painting - Olympia Manet
Photograph by Bharath Kishoreon Flickr.
Olympia disdainfully ignores the flowers presented to her by her servant, probably a gift from a client. Instead of a smooth idealised nude, as in Alexandre Cabanel s La naissance de V茅nus (also painted in painting Word painting 1863), Manet painted a real woman, whose nakedness is revealed in all its brutality by the harsh light. The model, Victorine Meurent, went on to become an accomplished painter in her own right. Fr茅d茅ric Bazille 路 Eug猫ne Boudin 路 Gustave Caillebotte 路 Mary Cassatt 路 Paul C茅zanne 路 Edgar Degas 路 Armand Guillaumin 路 脡douard Manet 路 Claude Monet 路 Berthe Morisot 路 Camille Pissarro 路 Pierre-Auguste Renoir 路 Alfred Sisley Gustave Caillebotte 路 Henry O.
It is now in the Mus茅e d Orsay, Paris. Though Manet s The Luncheon on the Grass (Le d茅jeuner sur l herbe) sparked controversy in 1863, his Olympia stirred an even bigger uproar when it was first exhibited at the 1865 Paris Salon. Comparison is also made to Ingres La grande Odalisque (1814).
These include the orchid in her hair, her bracelet, pearl earrings and the oriental shawl on which she lies, symbols of wealth and sensuality. The black ribbon around her neck, in stark contrast with her pale flesh, and her cast-off slipper underline the voluptuous atmosphere.
Manet asked himself why he should lie. Some have suggested that she is looking in the direction of the door, as her client barges in unannounced. The painting deviates from the academic canon in its style, characterized by broad, quick brushstrokes, studio lighting that eliminates mid-tones, large color surfaces and shallow depth.
Why not tell the truth? The painting was inspired by Titian s Venus of Urbino, which in turn refers to Giorgione s Sleeping Venus. The classic work that most closely resembles Manet s in character is Francisco Goya s La maja desnuda (c.
Conservatives condemned the work as immoral and vulgar. Journalist Antonin Proust later recalled, If the canvas of the Olympia was not destroyed, it is only because of the precautions that were taken by the administration. However, the work had proponents as well. Manet replaced the little dog (symbol of fidelity) in Titian s painting with a black cat, which symbolized prostitution.
1800). What shocked contemporary audiences was not Olympia s nudity, nor even the presence of her fully clothed maid, but her confrontational gaze and a number of details identifying her as a demi-mondaine or courtesan. Havemeyer 路 Ernest Hosched茅 Paul Durand-Ruel 路 Georges Petit 路 Ambroise Vollard Music 路 Literature 路 French Impressionist Cinema .
Whereas Titian s Venus delicately covers her sex, Olympia s hand firmly protects hers, as if to emphasize her independence and sexual dominance over men. Olympia is an oil on canvas painting by 脡douard Manet in the Realism style.
Painted in 1863, it measures 130.5 by 190 centimetres (51 x 74.8 in). The nation of France acquired the painting in 1890 with a public subscription organized by Claude Monet.
