Manet Eduard, French painter. He studied at the Paris School of Fine Arts under T. Couture (1850-1856). Edouard Manet worked mainly in Paris, visited Brazil (1848-1850), Germany, Spain (1865), Great Britain (late 1860s), Holland (1872). The development of Manet as an artist was significantly influenced by the works of Giorgione, Titian, Hals, Velazquez, Goya, and Delacroix. In the works of the late 1850s - early 1860s, which formed a gallery of poignantly conveyed human types and characters, Manet combined the life-like authenticity of the image with romanticization appearance models (“Lola from Valencia”, 1862, Musée d’Orsay, Paris).
Using and reinterpreting the subjects and motifs of the paintings of the old masters, Manet sought to fill them with relevant content, polemically, and sometimes shockingly, to introduce the image into famous classical compositions modern man(“Luncheon on the Grass”, “Olympia” - both 1863, Musée d'Orsay). In the 1860s, Edouard Manet addressed themes modern history(“The Execution of Emperor Maximilian”, 1867, Kunsthalle, Mannheim), but Manet’s soulful attention to modernity was manifested primarily in scenes that seemed to be snatched from the everyday flow of life, full of lyrical spirituality and inner significance (“Breakfast in the Studio”, New gallery, Munich; “Balcony”, Musée d'Orsay, Paris - both 1868), as well as in portraits similar to them in artistic setting (portrait of Emile Zola, 1868, Musée d'Orsay, portrait of Berthe Morisot, 1872). With his work, Edouard Manet anticipated the emergence of, and then became, one of the founders of impressionism. At the end of the 1860s, Manet became close to Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, moved from dull and dense tones, intense coloring with a predominance dark colors to light and free plein air painting (“In the boat”, 1874, Metropolitan Museum of Art; “In the tavern of Father Lathuile”, 1879).
Many of Manet’s works are characterized by impressionistic pictorial freedom and fragmentation of composition, a light-saturated colorful vibrating range (“Argenteuil”, Museum of Fine Arts, Tournai). At the same time, Manet maintains the clarity of the drawing, gray and black tones in color, prefers not a landscape, but an everyday plot with a pronounced socio-psychological basis (the collision of dreams and reality, the illusory nature of happiness in a sparkling and festive world - in one of latest paintings Manet “Bar at the Folies Bergere”, 1881-1882, Corthold Institute, London). In the 1870s and 1880s, Manet worked a lot in the field of portraiture, expanding the possibilities of this genre and turning it into a kind of study inner world contemporary (portrait of S. Mallarmé, 1876, Musée d'Orsay, Paris), painted landscapes and still lifes (“Bouquet of Lilacs”, 1883, Art Gallery, Berlin-Dahlem), acted as a draftsman, etching and lithographer. Manet's work renewed the traditions of French paintings of the 19th century century and largely determined further development world visual arts.
Manet was strongly opposed to academic forms of creativity, but throughout almost his entire life he had a deep respect for the traditions of some of the great masters, the direct or indirect influence of which is evident in many of his works ("The Balcony", 1868-1869, Orsay Museum, Paris; " Over a glass of beer", 1873, K. Thiesen Collection, Philadelphia).
The nature of his painting is largely determined by the experience of his predecessors: the great Spaniards Velazquez and F. Goya, the famous Dutch master F. Hals, French painters O. Daumier and G. Courbet, but also with the desire to step beyond existing traditions and create a new, modern, reflective the world art. The first step on this path were two paintings that sounded like a challenge official art: "Lunch on the Grass" (1863, Musée d'Orsay, Paris) and "Olympia" (1863, Musée d'Orsay, Paris). After writing them, the artist was subjected to severe criticism from the public and the press; only a small group of artists came to his defense, among whom were C. Monet, E. Degas, P. Cezanne and others, and only E. Zola repelled the attacks of journalists. In gratitude, in 1868, E. Manet painted a portrait of the writer (Museum Orsay, Paris), which is a classic example of characterizing a model using still life details.
