about E. Manet's belonging to any direction in art. He, like any genius, does not fit into any "frame". It should be noted statements that are similar to the manifestos of realists, but, undoubtedly, E. Manet did not consider himself either a realist or an impressionist. Even during his apprenticeship with Couture, he said: “I do what I see, and not what others like to see”, “I do what is, and not what is not” 19 .
Stages of creativity E. Manet.
In all studies on impressionism, E. Manet is considered as a kind of “transitional link”, as something that provided the foundations, but gradually began to “interfere” with such an integral phenomenon as impressionism.
It is impossible to deny the influence of E. Manet on the Impressionists - he undoubtedly laid the foundations of this trend. But talking about E. Manet as an impressionist is also wrong, because. this is an independent artist who does not consider himself an impressionist.
We stand on the position that the work of E. Manet is an independent phenomenon in the history of art.
Preparatory stage
E. Manet begins to draw, studying at the college. Drawing is the only subject for which the future artist has a “good” rating. For the rest - "unsatisfactory". Later, sailing on a ship in Rio de Janeiro, he draws "caricatures" of fellow sailors. Manet's first dated work, Pierrot Drunken, is an ink drawing of Comrade Pontillon dressed in Pierrot's costume. It is known that the artist himself did not save his early works and sketches.
Painting classes begin professionally in January 1850, when Edouard Manet's father hires the best painter at that time, Thomas Couture, for his son. According to E. Zola, Manet ""entered the workshop as an apprentice ... and spent about six years in it, bound by instructions and advice, mired in mediocrity ...""
The workshop of Thomas Couture was the official school of painting, Couture represented the traditions of academicism, an appeal to mythological and allegorical subjects.
Academicism - developed in the 16-19 centuries. direction based on following external forms classical art. Academism opposed modern reality timeless and non-national forms of beauty, idealized images, plots far from reality.
The artist visits the Louvre daily, where he makes his first sketches. They focused on the works of the great masters: Andrea del Sarto ("Madonna del Sacco") 1857, Titian ("Venus of Urbino", "Madonna with a Rabbit", "Jupiter and Antiope") 1856, Delacroix ("Dante's Boat") ”) 1858, Filippo Lippi (“Head of a young man”). Careful copying of the masters allows us to judge the artist's knowledge of the object-language, mastering it.
E. Manet leaves the Couture workshop in 1856.
So, for the preparatory stage is typical:
Development language-object, careful copying of the works of masters of the past
Rejection academicism, "conditional" postures and gestures, mythological plots
gravitation towards "realistic" scenes and interpretation
Stable interest To Spanish artists: Goya, Velazquez, Murillo, Zurbaran.
The first stage of creativity 1856 - 1 8 61
This stage was marked by the departure from the Couture workshop and the appearance of the first independent works. He's writing "Cherry Boy"(1858), " Absinthe lover"(1859) and "Portrait of parents" (1860)
In Manet's early works, almost does not deviate from the accepted canons of painting. His first independent works find positive responses from the public.
Only " Absinthe lover, written according to the rules of Couture's painting technique, caused categorical rejection with its plot:
the canvas depicts not a mythological hero, but an ordinary lumpen vagabond who loves to drink. Moreover, the classic style is also distorted: the canvas is dark and monochrome, which is not accepted by the salon jury.
In 1861 - 62 years. artist writes Music in the Tuileries. This picture can be considered a milestone in terms of the finds made by the artist.
This is the first multi-figured work where the artist draws to the theme of the modern city, to the entertainment of the Parisians. The novelty, discovery of E. Manet is that he organized the canvas not with the help of generally accepted graphic techniques and black and white modeling, but through like blurry silhouettes and spots. Also the artist refuses from the spatial qualities of the form.
At the ideological level, work can be interpreted as a search and a thirst for recognition. His restrained parents give him a worthy decent bourgeois upbringing. Manet never gets involved in disputes, does not participate in gatherings in cheap pubs. The artist always works in the studio, alone with himself. However, the thirst to be known in a decent society, to enjoy success, does not leave him.
He paints a scattered crowd in the Tuileries Garden. The Tuileries Garden is the main place where the socialites of Paris spend their time. Located near the imperial palace, it attracts the citizens. Concerts are held here twice a week, which gather all of Paris around the music pavilion.
Some characters of the work look at the artist, and yet he is not among them, although this is his dream.
