I often find myself wondering why we look to art of the past, why would one be interested in artwork painted some 150 years ago, even looking to the art of the renaissance painted 500 years ago. Is it the fact that it is 500 years old? Is it because it is rare? To me the answer lies in art being a means of documenting life during that period. It is a way of reporting history and giving us an in-site into what civilization was like at the time and the origins of modern life. Art is a newspaper of culture, a documentation of the sentiment of the time. The observation and contemplation of an artwork echos current affairs and issues of that period. One resonating issue of the past is the issue of a woman's place in the home, in society and at work, has dominated cultural dialogue for centuries.
Therefore, if art documents the history and ideals of the times during which it was painted it would be fair to say that Manet is a reporter of such history. The time during which Manet was living a crucial time in the development of modernity, the economics and industry we enjoy today founded during this period. The social issues resulting from these developments represented by Manet in paint. This therefore explains his popularity today and the relevance of his work to modern society.
We can take away from my last blog that Manet learned and borrowed from the Old Masters, the example used last time was Manet borrowing from Titian in his work the Pastoral Concert to produce his work Le Dejeuner sul l'Herbe.
Titian, The Pastoral Concert, 1509 Manet, Le Dejeuner sul l'Herbe, 1863
We see similarities in the 2 artworks 300 years apart. Titian's version on the left, Manet's version on the right. In Titian's version the two women are mythical and do not engage with the viewer but are merely present. The use of women in the artwork are idealistic representations of women. A women the embodiment of ideal beauty and poetry, complacent in the scene and certainly not empowered. Manet, however, reworked this renaissance artwork to reflect a modern woman of her time, naked, sexualised yet powerful with her defiant gaze a deliberate provocation against convention. The women here is not complacent, instead deliberate, active and engaging. We can see the shifting change in women's place in society, Manet giving his naked female power and agency.
This change in women's roles and power can again been seen in the comparison between 2 artworks again 300 years apart, in Titian's Venus of Urbino and Manet's Olympia.
Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538 Manet, Olympia, 1863
Titian's Venus of Urbino, is an artwork commissioned for a nobleman on the occasion of his wedding to be hung in the bedroom. Although the woman's gaze is engaging, looking directly to the viewer, it is a private moment between husband and wife, definitely not meant to be shared with the public. Manet again reworks this version, bringing attention to issues of the time, Olympia a modern working girl, suggested by her black choker and the bold lily in her hair, she is lying on an opulent Oriental rug, being attending by her maid. The artwork was painted for viewing in public and certainly not for a private exchange between husband and wife. The artwork echos of the working woman, the role of a women in relation to men in 19th century Paris, the woman is powerful and independent but at what cost? The role and identities of minorities also called into question. All these social and cultural issues prominent at the time wrapped up in one artwork, which found it's origin in the 1500's.
Artwork therefore is an important window into history which shares a dialogue of our past and explains the origins and evolution of modern society and its ideals. We can gaze into an artwork and centuries of history filter through.
Au revoir pour le moment!
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