The Impressionists considered E. Manet their ideological leader and predecessor. But his art is much broader and does not fit into the framework of one direction, although the artist always supported the impressionists in the fundamental views on art regarding working in the plein air and reflecting fleeting impressions of reality. existing world. The so-called impressionism of E. Manet is closer to painting Japanese masters. He simplifies the motifs, balancing the decorative and the real in them, creating a generalized idea of what he saw: a pure impression, devoid of unnecessary details, an expression of the joy of sensation ("On the Seashore", 1873, Collection of J. Doucet, Paris). E. Manet has repeatedly participated in working together with C. Monet and O. Renoir on the banks of the Seine, where the main motif of his paintings is bright blue water ("In a Boat", 1874, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).
E. Manet loves to paint a person against the backdrop of a landscape, conveying the feeling of the freshness of nature through his facial expressions, gestures and expressive poses ("Argenteuil", 1874, Museum of Art, Tournai). The painting closest to the impressionistic perception of the world is “The Boat - the Studio of C. Monet” (1874, Neue Pinakothek, Munich), in which, using additional yellow and blue strokes, the artist achieves a complete illusion of the vibrating movement of water, shaded by the boat. It cannot be said that this work in the open air changed much creative manner
artist, but she significantly enriched his pictorial palette. Thus, he abandoned the use of pure black, especially when painting landscapes, and replaced it with a combination of individual strokes of different colors.
In the later period of his work, E. Manet moved away from impressionism and returned to his previous style. In the mid-1870s. passionately works with pastels, which helped him use the achievements of the Impressionists in the field of color analysis, while maintaining his own idea of the balance between silhouette and volume ("Woman tying up a stocking", 1880, Nansen Collection, Copenhagen). E. Manet's work in pastels helped to soften his painting style even in those cases when he described far from poetic images inspired by the works of contemporary writers ("Nana", 1877, Kunsthalle, Hamburg; "At Father Lathuile's", 1879, Museum, Turin ). The pinnacle of E. Manet's creativity is his famous painting "Bar at the Folies Bergère" (1882, Warburg and Courtauld Institute Gallery, London), which represents a synthesis of the transience, instability, immediacy inherent in impressionism, and the permanence, stability and inviolability inherent in classical direction in art. The clear foreground of the picture is contrasted with the background - an unclear and almost fantastic mirror reflection. This work can be considered programmatic in the work of E. Manet, since it reflects his favorite themes: still life, portrait, various lighting effects
, crowd movement.
E. Manet received official recognition in 1882, when he was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor - the main award of France. Edouard Manet (1832-1883) – French artist and engraver, considered one of the founders of impressionism in painting. Many of his paintings have become decorations of the most famous museums in the world - “White Peonies”, “Bar at the Folies Bergere”, “Olympia”, “Breakfast on the Grass”, “Lola from Valencia”, “Nana”, “In the Greenhouse”, “ Music in the Tuileries Garden", " Railway
", "In the boat", "Slivovitz".
Childhood
Edward was born on January 23, 1832 in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter of Paris on the Rue des Petits Augustins at number 5. His paternal grandfather, Clément Manet, was a landowner and dam builder. The artist's father, Auguste Manet, was born in French city Gennevilliers in 1797. He did not continue the family construction business, but studied to be a lawyer and was a public service
Mom, Eugenie-Désirée Fournier, came from an intelligent family. Her father José-Antoine-Ennemo Fournier served in diplomatic positions and worked as consul in Gothenburg. Eugenie-Désiré's godfather was King Charles XIII of Sweden. In January 1831 she married Auguste Manet. Exactly a year later their first child, Edward, was born. Later family was replenished with two more boys, Gustave and Eugene.
Despite his good financial situation, the furnishings in Manet’s house could not be called rich and luxurious. Furniture, decoration, clothing - everything was simple, moderate and modest, with the inherent French taste. Edward adored his home; by that time the family had moved to Mont Tator Street.