So, for the first stage it is typical:
the first independent works are still following the rules of painting by the Couture workshop, but Manet’s peculiarity is already noticeable here - he takes models for his work from life (“ Absinthe lover”, “Music in the Tuileries”.)
focus on the masters of the past
commitment to dark tones,
depiction of contemporary residents of Paris
Manet's innovation - the organization of the canvas "Music at the Tuileries" through spots and silhouettes,
emphasizing the lack of spatial depth, perspective.
The second stage of creativity - 1862 . It can be called "Spanish" .
This is the time when quite a lot of drawings and paintings on the Spanish theme were created.
The creation of these canvases is due, on the one hand, to the historical situation - Napoleon III , having married a lady belonging to an old Spanish family, he brought to the Louvre many paintings by Spanish painters. Manet carefully copies them. Spain is in vogue with the French.
On the other hand, the passion, the temperament of the Spanish dancers attracted Manet, who was eager to join the vivid manifestations of the human character, naturalness and not far-fetchedness.
Manet creates a series of paintings depicting Spanish dancers.
"Spanish musician" - " guitarrero"was written in a new manner, which is between the so-called realistic and romantic. In it, again, we see reminiscences of the Dutch of the 17th century, Caravaggio.
In 1862, he creates several more works: a portrait of a Spanish dancer - “ Lola from Valencia”, depicts his brother Eugene in the national Spanish macho costume - "Young man in a maho suit" writes "Portrait of Quiz Myoran in an Espada costume."
After the triumph at the Salon "Gitarrero", many young artists went to Mr. Manet, they began to consider him their teacher.
We single out the work as a milestone work "Lola from Valencia".
In this work, the artist solves the same problem as throughout the entire period - the relationship between the model and the background, the search for a bright, natural nature.
He builds the ratio of the colors of the dancer's bright national costume with the rest of the colors of the work.
One can cite the statement of Charles Baudelaire about paintings in general: "everything should contribute to the expression of the main idea, everything should preserve its original color, ... identification colors."
The main colors of this work are red, white and black. The background is given conditionally - we see some crossbars. The main colors are the colors of passionate, emotional Spain, symbols of the spirit of the country. The artist conveys the originality of the Spanish temperament.
The opposition of the figure and the background and the search for their harmonious relationship has a separate determining factor: I think this can be connected not only with the pictorial quest, but also with the artist’s search for a place in society, the desire to please, exhibit at the Salon and receive awards.
Why does E. Manet, a Frenchman, turn to Spanish painting? I have several hypotheses.
Manet's appeal to Velazquez and Goya.
Firstly, here are excerpts from their letters and memoirs about Velazquez and Goya:
About Velasquez wrote his contemporary, teacher: “so good…so like a model…his ability seemed like a miracle”
Goya in his letters defines the place of the artist: “ painting chooses for the universe what best suits its purposes, it combines in a single fictional image the phenomenon of life and the properties of characters that nature scattered everywhere, and thanks to such a skillfully constructed combination,successful imitation , by virtue of which the artist is called the creator, and not the obedient copyist».
As you can see, it was important for Spanish artists to accurately copy the model, to convey its essential characteristics.
Goya and Velazquez are called realists. It is also said about the painting of the 17th century in Spain that a naturalistic tendency appears associated with the spread of caravagism, reproduction appears everyday life. E. Manet is also classified as a "realist" in domestic publications. If we generalize these characteristics, and understand what is meant, then we are talking, most likely, not about realism in the generally accepted understanding of art history, but about artistic realism from the point of view of the philosophy of art. Artistic realism is the correspondence of the born artistic image to the objective essence. Both Goya, and Velasquez, and E. Manet are artists who “captured” the essence of time as much as possible, revealed it in their works.
Secondly, both Velasquez and Goya abruptly broke with artistic tradition, abandoned challenge to academicism. E. Manet does the same. He is against the academic school of Couture, does not accept the classicism of Ingres and David. Those contemporaries of Manet who were also "anti-academicians" - Courbet and Millet - also did not inspire the artist. He does not accept their harsh realism.
Maybe he was looking for support from the great Spaniards in such a situation.
Third, general desire for demythologization finds its vivid embodiment in the works of Goya and Velazquez.
