One of the most famous and influential artists of this Realistic era was Édouard Manet. As great as his work was, he had a remarkably short career as an artist, only working for twenty-three years. His story begins in Paris, France. He was born there to Auguste Manet, a Parisian judge, and his wife Eugénie-Désirée Fournier. When he got to the age of selecting a career path, good ol‘ dad was not too keen on his son becoming an artist. Young Manet looked to join the Navy after dad put the kibosh on the art plan, but he the entrance exam. Somehow he got a job working on a transport ship that set out for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After about seven months at sea, dad would agree to let him study art. Training began under academic and copyist for the Louvre, Thomas Couture. The six years working under Couture was quite a negative one for Manet. Wanting some adventure, he begins to travel Europe, speaking with the established artists (like Eugene Delacroix and Charles Baudelaire) and setting the ground work to establish himself and an art studio. Monet was also influenced by the paintings he encountered across the continent, especially in Spain. He truely loved the work of Diego Velázquez, saying, "He's the greatest artist of all." By this point Velázquez was considered a painting legend, but there were other regional greats that we now respect, that were far less known in Monet's day. On his travels he noted "there were only two painters, apart from the Master [Velázquez], who attracted me: El Greco...and Francisco de Goya..." As time passes he gained friendships with other artists as well. One that began as a concern of identity theft but developed into a life long friendship was with the Impressionist, Claude Monet. He respected monet as a person and as an artist, saying, "He's the Raphael of water..."

Monet had an idea for a painting that would follow his showing at the Salon the year before. This work would require three primary figures. He lined up his favorite model, Victorine Meurent, to be the major character. Other models for the work were his younger brother, Gustave Manet, and his fiancée’s brother, Rodolphe Leenhoff. What did he want to communicate: he simply wanted to make a painting about the Parisian’s favorite pastimes. When he submitted the work to the 1863 Salon, he called the work The Bath, which was later renamed Luncheon on the Grass (Déjeuner sur l'herbe). The work, one of the most recognized works in all of art history, was rejected. People down right hated it. Why? Well, people saw it as vulgar and indecent. The general rule for showing nudes was that the subject must be classical; rooting from Greek or Roman mythology, or showing an allegory that would teach a life lesson. Even though Manet was referencing a Renaissance-like theme (following in the grove of Giorgione Barbarelli da Castelfranco and Raphael Sanzio) this was not a painting about a goddess or myth. Manet is painting a modern girl in a modern setting. We see the girl gazing over at us (the viewer of the painting) defiantly in her blunt nudity. A nude with completely dressed modern men. Outrageous! This was the first time a prominent artist publicly displayed any female figure in this way. Technically, critics tore it apart for its lack of shadows from the trees above. This removal of the shadows was likely borrowed from the popular images that came from Japan at this time. Also, because Manet could not replicate light filtered through trees in his studio, he simply painted it with a spotlight on the central female. We look past the nude and the lighting and get to our final question: What is this work about? Again, the Parisian’s favorite pastimes: picnicking and prostitution. That’s they way people rolled in Paris in the 1860’s. Well, as it turned out a lot of art was rejected in 1863. A group of artists asked Napoleon III for permission to host a second show that year because of the small number in the official show. He granted permission for the show that was called the "Salon des Refusés." This show of refused art gave Manet a showcase to display this work to the public. Ironically, the public hated it as much as the Salon judges. On the positive side, the artists absolutely loved it. Manet made a lot of connections through that experience and those artists that were drawn to him and his Luncheon on the Grass would become the core of the Impressionist movement.

After his exhibition at the Salon des Refusés in 1863, Manet married Suzanne Leenhoff on October 28 in Holland. It was somewhat odd that the handsome bachelor would commit to an older woman with an illegitimate son. The pair met when she was giving him piano lessons. They had lived together for some three years before deciding to get married. Manet was very close to his parents and had a tough time moving away from mom, so in 1866 the little family of three move in with his mom after his dad had died. From a financial point of view, keeping in mind that his family was very wealthy, living at home was a great set up for Manet. It would be interesting if we could get Suzanne’s thoughts though. Its like the 1860’s version of Everybody Loves Raymond. Anyway, Monet left the house for his various activities in town, visit studios, and hangout in the cafés.

About the time he had painted Fife Player, that Manet became friendly with some young artists that were a little outrageous for the times. These new friends that included Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissaro, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Berthe Morisot. They liked to hang out in the Café Guerbois, where they spoke about art that focused on truly seeing the colors of the world. Manet had a slightly different approach because he focused on painting people rather than purely nature. As the group became more tight knit, Manet became greatly respected. His friends saw him as a elegant and charming man. With his cutting wit, he was not above speaking out against someone who agitated him. He was also a man that battled depression and nervousness.

The Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870. Manet, being an extremely patriotic person, with the rank of staff lieutenant he served in the National Guard as a gunner and later fought in the cavalry. "My paintbox and portable easel are stuffed into my military kitbag, so there's no excuse for wasting my time and I'm going to take advantage of the facilities available." His studio had been practically destroyed in the war, but he thought ahead enough to safely store his works. The stored art was later found undamaged. These works were almost all bought by art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel.

By 1882 Manet’s health begins to drastically decline. His last truly great work was A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (Le Bar aux Folies-Bergère). For the ninth and last time, his art was accepted into the official Salon. We have looked at some of his best works, but what is the process? What advice has Manet given us on (still life) painting? "Get it down quickly. Don't worry about the background. Just go for the tonal values...When you look at the whole thing, you don't try to count the scales on the salmon. Of course not. You see them as little silver pearls against gray and pink- isn't that right?- look at the pink of the salmon, with the bone appearing white in the center and then grays like shades of mother of pearl...The folds will come by themselves if you put them in their proper place. Ah! Mr. Ingres, there's the man! We're all just children. There's the one who knew how to paint materials!...Above all keep your colors fresh!.." The following year his left leg is amputated because it was infected with gangrene. Eleven days later, he passed away from untreated syphilis.