Portrait of Edouard Manet's parents
The boy especially liked it when his uncle (mother’s brother), Colonel Edmond-Edouard Fournier, and his wife came to visit them. Their parents whiled away the evenings with them by the fireplace - the women did needlework, the men had conversations. Uncle was a good-natured short fat man with a small beard and an always laughing face. Often on such evenings he took out a notebook and made small sketches of people sitting by the fireplace. At these moments, little Edward stopped playing with his brothers and watched his uncle; he even dared to make a few strokes on paper himself.
Education and early passion for painting
Mane's parents were wealthy and could provide their son with a decent education. They really wanted Edward to continue his father’s work and build brilliant career in the public service. At the age of seven, they sent the boy to study at the boarding school of Abbot Poilou. Edward turned out to be absolutely indifferent to his studies; therefore, in 1844, his father transferred him to Rollin College on full board.
The only thing that attracted young Manet was painting. In this hobby he was encouraged by Uncle Fournier, who was very educated person and was especially interested in art. Often visiting his sister’s house, he became friends with her children and took them to the Louvre on Sundays. The man immediately drew attention to his eldest nephew, Edward, who was not just looking at the paintings in the museum, but was making some sketches with an album and pencil in his hands.
One Sunday evening Having returned from the Louvre, Fournier tried to persuade his brother-in-law Auguste Manet to allow Edward to attend elective drawing courses at the college. My father didn’t want to talk about this topic, he wanted a legal profession for everyone three sons. Then the colonel went to the director of the college, Monsieur Defauconpres, and paid for additional drawing lessons for his nephew from his own pocket.
Surprisingly, these activities did not arouse the boy’s interest. He did not like the academic nature of his teaching; the teacher forced him to copy engravings, plaster sculptures, and ornamental reliefs. Not wanting to depict the heads of knights in antique helmets, Manet painted portraits of his classmates. Next door to the drawing room there was a gym, Eduard always wanted to run there. The teenager showed exceptional abilities in gymnastics.
In addition to drawing and gymnastics, young Manet was also interested in history. The subject was taught by the young professor M. Valon, who later became the creator of the French Constitution of 1885. But sometimes during these lessons, Edward hid a book under his desk, brought from home after the weekend, and read. His favorite work is “Salons” by Diderot.
How much did Manet love native home, he hated college just as much. He wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. Perhaps this fact influenced, and perhaps its excellent physical form and passion for gymnastics led to the decision to enroll in a nautical school. He decisively told his father that he did not want to connect his life with jurisprudence.
Journey across the Atlantic
Manet graduated from Rollin College in 1848, but did not show any particular success in anything. The father came to terms with the fact that his eldest son did not want to become a civil servant, and chose the lesser of two evils - it was better to go to a naval school than to become an artist.
In the fall of 1848, Edward took the entrance exams to a nautical school, but failed. He decided that he would prepare more thoroughly and in next year will make another attempt to enroll. As preparation, he was allowed to go on a study tour.
In December 1848, Manet boarded the sailing ship Le Havre and Guadeloupe as a cabin boy. Sailing across the Atlantic Ocean and staying in Brazil completely changed his worldview. Edward's entire upbringing took place in a bourgeois environment under the smoky Parisian sky. And now sunny expanses have opened up for the guy tropical countries, and the surrounding reality began to shine multi-colored paints. In his numerous letters to his family, he described exotic and beautiful Brazilian women and shared his impressions of the carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
On the last third day of the Brazilian carnival, Eduard and the youth from the ship's crew went into the jungle. wild nature struck him to the core. Here the young man was shocked by everything - small hummingbirds among bright flowers; insects crawling on the grass and sparkling like jewels; vines and orchids descending from the branches. He had never seen such a riot of colors in his life. Manet realized that he would like to learn how to transfer everything he saw into real life- on canvas.
All impressions of Rio de Janeiro were overshadowed by a snake bite. She stung Edward in left leg, the limb was very painful and swollen, the cabin boy was sent on board the ship. He spent two weeks on a moored sailboat, and in order not to suffer from boredom and idleness, he painted. When Manet walked down the ramp to the French coast in the early summer of 1849, his travel suitcase was full of pencil sketches. This journey across the ocean subsequently played an important role in the artist’s work. During the long voyage, a special feeling of the sea was born in his soul. Approximately one tenth of all his paintings are seascapes.