Velazquez draws not to ancient myths and not to religious subjects, but to a specific contemporary theme. Despite the ancient story, for example, in the painting "Bacchus", the artist continues the tradition genre painting of the 17th century, the so-called "bodegones" - household paintings, still lifes. The god of winemaking is surrounded by the usual "drunkards" - peasants, peasants from the people. This technique - the inclusion of contemporaries in the mythological plot was also used by Caravaggio.
It is believed that the Spanish artist has a post-mythological concept, which is a significant contribution to the painting of the 17th century.
I think that E. Manet also adheres to this position, but he no longer has a post-mythological concept, but a desire in general for demythologization, which was characteristic of the entire culture of the second half of the 19th century.
So, for the second, Spanish, stage, it is typical:
affirmation of the dominance of dark tones
Appearance in the artist's palette bright pink, red, white colors
search and image of "natural" models
The third stage of creativity - 1863 -1868
This stage can be characterized as a search, self-determination of the artist. During these five years, E. Manet has been working in almost all genres: household, historical, ‘nu’, landscape, marina, portrait, still life.
The artist does not refuse to turn to the past, however, changes occur at this stage.
He writes the most famous work of the 60s. - "Flutist" (1866) . Here again a figure is presented on a conditional background. The work has neither a literary basis, nor reliance on a mythological or biblical story. The emphasis is shifted to a contemporary event, the search for essence in the surrounding world.
It is difficult to define the genre of this painting - as a portrait or everyday genre. "Flute Player", "Woman with a Parrot"(1866), are works in which genres interact with each other. At this stage, there are many such pictures.
At this stage, the artist creates the work "Bullfight", from which he saves a fragment - "Dead torero"; writing a religious composition "Christ with Angels" Creates seascapes and numerous still lifes, "Fight" "Kearsage"" and "Alabama""". In 1867, a work appears on a modern historical theme. "The Execution of the Emperor Maximilian".
Portrait of contemporaries - "Balcony" again reminds us of the work "Machi on the Balcony" by Goya.
In 1863, the artist writes the most "scandalous" works in all his work - "Breakfast on the Grass" and "Olympia".
Interestingly, "Olympia" and "Breakfast on the Grass" are practically the only completed works where the artist appears nude. This is the ideal of female beauty for Manet. The Goncourt brothers wrote: "An artist who does not depict the female type of his time will not long remain in art."
Much was criticized in these works - flatness, a broad manner of writing, and, of course, the presence of nudity outside the context of a mythological plot. That was interpreted as obscenity. However, the artist again follows his own path, which we will call the bidirectionality of the art of E. Manet:
On the one hand - the "resurrection" of the works of old masters - Titian, Raphael, Giorgione, their actualization.
On the other hand, it is the inscribing, literally into the canvases of great works, of contemporary reality for the artist, of real models.
As a result, he places his contemporaries in the compositional schemes of the past, and creates thereby purely French images.
It was at this stage that the first portraits of contemporaries appear - E. Zola, T. Dure, portrait of wife in painting "Reading" (1868)
So, for the third stage it is typical:
work in almost all genres
overlapping genres
interest in nudity
emergence of the portrait genre
Fourth stage. 1869 - 1873
Manet refuses the methods of composition of the old masters.
The artist continues to paint portraits. Several portraits of the artist Berthe Morisot, who supported Manet, appear:
"Rest"(Portrait of Berthe Morisot, 1869), "Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets" (1872), "Berthe Morisot in Mourning".
The events of 1870-71 fall at this stage, when the Second Empire collapses as a result of the defeat in the Franco-Prussian war and the Paris Commune. Creative life in Paris calms down and collapses. Manet participates in military events, makes sketches of the barricades, the reprisals of the Versailles against the Communards.
At this stage, the artist is especially close to the Impressionists: he turns to work in the open air: "On the Beach", "Bathers on the Beach" (1873).
He is interested in the effects of steam, smoke, illumination of an elusive space - appears "Railway".
However, he is true to his "velvety" black color, its subtle gradations, as evidenced by the works of the same year (1873) - "Mug of Beer" and "Masquerade Ball at the Opera".
Fifth stage 1874–1875. "Impressionistic".
In the spring of 1874, the Impressionists - Monet, Pissarro, Cezanne, Sisley, Renoir - organized a joint exhibition. They turned to a very light palette, depicting nature, conveying atmosphere and light. Although Manet was a leader for them, an inspiring example, under their influence the palette of the artist changed significantly. She became much lighter. Manet also turned to work en plein air.
