"Manet / Degas," September 24, 2023–January 7, 2024, unnumbered cat. "Manet / Degas," March 27–July 23, 2023, unnumbered cat. "Rubens and His Legacy: From Van Dyck to Cézanne," September 25, 2014–January 4, 2015, no. "Manet: Ritorno a Venezia," April 24–September 1, 2013, no. "Manet: Portraying Life," January 26–April 14, 2013, no. "Manet: Portraying Life," October 4, 2012–January 1, 2013, no. "Inspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past," June 19–September 21, 2008, no. "Inspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past," February 23–May 25, 2008, no. "Inspiring Impressionism: The Impressionists and the Art of the Past," October 16, 2007–January 13, 2008, no. Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. "Copier créer, de Turner à Picasso: 200 œuvres inspirées par les maîtres du Louvre," April 26–July 26, 1993, no. "Golden Gate International Exposition," May 25–September 29, 1940, no. "XIXe Biennale internazionale d'arte," 1934, no. 15 (as "La pêche," possibly this picture). "Exposition d'œuvres de Manet au profit des 'Amis du Luxembourg'," April 14–May 4, 1928, no. 5 (as "Der Fischzug," lent by a private collector, Paris). Olympia is still appreciated as a fine work of art.Paris. He used wide brushstrokes instead of soft color tones used by his contemporaries for painting nudes. In its style Manet’s Olympia digresses from the theoretical standard. The black cat is symbolic of the woman’s profession which is prostitution. It seems obvious she feels her supremacy over everyone around. There is not a hint of awkwardness as she poses in the nude. The subject’s hand covers her private parts even though her breasts are exposed. She wears a blue strapped slipper on one foot as the other lies carelessly removed. A bracelet and pearl earrings are her other adornments. There is a black cord around her neck, which highlights her pale skin. This is of interest as the society back then was not as liberated as we find it today. There is no sense of discomfort to be standing next to a naked woman who is obviously posing for the painting in the nude. The look on the maids face is interestingly normal. A maid stands next to her with a big bouquet of flowers. The woman who is fully undressed is shown lying on an oriental stole on a couch. A number of details in the painting point that the model chosen by Manet was a courtesan. The artist has in fact created a stark contrast which is glaring and makes the nudity more apparent. He perhaps wanted to dramatize the effect because right next to the naked woman stands a fully dressed maid. The artist had not made any attempt to cover up the nakedness. Olympia is as everyone knows a nude painting. The entire depiction was bold, and a little too much to accept by the conservative society of the 19th century. It bears more of a challenging stare, that of a courtesan’s, which people could not want to relate to. The viewers were scandalized by the brazen look the artist gave the woman. It was not so much the nudity that appalled people. The audience of that time could not digest the unabashed exposé that Manet had painted. He had supporters too who appreciated his painting of the nude woman as a form of the artist’s representation of the real world. However, not everyone was against Manet’s work. The administration there had to take extra safety measures to keep the hardliners from destroying it. The work of art was first exhibited in Paris Salon. It was promptly labeled as being obscenely vulgar. It created a much bigger furor, since conformist and conservatives of the then society were aghast at the brazen nudity depicted in the painting. His new painting called Olympia was first displayed in 1865. His previous work The Luncheon on the Grass had created uproar. Manet’s works became synonymous with being controversial. It is currently displayed in Musée d’Orsay, Paris. The Olympia was painted in 1863 and was obtained by France in 1890. The dimensions of the paintings are 51 by 74.8 inches. The masterpiece is an oil painting done on canvas. Olympia is one of the most famous paintings of renowned painter Édouard Manet.
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