Edouard Manet Impressionism Analysis

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Edouard Manet was one of the most influential artists of the nineteenth century. Considered the Father of Impressionism, Manet bridged the gap between the Realism and Impressionism movements. He is remembered for defying the artistic traditions of his time by portraying current day subject matter in his paintings. He held the belief that art should reflect life as it is, and it should not be fictionally portrayed by idealized concepts of the past. Although his individualism and creative originality set a new horizon for the Impressionists, his work was not always viewed as revolutionary. Manet experienced a career long battle with the Paris Salon, the official Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, who favored conventionality and allegiance to artistic tradition. He did not want to succumb to the rules of the artistic traditions of his time, and he was insistent on sticking to his personal creative individuality and …show more content…

They thought that “He seems to have planned to invoke a Renaissance painting and then modernize it almost to the point of parody. This piece is composed of two well-dressed men and a naked woman having a picnic in the park. In addition to the three figures in the foreground, there is another woman who is bent over in the background. Although this figure was meant to be in the background and therefore farther away from the viewer, she is quite large in scale and there is no sense of distance. The composition of Le Dejeuner Sur l’Herbe stems from an early sixteenth century engraving called The Judgment of Paris by Marcantonio Raimondi, which was created after the lost drawing of Rafael. The two river gods and the nymph in the right corner are reclining the in same manner that Manet positions the three figures in the foreground in Le Dejeuner sur

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