In the works of Manet, a fixation of the moment appears, the technique of a randomly cut composition: the artist selects a fleeting fragment from the stream of being and captures it on the canvas. The composition is replete with cuts of figures and objects, they seem to suggest the possibility of continuing the depicted beyond the canvas. The contours lose their clarity, dissolving in the light-air environment.
In the 1870-80s. rowing is very popular in France. Argenteuil, a city on the Seine River, where the French like to visit, becomes the center of this fashionable hobby. Manet goes there and in 1874 creates his works there, which are close to impressionism - "The Seine at Argenteuil", "Argenteuil", "In the boat", "Claude Monet in his studio". In 1875, the "blue symphony" appears - "Gondolas on the Grand Canal in Venice".
In the 70s, the painting technique of E. Manet changed: there was a rejection of the traditional sequence - underpainting, writing, glazing. The artist develops the “a la prima” technique. The appearance of this technique is also associated, I think, with the Impressionists, who had the principle of writing quickly to capture the moment (the same Claude Monet, who painted Rouen Cathedral, haystacks, trying to catch the features of lighting).
However, his commitment to the Impressionists was short, the artist never participated in their exhibitions and did not consider himself an Impressionist.
So, the "impressionistic" stage is characterized by:
highlighting the palette; small, fractional smear
the principle of compositional "framing"
painting in the open air
change of technique from classical to "a la prima".
Sixth stage. 1876 - 1883
After an impressionistic search, Manet returns to his style again. The Impressionist stage changed Manet's palette to lighter colors.
Despite his spiritual closeness to the Impressionists - Manet considered many talented and supported in every possible way - he remains true to his discoveries, his creative tasks: he refuses the landscape, his favorite dark tones appear again in his palette.
A separate theme in the late works of E. Manet are cafes, cafe-concerts, cafe-shantany. It was in the bourgeois, 19th century, that rather different people gathered in cafes, not belonging to any one social stratum. Each person, once in a cafe and taking a cup of coffee or a glass of beer, relaxes, behaves naturally. This behavior of people attracted E. Manet, the artist definitely liked it, because, since the time he studied with Couture, he was against conventions and special posing. The artist often visits such places, captures such nature. The works “Plum” (“Tipy”), “Beer Serving Girl”, “At Papa Latuille” appear.
Genres of late painting by E. Manet - portrait, still life.
He creates portraits of contemporaries: "Portrait of Mallarmé", "Portrait of Faure as Hamlet" (1876), "Portrait of Georges Clemenceau" (1879). Again, a return to the problem of background and figure is noticeable. Manet treats this problem in his own way, as in the early periods: a dark background and an illuminated model.
For the first time, at this stage appears "Self-portrait with palette"(circa 1878) - it is precisely by the obligatory presence of his palette that Manet once again emphasizes an honorable occupation, his profession - a painter.
It should be noted that E. Manet painted his self-portrait rather late. It is interesting that in psychology there is also such a term - "self-portrait". In English, this sounds like self-concept, i.e. - "I am a concept" - as I imagine, know myself . E. Manet, with the obligatory presence of his palette, emphasizes an honorable occupation, his profession - painter . The main mission of the painter was and is search for beauty in the ordinary.
In recent years, E. Manet has been working on the “Seasons” cycle, but he completed only two paintings - "Spring" And "Autumn"(1881). These are allegorical portraits of two actresses - Jeanne and Mary.
It is a "masterpiece of spatial illusionism", like Velasquez's Las Meninas, which E. Manet admired.
Reflection of everything in everything and merging, unification of Being through relationships colors and light- this is probably the main principle of impressionism painting. There is a shift in emphasis: if earlier in painting light and color were modeling tools subject, then now items become a field for the play of light and color. This principle is close to E. Manet.
Reflections of light are present on all the characters in the picture. They unite a disparate audience, a girl-barmaid, a man who approached her. Light and color bring together everything that is in this institution, and, in general, in Genesis. Manet affirms with this picture the value of modernity for him (the theme of the entertainment of townspeople and cafes), the proximity to him of Spanish painting, in particular, Velasquez.
Problematic fields of E. Manet's creativity.
Etude style: broad strokes, forms are treated in a generalized way. The work is done, as a rule, from nature.
Appeal to the compositional schemes of the old masters, reminiscences.