Edward made another attempt to enter the naval school, but again it was unsuccessful. But this time he no longer had the same zeal; he even admitted to his younger brother Eugene that he felt calmer on earth than on board the ship.
The difficult path to art
After looking at his son’s drawings, which he brought back from his trip, his father stopped doubting his artistic calling. He advised Edward to study at the School of Fine Arts in Paris. But young Manet was afraid that, as in the elective drawing classes at Rollin's college, the teaching would be boring, academic and tough. Therefore, in 1850, he began taking painting lessons in the workshop of the then fashionable French academic artist, Thomas Couture.
After several years of study, disagreements began to arise between Manet and Couture. Edward categorically did not want to accept the bourgeois orientation of the style in painting, which then dominated in France. Couture preferred the stylistic and genre canons of painting, and Manet was attracted living art. In 1856, he left the artist's studio and began self-education.
He often visited the Louvre, where he studied paintings by famous artists. Edward also traveled a lot around Europe, as a result of which he became interested in old painting. In Italy, Spain, Germany, Holland, Austria, he went around everything art museums, after which I tried to copy the works of great masters (this is what any novice artist does). Titian, Rembrandt, and Velazquez had a particular influence on his approach to creativity.
By 1858, Manet had become famous in Paris as a promising artist. He began to enter various salons, where he made acquaintances with representatives of high society. Especially trusting relationship He got involved with the poet Charles Baudelaire.
In 1859, Edward decided to exhibit his paintings at the Paris Salon. But then his work “The Absinthe Lover” was rejected. Only two years later, two works by Manet, “Gitarrero” and “Portrait of Parents,” were favorably received by critics. The films were no less successful with the public. Such recognition brought the artist good money, fame, and most importantly, the praise of his father. Even before the exhibition, Auguste Manet proudly showed guests a painting where his son depicted his elderly parents.
Creation
In the 1860s, Spanish motifs predominated in Edward's work:
- "Alabama";
- "Lola from Valencia";
- "Dead Toreador";
- "Spanish Ballet";
- "Kirsaja".
He turned to religious subjects (“Dead Christ”) and to the themes of modern history (“Execution of Emperor Maximilian”).
In 1863, paintings that had been rejected by critics from the official Salon were exhibited at the nearby Palace of Industry. This event was called the “Salon of the Rejected”, and its main sensation was Manet’s work “Luncheon on the Grass”. This painting is now considered a masterpiece of impressionism, but then it gained scandalous fame.
Critics were outraged by the picture's depiction naked woman. Not only does she sit in a company of dressed men having a conversation, but she also shamelessly looks at the audience, not embarrassed by her nudity. Such reviews did not offend the artist, but, on the contrary, provoked him. In the same year, he painted Olympia, which caused even more controversy. Critics called it vulgar and obscene.
After such persecution, the painter changed his creative themes and began to paint portraits, scenes at horse races, still lifes, and some important events taking place:
"Madame Manet on the blue sofa"
In the artist’s life there was also a passionate romance with his model Victoria Meran, with whom he painted his most famous paintings.
Death
In the early autumn of 1879, Edward suffered his first attack of rheumatism. After a thorough medical examination, doctors diagnosed the artist with ataxia (a disease in which coordination of muscle movements is lost). The disease progressed rapidly, which limited the painter’s creative capabilities. Over the course of three years, the disease developed so much that Edward found himself bedridden. His son Leon looked after him.
In the spring of 1883, the artist developed gangrene in his left leg, and his limb was amputated. Eleven days later, on April 30, 1883, he died. His grave is in the Passy cemetery in Paris.
At first glance, the biography of Edouard Manet seems quite rosy and shows us the artist as the darling of fate. Born into a wealthy, respected family, who received an excellent education, he moved in high social circles, traveled and did what he loved - painting. What else does a person need in order to consider himself happy? But no! Not so simple…
Edouard Manet. Biography
Born on January 23, 1832. Father is a lawyer, mother is the daughter of an ambassador.
