[Can you find Manet in his painting of a concert in the Tuileries Gardens?]
Born today: Edouard Manet.
His paintings reflect how they lived in his day
The Folies-Bergere in a mirror is viewed
Or in anticipation a prostitute nude.
“This was the painting with which Manet shocked the art establishment of Second Empire Paris. They were accustomed to the female nude, but always in a setting that made it innocuous; it was a goddess, or a symbol, or an allegory—never in the brutally honest form with which most adult males were secretly accustomed. Manet confronts, head-on, the hypocrisy of his times, which refused to admit to the presence and the fascination of the prostitute. Olympia herself, clearly feels no need for disguise. She rears herself up on her pillows, those glorious white-gray pillows that Manet explored with sensuous delight, and looks straight and challengingly at the customer who is entering. He may have thought to have sweetened his approach with the glorious bouquet that the maid holds up for her attention, but Olympia ignores it. Like the round-eyed kitten with erect tail, Olympia is ready to challenge the client who comes in ostensibly as her superior. Her small and witty feet, the magnolia in her hair, the air of a grand lady at leisure, all combine to make this one of the most delightful of paintings.” [Sister Wendy Beckett: “Sister Wendy’s 1000 Masterpieces”]
Where in the world is Manet? In the foreground, he’s second from the left.
Filed under: art, Dancing, Food and Drink, life in general
Tags: 1832-1883, Baudelaire, Music in the Tuileries, Olympia, Un Bar aux Folies-Bergere
On the last, I figured as much, but given impressionism, any guy with a beard would do.