Filling the plots and motifs of the paintings of the old masters with relevant content, creating purely French images with the help of old compositional schemes.
Preference for everyday subjects, portraits
Lack of spatial depth. Emphasized flatness of the work, associated with the passion for Japanese engraving and with their own pictorial tasks. Because of their flatness, Manet's works were even compared with popular prints from Epinal. However, as E. Zola writes, “the colors are laid flat, with the difference that artisans use pure tones without caring about the valery, while E. Manet complicates them and establishes exact relationships between them.”
Not exactly an art history term, but his works, as the artist himself wrote, should be distinguished by “grace and immediacy". Most likely, we are talking about the naturalness of the models and their instant capture on the canvas by the artist.
Manet uses the technique of comparing the contrasts of light and dark: the face and figure of the model stand out as a light spot on the dark mass of the background. The uniformity of the background has its justification in the work of the painter: for Manet, "... the most amazing piece of painting ..." 20 when the background is given conditionally, when "... the background disappears." Thus, the model, as it were, appears before the viewer; the viewer’s gaze does not have the opportunity to go deep into the canvas. He focused on models.
A combination of instant and eternal. A peculiar, inherent only to Manet, overlay of modernity and masterpieces of the past. If we turn to Schelling's Philosophy of Art, the universal is transmitted through the special.
Works by Manet realistic from point of view art philosophy, those. the born artistic image corresponds to the objective essence.
Japanese engraving is characterized by the absence of a linear perspective, the dominance of the line as an expressive means, and local colors.
Traditionally, all art of the 19th century is divided into neoclassicism, romanticism, realism and impressionism.
Creativity E. Manet stands, most likely, between realism and impressionism. But since the artist did not consider himself an impressionist, it would be more correct to speak of him as a realist.
There was a certain predestination in Manet's art. It can be said that Manet's realism matured directly in a specific cultural and historical situation, when the turn towards realism was already firmly planned. It is no coincidence that the Brothers Goncourt, E. Zola, Guy de Maupassant, Gustave Flaubert, A. Daudet were writing at the same time. Create their works Barbizon, Courbet, Millet.
The realists strove to reflect reality in adequate life forms, to create an artistic history of their time.
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History of a painting.
Olympia. Edward Mane.
In life, unfortunately, many things for one reason or another have to be postponed until later. And now it has come - that long-awaited, happy moment when the time is ripe for one of the most beautiful deeds. Delightful works of art that excited and aroused the imagination of many and many generations will settle on these pages. And next to them will settle a piece of the time of their birth that has gone forever in the stream of being. But life continues uninterruptedly, and our time gives us such an invaluable gift as an understanding of permanence and continuum, fullness and depth, unevenness and heterogeneity, multidimensionality and fractality, string and spirality of space-time ... And a sense of presence, somehow inexplicable turning a spiral, in this very time, next to it, in it ... Our time has accelerated, compressed, condensed. And in order to penetrate deeper into the essence of the ongoing life, to understand its laws and become the owner of an effective, bright and successful project "My Life", you need to know the laws - the laws of manifesting, incarnating time, you need to learn how to do it. Learn to understand life. And use the most effective method for this - the immersion method. Why are these works of art so significant that there is still interest in them? What is connected with the most famous works of art, what is the essence? This series of messages will guide us along the path of comprehending the mysteries of life through painting.
Iridescent deep living background, bright shining chiaroscuro of folds of fabrics, expressive thoughtful look of a naked young girl... A masterpiece of impressionism - Olympia by Edouard Manet - is in front of you!
Edouard ManetEdouard Mane23.01.1832
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Edouard Manet
In 1874, Edouard Manet categorically refused to participate in the First Impressionist Exhibition. Some art historians see this as the artist's unwillingness to complicate relations with the official Paris Salon and incur new attacks from critics. However, other researchers of Manet's work (in particular, A. Barskaya) believe that there was another, no less significant reason. Among the exhibited works was a painting by P. Cezanne "New Olympia", which also depicted a naked woman: a black maid took off her last clothes to introduce her to a respectable guest. Edouard Manet took Cezanne's painting as a libel on his Olympia and was deeply hurt by such a frank interpretation of the plot. He, of course, remembered those vulgar ridicule, allusions and direct accusations of immorality that rained down on him in the mid-1860s.