Manet's character was intelligent and rebellious. When putting pressure on him, trying to impose their will on him, his parents did not encounter any obvious resistance on his part. Not connecting his future with any professions other than artistic craft, the guy secretly stood his ground. “You will be a lawyer like your father.” “Of course, mummy, for me.” After which he “suddenly” fails. This is his characteristic way of dealing with attempts to break his will.
After a quarrel with his parents, he gets a job as a cabin boy on a sailboat and, realizing his old dream of Rio de Janeiro, sets sail.
Upon his return, he gets a job as an apprentice to an artist scandalous reputation Thomas Couture, the author of the acclaimed painting “The Romans of Decline,” depicting an orgy. The relationship between Couture and Manet is very bad, but, nevertheless, the young artist patiently undergoes training with the master to the end.
Communicating with famous artists, poets, writers and drawing inspiration from their work, Edouard Manet develops his individual style painting. Among his friends and inspirers: Charles Baudelaire, Renoir, Monet and others.
Despite the rejection of his works by critics, he was widely famous artist, accepted both among the impressionists and among masters of other areas of painting.
Recognition of Manet's talent occurs at the very end of his life. In 1881 he was awarded the Salon medal, and some time later the Order of the Legion of Honor. At that time, Edgar Manet no longer painted, paralyzed due to cerebral ataxia. On April 30, 1883, the artist left this sinful earth without undergoing surgery at the age of 51.
Artist's creativity
Edouard Manet shows no attempts to innovate from his first independent work. But with the death of his father and the receipt of an inheritance, the flight of his thoughts becomes liberated, not burdened by financial dependence on painting. The artist’s creative freedom in 1863 revealed to the world the first of his scandalous masterpieces - “Breakfast on the Grass”, depicting a naked woman in the company of dressed men. Carrying out a daring challenge public morality, the painting is subject to a ban on display by the official salon. It is considered indecent, and Edouard Manet himself is reproached for immorality for writing it.
The further work of Edouard Manet does not change its direction and continues its line. 1865 is the year of birth of Olympia, which caused even more merciless criticism and misunderstanding on the part of fans of the fine arts. Edouard Manet dares to depict a naked woman in a contemporary interior, and not in classic style antiquity, accepted among This was perceived by critics as unheard of hypocrisy. The poor beauty depicted on the canvas immediately acquired the unflattering epithets of “a slut who imagines herself to be a queen” and “a shameless girl who came out of Manet’s brush.”
Moreover, “Olympia” was painted on a large-scale canvas, which was only acceptable for which also added fuel to the fire of indignation among critics. The picture gathers a lot of people around it only to be ridiculed and cursed.
And now Edouard Manet, whose biography is pure from fornication and debauchery, who all his life loved only one woman - Suzanne Leenhoff, is acquiring an extremely bad reputation. Tired of such rumors, the artist Edouard Manet leaves his homeland for a while. But upon his return, he continues to work in his own manner, without giving up. This is what angers critics the most.
Contribution to the development of art
Manet carried out a kind of revolution in the understanding of the fine arts of those times. Through continuous experimentation with color and form, he laid the foundation for the development of many new trends in French painting. He questioned the inviolability of painting styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: classicism, realism, impressionism. An example of audacity and novelty in the subjects of his paintings inspired many young artists to search for new ways to reveal images.
Edouard Manet did not dwell on certain themes of his works; he alternated landscapes with portraits, still lifes with scenes from life. Preference in color scheme was also subject to constant experimentation: dark, thick, contrasting ones were replaced by lighter, lighter ones.
Artist Recognition
As often happens, he never heard the epithets “brilliant artist”, “great Manet” and other flattering reviews during his lifetime. Real fame came to his works many years after his death, and it began with the same “Olympia” - “tasteless” and “vulgar”.
Now Manet's paintings are valued at millions of pounds sterling: from seven to fifty-six.
Edward with titles no less scandalous
"The Surprised Nymph" The painting, the plot of which reveals to the viewer the frightened gaze of a nymph bandaging her knee, amazes art connoisseurs even now. At the beginning of the last century, critics perceived the original plot of this painting as a slap in the face of classical painting.
