Identity – her very real identity (that of Victorine Meurent)īlack Cat – sinister in nature (replaces the sleeping, loyal dog in Titian’s Venus of Urbino) ![]() It was scandalous for a woman in general, let alone a courtesan, to be so brazen as to stare directly at anyone. This in itself was a cause for outrage because this woman dares to stare out, meeting the eye. Olympia’s Gaze of Defiance – she confronts us, who as spectators, we must assume the role of the potential client. A real woman, flaws and all, with an independent spirit, stares out from the canvas, confronting the viewer, something French society in 1865 was perhaps not ready to face. While middle and upper class gentlemen of the time may frequent courtesans and prostitutes, they do not want to be confronted with one in a painting in a gallery. His model, Victorine Meurent, is depicted as a courtesan, a woman whose body is a commodity. In painting reality as he sees it, Manet challenges the accepted function of art in France, which is to glorify history and the French state, and creates what some consider the first modern painting. The foreground is the glowing white of Olympia on the bed the background is darkness. Manet offers a picture frame flattened into two planes. Instead of the carefully constructed perspective that leads the eye deep into the space of the painting. ![]() He also pains her in his own manner – in place of smooth shading of the great masters, his forms are painted quickly, in rough brush strokes clearly visible on the surface of the canvas. But instead of following the accepted practice of French art, which dictates that paintings of the figure are to be modelled on historical, mythical or biblical themes, Manet chooses to paint a woman of his time - not a feminine ideal, but a real woman, and a courtesan at that. Taking from Titian’s Venus of Urbino as his model (Below), Manet creates a work he thinks will grant him a place in the pantheon of great artists. With Olympia, Manet rebels against the art establishment of the time.
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