Then, in 1864, the jury of the Paris Art Salon rejected almost three-quarters of the works submitted by the artists. And then Napoleon III graciously allowed them to be shown to the public at the "Additional exhibition of exhibitors found too weak to participate in the awards competition." This exhibition immediately received the name "Salon of the Outcasts", as it presented paintings so different from what the French inhabitants were used to seeing. The audience was especially amused by the painting by Edouard Manet "Breakfast on the Grass", which Napoleon III considered indecent. And the indecency was that in the picture next to the dressed men, a naked woman was depicted. Respectable bourgeoisie was greatly shocked. “Breakfast on the Grass” immediately made Manet famous, all of Paris spoke about him, a crowd always stood in front of the picture, unanimous in their anger. But the scandal with the painting did not shake the artist at all. Soon he wrote "Olympia", which also became the subject of the most violent attacks. Indignant spectators crowded in front of the picture, calling Olympia the “Batignolles laundress” (Manet’s workshop was located in the Batignolles quarter of Paris), and the newspapers called it an absurd parody of Titian’s Venus of Urbino.
Throughout the ages, Venus has been revered as the ideal of female beauty; in the Louvre and other museums of the world there are many paintings with nude female figures. But Manet urged to look for beauty not only in the distant past, but also in modern life, and enlightened philistines did not want to come to terms with this.
"Olympia", a naked model lying on white bedspreads, is not the Venus of past centuries. This is a modern girl, whom, in the words of Emile Zola, the artist "threw onto the canvas in all her youthful ... beauty." Manet replaced the ancient beauty with an independent, proud and pure Parisian model in her artless beauty, depicting her in a modern Parisian interior. "Olympia" even seemed like a commoner who invaded high society, she was today's, real - perhaps one of those who looked at her, standing in the exhibition hall.
Manet's underlying Titian construction simplifies the Olympia. Instead of an interior behind the woman's back, there is an almost closed curtain, through which you can see a piece of the sky and the back of a chair. Instead of the maids standing at the wedding chest, Mane has a black woman with a bouquet of flowers. Her large, massive figure further emphasizes the fragility of a naked woman.
However, no picture has ever aroused such hatred and ridicule, the general scandal around it reached its peak here, official criticism called it "an immoral invasion of life." Friends turned their backs on Manet, all the newspapers took up arms against him ... “Never and no one has ever seen anything more cynical than this Olympia”, “This is a female gorilla made of rubber”, “Art that has fallen so low, not even worthy of condemnation,” wrote the Parisian press. A hundred years later, a French critic testified that “the history of art does not remember such a concert of curses that the poor Olympia happened to hear. Indeed, it is impossible to imagine what kind of bullying and insults this girl, this black woman and this cat have not undergone. But the artist wrote his "Olympia" very delicately, gently and chastely, but the crowd, excited by criticism, subjected her to cynical and wild mockery.
The frightened administration of the Salon placed two guards at the picture, but this was not enough. The crowd, "laughing, howling and threatening this new-found beauty with canes and umbrellas," did not disperse even in front of the military guard. At one point, he even refused to guarantee the safety of the Olympia, since several times the soldiers had to draw their weapons to protect the nakedness of this thin, lovely body. Hundreds of people from the very morning gathered in front of the Olympia, craned their necks and looked at her, only to shout vulgar obscenities and spit on her afterwards. “A slut who imagines herself to be a queen” - this is how the French press called one of the most gentle and chaste works of painting every day. And then the picture was hung over the door of the last room in the Salon, at such a height that it almost disappeared from view. The French critic Jules Claretty enthusiastically reported: "The shameless girl who came out from under the brush of Manet was finally identified a place where even the most base daub had not been before her."
The angry crowd was also outraged by the fact that Manet did not give up. Even among friends, few dared to speak out and publicly defend the great artist. One of these few were the writer Emile Zola and the poet Charles Baudelaire, and the artist Edgar Degas (also from the Salon des Les Misérables) said then: “The fame that Manet won with his Olympia, and the courage that he showed, can only be compared with fame and courage of Garibaldi.
The original idea of "Olympia" was related to the metaphor of C. Baudelaire "catwoman", which runs through a series of his poems dedicated to Jeanne Duval. The association with poetic variation is especially noticeable in Manet's original drawings for Olympia, but this motif becomes more complicated in the final version. At the feet of the naked Olympia, a cat appears with the same burning look of rounded eyes. But he no longer caresses the woman, but bristling looks into the space of the picture, as if protecting the world of his mistress from foreign intrusion.
