Édouard Manet

by Joan M. Rehlin
Highlighting Manet in one of our mini art history posts... 
Édouard Manet (1/23/1832–4/30/1883) was a French painter who was born, lived most of his life, and died in Paris. Rejecting the future originally envisioned for him by his father, who expected Édouard to pursue a career in law, Manet was encouraged by his uncle, Edmond Fournier, to pursue painting. Becoming engrossed in the world of painting, Manet opened a studio in 1856, and his early masterworks, Le déjeuner sur l'herbe and Olympia (both, 1863) are considered paintings that mark the start of modern art. Eventually, he developed his own style that would be acclaimed as innovative and would serve as a major influence for future painters. 

​As one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern-life subjects, Manet was pivotal in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. He elaborated, “there are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another.” He often sat at Père Lathuille's restaurant on the Avenue de Clichy, which had a garden in addition to the dining area, where he would observe 19th-century Parisian social life. Many of his paintings of café scenes were based on sketches executed on the spot, including Chez le père Lathuille, shown here, which is currently located in the Musée des Beaux-Arts Tournai. 

Chez le père Lathuille, oil on canvas, 1879, Édouard Manet