EDOUARD MANET (French Impressionist Painter)
Edouard Manet was born on January 23, 1832, the son of a highly-placed Parisian government official. When his father insisted that he study law, Manet instead became a sailor and later became apprenticed to the academic painter Thomas Couture. Manet visited the Netherlands, Italy and Germany to study the old masters; and he was greatly influenced by the Dutch painter Frans Hals and Spain's Diego Velazquez and Francisco Jose de Goya. His own work reflected everyday life, with subjects like beggars, bullfights and street urchins.
Manet faced the challenge of creating controversy by doing what he wanted in terms of his work. His brush strokes were bold; his works were often realistic at a time when critics preferred delicacy and romance. Academics in the art world were annoyed at his "Olympia" (1863; Musee D'Orsay) whose too-human expression and well-known model were not as otherworldly as classic nudes were expected to be. The fact that the model for the nude painting was clearly a celebrated Parisian socialite caused even greater consternation among the critics. Manet didn't trouble himself about the controversy, answering only, "I paint what I see". The French writer Emile Zola took up his cause and advocated for his work in the paper Figaro, beginning what would be a lifelong friendship between the two men.
Edouard Manet is called the father of impressionism, although he didn't accept the label for his work. It may have been an accident of time, since Manet was painting at a time when the newfound art of photography meant that painters would no longer be expected to paint realistically. The focus on the use of light, being able to play with and even distort perspective, and the lively brush strokes of Impressionist painting created a freedom in the art world that hadn't even been dreamt of before.
Aside from his actual art works, which were prolific, Manet's contribution to the art scene included his influence on his contemporaries. He mentored and inspired younger painters including Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley.
Manet died in Paris in 1883, leaving more than 400 oil paintings and many pastels and water colors. He enjoyed some fame before his death, and lived to see the way others valued and appreciated his work
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