EDUARD MANET'S PAINTING “OLYMPIA” AS A REINTERPRETATION OF TITIAN'S “VENUS OF URBINO”
EDUARD MANET'S PAINTING “OLYMPIA” AS A REINTERPRETATION OF TITIAN'S “VENUS OF URBINO”
Sofiia Barysheva
Student, Faculty of Journalism, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,
Russia, Moscow
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the article is to analyse “Olympia” painted by French artist Eduard Manet (1832) and to determine how the painter had reinterpreted Titian’s “Venus of Urbino” and modernised well-known, classical plot.
The analysis of historical process will permit to indicate contributions to the development of art forms and the social impacts. The result of the study will allow us to identify how the history is able to influence on the creative process of the artist.
Keywords: artist Eduard Manet, XIX century, social impacts, Olympia.
The French painter Edouard Manet was born in 1832 in Paris. His father was head of a department at the Ministry of Justice and wanted his son Edouard to become a lawyer in the future. So, the boy was sent to the boarding school of the Canon Poiloup’s school in Vaugirard, and later due to poor academic results he was transferred to the Collège Rollin. However, despite the high status of educational institutions, Manet was unenthusiastic about almost all subjects except art. The father of the future painter was categorically against the artistic education of his son. However, his uncle Edmond-Edouard Fournier, who encouraged the boy to love art, suggested that Manet attend special lectures on painting. Manet strongly criticized the old-fashioned approach of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Nevertheless, from 1850 to 1856 the artist took a full six-year course of art in the studio of Tom Couture, who was a member of the jury of the Salon de Paris. Unfortunately, the ideological confrontation between Manet and Couture turned out to be serious. For example, the conservative member of the jury refused to allow Manet's painting "The Absinthe Drinker" to enter the exhibition, which subsequently caused a conflict between teacher and student.
Before analysing the painting, it would be necessary to mention the artist’s style, which has repeatedly provoked unpleasant reactions from the public. While at the beginning of his apprenticeship with the artist Tom Couture, Manet diligently copied works of the Old Masters, he later became bored with academism and decided to develop his own style.
In 1862, Manet painted “Music in the Tuileries Gardens”, an example of the early style of the artist, influenced by Frans Hals and Diego Velázquez. It was one of the first paintings with Impressionist characteristics. Significantly, the painting also anticipated one of the main themes of Manet's creation - leisure pursuits. It is worth noting that the depiction of crowds of people was also popular among: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and Jean-Frederic Bazille.
By depicting Parisian society in the Tuileries gardens, Manet acts as a reformer of the 19th-century genre of everyday painting. He poetises everyday reality, the objects of everyday life that surround a person on a daily basis. It is important to highlight that the artist is opposed to theatrical composition, so he depicts people very close to each other. Somewhere their silhouettes merge, the outlines of their faces are not clearly visible. The artist tries to show the real perception of what is happening. As we know, when we look at something, the objects nearby disappear from focus and get blurred.
A radical break of the academic tradition led to strong criticism of the artist's works. Many said that Manet's paintings looked like unfinished sketches, they lacked clarity and pictorial volume.
The tendency to depict everyday reality continues in one of Manet's most famous works, “Olympia” (1863). Painted in oil, the size of the art-work is 130 × 190. Because of the criticism to which it was subjected at the Salon de Paris of 1865, Manet kept it in his atelier for a long time.
The first encounter between the public and Manet’s work of art caused the perplexity of the majority of its audience. Critics believed that by quoting Titian's Venus of Urbino, the artist had tainted the example of classical art. But there were, in fact, some viewers whose receptions of such controversial art-work was different. One of those people -Emilé Zola [3], who was one of Manet’s close friends. He chose different approach towards “Olympia” and was one of the rare art critics who prefered to stay focused especially on the formal elements of Manet’s painting, while other people considered art-work as awful, because of the prostitute and African-American maid depicted [4].
After his death, however, friends bought the painting back from the artist's wife and gave it to France. Today the “scandalously” famous “Olympia” is located in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The painting was originally conceived by the artist as a reinterpretation of Titian's “Venus of Urbino”. The idea of Olympia's resemblance to Titian's Venus was first suggested by the French art historian Léonce Benedite in the end of the 19th century. This proves to us the easily noticeable similarity in the construction of the composition.
In the foreground of Titian's painting, we see a naked woman lying on a bed, identified with the Roman goddess of beauty, Venus. At her feet a small dog sleeps peacefully, and in the background, we see two maids looking through the chests of their mistress for clothes. Manet also depicts Olympia naked and lying on a bed. She, like Titian's Venus, becomes the compositional centre of the painting. Her gaze, like the gaze of Venus, is focused directly on the viewer. In the painting, along with Olympia, we see an African-American maid with an enormous bouquet of flowers in her hands and a black, bristling cat.