After the closure of the Salon, Olympia was doomed to almost 25 years of confinement in Manet's art studio, where only close friends of the artist could see her. Not a single museum, not a single gallery, not a single private collector wanted to acquire it. During his lifetime, Manet did not wait for the recognition of Olympia. More than a hundred years ago, Emile Zola wrote in the newspaper "Evenmen" "Fate prepared a place in the Louvre for Olympia and Breakfast on the Grass, but it took many years for his prophetic words to come true.
In 1889, a grandiose exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution was being prepared, and Olympia was personally invited to take pride of place among the best paintings. There she captivated a wealthy American who wished to purchase a painting for any money. It was then that a serious threat arose that France would lose Manet's brilliant masterpiece forever.
However, only the friends of the deceased by this time Manet sounded the alarm about this. Claude Monet offered to buy the Olympia from the widow and donate it to the state, since it itself cannot pay. A subscription was opened, and the required amount was collected - 20,000 francs. There remained "a mere trifle" - to persuade the state to accept the gift. According to French law, a work presented to the state and accepted by it must be exhibited. This is what the artist's friends were counting on. But according to the unwritten "table of ranks" at the Louvre, Mane has not yet "pulled", and had to be content with the Luxembourg Palace, where "Olympia" stayed for 16 years - alone, in a gloomy and cold hall. Only in January 1907, under the cover of night, quietly and imperceptibly, she was transferred to the Louvre.
And in 1947, when the Museum of Impressionism was opened in Paris, Olympia took the place in it that it had the right to from the day it was born. Now the audience stands in front of this canvas reverently and respectfully.
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Olympia - Edouard Manet. 1863. Oil on canvas. 130.5x190 cm
Created in 1863, the Olympia painting immediately attracted attention. True, its creator Edouard Manet did not count on such a resonance. Today, we, sophisticated viewers, find it hard to believe, but a naked girl reclining on white sheets caused an uproar.
The Salon of 1865 went down in history as one of the most scandalous in the history of world art. People openly resented, scolded the artist, tried to spit on the canvas, and some even tried to pierce it with umbrellas or canes. In the end, the management of the exhibition had to hang it up to the very ceiling, and put up guards below.
What offended the viewer's gaze so much, because this is far from the first work in the nude style in the visual arts? The thing is that before Manet, painters portrayed the heroines of myths, beautiful goddesses, and the painter ventured to “undress” a modern, quite concrete woman in his work. The public could not bear such shamelessness!
The model for the work was Edouard Manet's favorite model, Quiz Meran, and the master was inspired to write the canvas of just some classics - Velasquez, Giordano,.
An attentive viewer will notice that the author of Olympia completely copied the compositional scheme of his illustrious predecessors. But although the canvas bears a clear imprint, Manet managed to breathe a completely different character into his work through his own style, as well as an appeal to a real heroine. The author, as it were, was trying to tell the viewer: contemporaries are no less attractive than the repeatedly sung Venus of the past.
Young Olympia lies on a white bed, her fresh, light golden skin contrasting with the sheets, written in a cool blue hue. Her posture is relaxed and free, but a strong-willed rebellious look, directed directly at the viewer, gives her image dynamism and hidden grandeur. Her figure (unlike classical examples) is devoid of emphasized roundness, on the contrary, a certain “angularity” is read in it - an intentional device of the author. By this, he wanted to emphasize the modernity of his model, as well as to indicate a strong-willed character and independence.
Having enjoyed the image of a naked beauty, the viewer shifts his gaze to the left - there is a dark-skinned maid with a bouquet of flowers, which she brought to present to the charmer. The dark color of the woman's skin contrasts sharply with both bright colors and white clothes.
In order to focus the viewer on the main character as much as possible, Edouard Manet, as if on purpose, did not work out the background in detail, as a result, the carefully and carefully drawn Olympia comes forward, as if stepping over the closed space of the picture.
Not only the innovative plot and brilliantly calibrated composition make the painting an exceptional masterpiece - the color palette of the canvas deserves special admiration. The finest nuances of ocher, golden, beige hues surprisingly harmonize with the blue and white colors, as well as the smallest gradations of golden, with which the shawl on the heroine's bed was painted.