"Suicide". Due to the sensitivity of the plot, the canvas was not considered worthy of display at the National Salon and gathered dust in the artist’s studio for many years. On this moment work is in private collection Emil Georg Bührle in Zurich.
The masterpiece “Bathers on the Seine”, made in oil, was also subject to prohibitions from being presented to the public in the official Salon, and was exhibited only in the Salon of the Rejected. The manner of execution of the painting, which was atypical for that time, prompted the public to be prejudiced towards it.
A similar fate haunts many artists and their work. Only years, and sometimes centuries later, are they recognized as geniuses.
Edouard (Edouard) Manet (French: Édouard Manet; January 23, 1832, Paris - April 30, 1883, Paris) - French painter, engraver, one of the founders of impressionism.
Edouard Manet was born at 5 rue Bonaparte in the Parisian quarter of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the family of Auguste Manet, head of the department of the Ministry of Justice, and Eugenie-Désiré Fournier, the daughter of a French diplomat who was consul in Gothenburg. The Swedish king Charles XIII was the godfather of Manet's mother. In 1839, Manet was sent to study at the boarding school of Abbe Poilou, then, due to absolute indifference to his studies, he was transferred by his father “on full board” to the Rollin College, where he studied from 1844 to 1848, also without showing any success.
Despite Manet's great desire to become a painter, his father, who prophesied a career as a lawyer for his son, vehemently opposed him art education. However, his mother’s brother, Edmond-Edouard Fournier, realizing the boy’s artistic vocation, advised him to attend special lectures on painting, which he himself enrolled his nephew in and personally paid for. Thanks to Uncle Edmond, who regularly took the boy to museums, Manet discovered the Louvre, which had a decisive influence on his personal and creative life. Drawing lessons, oddly enough, did not arouse the expected interest in Manet, largely due to the academic nature of the teaching, and the boy preferred drawing portraits of his comrades to copying plaster sculptures, which soon became an example for many of his classmates.
In 1848, after completing his studies, the young Manet faced his father's strong opposition to his plans to become an artist. A kind of compromise was found when Manet decided to enter a nautical school in 1847, but miserably failed the entrance exams (Manet’s general lack of education affected him). However, in preparation for the re-examinations, he was allowed to go on a training voyage on the sailing ship Le Havre and Guadeloupe.
During the trip, the sailboat, in particular, visited Brazil. The exoticism and richness of colors of tropical countries only strengthened Manet’s desire to study the art of painting - from the trip Edward brought a large number of drawings, sketches and sketches. He often used team members as models.
From this trip there were numerous letters from Manet to his relatives, in which he described his impressions of the carnival in Rio and the exotic beauty of Brazilian women. On the other hand, he assessed slavery and the possible restoration of the monarchy in France with a critical eye. Manet's subsequent works consist of one-tenth part seascapes, and his sea voyage to Brazil played an important role in this.
In July 1849, after returning to Paris, Manet once again tried to pass the exam at the Nautical School to no avail. This time, the father, having appreciated the numerous drawings brought from the trip, no longer doubted his son’s artistic calling and advised him to enter the Paris School of Fine Arts. But fearing the too rigid and academic training program at the School, Manet in 1850 entered the workshop of the then fashionable artist Thomas Couture, who became famous in 1847 thanks to the monumental painting “The Romans of Decline.”
It was then that the conflict between Manet and the classical-romantic tradition of painting that dominated France at that time began to brew. A sharp rejection of the bourgeois orientation of the dominant style ultimately resulted in a clear break between Manet and Couture - the young artist left the teacher’s workshop. However, at the insistence of his father, Manet was forced to apologize and return, although he retained his rejection of Couture’s strict academicism.
Position young artist aggravated by his unwanted pregnancy old lover Suzanne Leenhof. The paternity of the child, in order to avoid notoriety and the wrath of Edward's father, was attributed to the fictitious Coella, and then only for the mayor's office. Another version was also spread that the newborn was not the son, but the brother of Suzanne.
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