However, it is worth noting that the cause of the painting's scandalous reputation was not the inspiration for the Italian master's work, but rather the meaning Manet gave to the woman he depicted. The principal difference between the two main characters in the paintings is that Titian had associated the woman with the Roman goddess of beauty. Manet completely rejected the mythologization of the heroine, unlike his contemporaries, who willingly portrayed concubines, naked priestesses not only in oriental, but also in modern surroundings. Manet depicts the nudity of an ordinary courtesan on his canvas in a realistic manner.
The name Olympia gives an indication of her profession. It is not difficult to see that it is quite exotic and unusual. For a long time, such names have been popular in Paris among the expensive courtesans. Moreover, it brings to mind the novel "The Lady of the Camellias" by Alexandre Dumas. Not only the flower in the girl's hair, but also the name of one of the novel's heroines, the Parisian courtesan Olympia, refers to it. The fact that the girl is not a street prostitute is evidenced by many details. The interior of the room and the presence of the maid indicates a high degree of well-being and does not refer us to street culture at all. Moreover, the girl lies on a silk shawl, which is might be considered as a luxury item. On her arm, a gold bracelet with a small pendant can be seen, probably a gift from a client who is an amateur. Olympia is not wearing any clothes at all. We see her wearing only a jewellery, a flower in her hair and elegant mules with a feather trim. Olympia's affluence is also evidenced by the large luxurious bouquet that the maid so carefully brings into the room. It is also a kind of sign of attention from a well-to-do member of the opposite sex.
Olympia's appraising glance is directed straight at the viewer. Her large eyes gaze at the client who enters the room, which every person approaching the painting involuntarily becomes. Olympia's body is relaxed, she feels no shame in appearing in the nude. However, attention is drawn to the tense hand that literally blocks access to the girl's body, for in order to touch her, one must pay.
This is how the heroine of Manet's painting makes it clear that prostitution is also a sort of business. Olympia is quite different from the traditional portrayal of perky and submissive courtesans. She is cold, even insensitive, because for her it is a way of making money. Olympia is independent, she evaluates the client herself and decides whether or not she will get involved with him intimately.
It can be concluded that the interpretation of the artist was influenced by the historical process. In the nineteenth century, the French Empire was introducing modern ideas. Presented ideas were reflected in French society and infrastructure. With the course towards industrialisation the necessity of constructing facilities increased [2]. Job opportunities were significantly higher in industrialised cities. Places like Paris especially attracted people from rural areas to better-developed regions. Due to working opportunities and better financial conditions, the employers and employees began to use their monetary power in different spheres. Among the commodities provided there was also prostitution. It was commonly consumed by male individuals, who used courtesans as a way to have men desires fulfilled.
One more aspect, which caused a controversial opinion of the public was depicting of African-American maid. That is necessary to highlight that France in the middle and late nineteenth century tried to readapt its society after the July Revolution of 1830, which eighteen years later established that slavery was forbidden among territories of the country and colonies. However, the law did not guarantee that former slaves would be treated in a better manner than when they were subordinate to their owners. Conditions in the colonies were terrible. Slaves often fell ill and nobody helped them. One of the most common diseases was yellow fever.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the interpretation of the Titian’s painting created by Manet reflects the realities of a particular historical era, namely, Paris in the second half of the XIXth century. The artist refuses to mythologize and idealize the heroine. However, he emphasizes that despite the blurring of traditional moral norms, a woman has not lost her right to choose. Olympia perceives prostitution as an income, but she herself chooses a man. Over time, the image of the seductive, cold and independent courtesan girl shaped the artistic tradition, which was continued by Cézanne, Gauguin and Degas.
References:
- Black Models: From Géricault to Matisse. Edited by Marie Pelliaton (Paris: Deux-Ponts, March 2019) Exhibition catalogue.
- Bernard E. Brown "The French Experience of Modernisation." World Politics (1969) Vol.21, No. 3, 366-91. doi:10.2307/2009638
- Henri, Mitterand, Zola: Tome I. Sous le regard d’Olympia 1840-1871 (Paris: Libraire Arthème Fayards, 1999).
- Lawrence C. Jennings, French Anti-Slavery: The movement for the Abolition of Slavery in France 1802-1848 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
- Grigsby, Darcy Grimaldo. “Still Thinking about Olympia’s Maid”, The Art Bulletin (2015) Volume 97:4,430-451