The picture is somewhat reminiscent of a sketch or sketch. This impression is caused by the smallest elaboration of details and lines in the image of the main character, as well as the somewhat flat technique of the painter - Manet deliberately abandoned the traditional alla prima writing. The artist was sure that such a flat interpretation makes the work more emotional and vivid.
It is known that after the painting was exhibited at the Salon, the public began to violently persecute Manet, and he was even forced to flee to the provinces, and then completely leave for.
Today, the delightful "Olympia" is ranked among the best paintings ever created, and its author has forever entered the history of world art as a great and exceptional creator.
Edward Mane. Olympia. 1863, Paris.
"Olympia" by Edouard Manet is one of the most famous works of the artist. Now almost no one argues that this is a masterpiece. But 150 years ago, it created an unimaginable scandal.
Visitors to the exhibition literally spat at the picture! Critics warned pregnant women and the faint of heart against viewing the canvas. For they risked experiencing extreme shock from what they saw.
It would seem that nothing foreshadowed such a reaction. After all, Manet was inspired by a classic work for this work. Titian, in turn, was inspired by the work of his teacher Giorgione "Sleeping Venus".
In the middle: Titian. 1538 Uffizi Gallery, Florence. At the bottom: Giorgione. Venus is sleeping. 1510 Old Masters Gallery, Dresden.
Nude bodies in painting
Both before Manet and during the time of Manet, there were plenty of naked bodies on the canvases. At the same time, these works were perceived with great enthusiasm.
"Olympia" was shown to the public in 1865 at the Paris Salon (the most important exhibition in France). And 2 years before that, the painting by Alexander Cabanel “The Birth of Venus” was exhibited there.
Alexander Cabanel. Birth of Venus. 1864, Paris. The work of Cabanel was received with enthusiasm by the public. The beautiful naked body of the goddess with a languid look and flowing hair on a 2-meter canvas is few who can be left indifferent. The painting was bought on the same day by Emperor Napoleon III.
Why did Olympia Manet and Venus Cabanel produce such different reactions from the public?
Manet lived and worked in the era of Puritan morals. Admiring the naked female body was extremely indecent. However, this was allowed if the depicted woman was as less real as possible.
Therefore, artists were so fond of depicting mythical women, such as the goddess Venus Cabanel. Or Oriental women, mysterious and inaccessible, such as Ingra's Odalisque.
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Large odalisque. 1814 . 3 extra vertebrae and a sprained leg for the sake of beauty
It is clear that the models who posed for both Cabanel and Ingres, in reality, had more modest external data. Artists frankly embellished them.
At least that's evident with Ingres' Odalisque. The artist added 3 extra vertebrae to his heroine in order to stretch the camp and make the curve of the back more spectacular. Odalisque's arm is also unnaturally elongated to harmonize with the elongated back. In addition, the left leg is unnaturally twisted. In reality, it cannot lie at such an angle. Despite this, the image turned out to be harmonious, although very unrealistic.
Too frank realism of Olympia
Manet went against all the above rules. His Olympia is too realistic. Before Manet, perhaps, he only wrote like this. He portrayed his own, though pleasant in appearance, but clearly not a goddess.
Maha is a representative of one of the lowest classes in Spain. She, like Olympia Manet, looks at the viewer confidently and a little defiantly.
Francisco Goya. Maha naked. 1795-1800 . Manet also depicted an earthly woman instead of a beautiful mythical goddess. Moreover, a prostitute who looks at the viewer with an appraising and confident look. Olympia's black maid holds a bouquet of flowers from one of her clients. This further emphasizes what our heroine does for a living.
The appearance of the model, called ugly by contemporaries, is in fact simply not embellished. This is the appearance of a real woman with its own flaws: the waist is barely distinguishable, the legs are a little short without the seductive steepness of the hips. The protruding belly is not hidden by thin thighs.
It was the realism of the social status and appearance of Olympia that so outraged the public.
Another Courtesan Manet
Manet has always been a pioneer, as he was in his time. He tried to find his own way in creativity. He strove to take the best from the work of other masters, but he never engaged in imitation, but created his own, authentic. Olympia is a prime example of this.
Manet and subsequently remained true to his principles, trying to depict modern life. So, in 1877 he paints the picture "Nana". Written in . On it, a woman of easy virtue powders her nose in front of a client waiting for her.
Edward Mane. Nana. 1877 Hamburg Kunsthalle Museum, Germany.
