Nana (painting)
Encyclopedia
Nana is a painting by French
painter
Édouard Manet
. It was completed in 1877, and was refused at the Salon of Paris the same year. The work is now at the Kunsthalle Hamburg
art museum, in Germany.
s, her face turned to the spectator. Her dress is incomplete; she wears a short sleeveless bodice, silk stockings and high heeled shoes. The interior suggests that it is a boudoir
. Behind the woman is a sofa with two pillows. An elegantly dressed man, sitting on the sofa, can be partly seen on the right of the painting. On the left side, there is a chair, a table and a flowerpot
.
). The symbolism used by the painter is ambiguous. The phallic
shape of the stick in the man's hands and the presentation of an ibis
on the tapestry
, considered as an unclean bird in the Bible, are controversial elements. Extinguished candles may suggest a lack of affection and love.
, who in 1880 published a novel of the same name
as ninth volume of Les Rougon-Macquart
series. However, there is no clear evidence of mutual inspiration in the choice of the theme and the title, as the book was published three years later. Perhaps Manet found inspiration in L'Assommoir
, Zola's previous book, in which the character of Nana appears for the first time.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
. It was completed in 1877, and was refused at the Salon of Paris the same year. The work is now at the Kunsthalle Hamburg
Kunsthalle Hamburg
The Hamburger Kunsthalle is an art museum in Hamburg, Germany. The art museum focuses on painting in Hamburg in the 14th century, paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, French and German paintings of the 19th century, modern, and contemporary art...
art museum, in Germany.
Description
The painting shows a young and beautiful woman who stands before a mirror with two extinguished candleCandle
A candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...
s, her face turned to the spectator. Her dress is incomplete; she wears a short sleeveless bodice, silk stockings and high heeled shoes. The interior suggests that it is a boudoir
Boudoir
A boudoir is a lady's private bedroom, sitting room or dressing room. The term derives from the French verb bouder, meaning "to be sulky" or boudeur, meaning "sulky".- In architecture :...
. Behind the woman is a sofa with two pillows. An elegantly dressed man, sitting on the sofa, can be partly seen on the right of the painting. On the left side, there is a chair, a table and a flowerpot
Flowerpot
A flower pot or plant pot is a container in which flowers and other plants are cultivated. Historically, and still to a significant extent today, they are made from terracotta. Flower pots are now often made from plastic, wood, stone, or sometimes biodegradable material. An example of...
.
Interpretations
Both the title and the numerous details suggest that the picture represents a high class prostitute and her client. Nana was a popular name in the second half of the 19th century for a woman who was a harlot, and the French word "nana" is still used to describe a frivolous woman (or simply "a female" in argotArgot
An Argot is a secret language used by various groups—including, but not limited to, thieves and other criminals—to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, hobby, job,...
). The symbolism used by the painter is ambiguous. The phallic
Phallus
A phallus is an erect penis, a penis-shaped object such as a dildo, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. Any object that symbolically resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic...
shape of the stick in the man's hands and the presentation of an ibis
Ibis
The ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae....
on the tapestry
Tapestry
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
, considered as an unclean bird in the Bible, are controversial elements. Extinguished candles may suggest a lack of affection and love.
Reception
Manet wanted to present the painting at the Salon of Paris, but it was rejected because it was deemed to be contemptuous of the morality of the time. French society was not prepared for such frank depictions of prostitution, and the critics did not see the artistic qualities of the work and concentrated solely on the scene which was represented. One of the defenders of Manet was Émile ZolaÉmile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
, who in 1880 published a novel of the same name
Nana (novel)
Nana is a novel by the French naturalist author Émile Zola. Completed in 1880, Nana is the ninth installment in the 20-volume Les Rougon-Macquart series, the object of which was to tell "The Natural and Social History of a Family under the Second Empire", the subtitle of the series.-Origins:A year...
as ninth volume of Les Rougon-Macquart
Les Rougon-Macquart
Les Rougon-Macquart is the collective title given to a cycle of twenty novels by French writer Émile Zola. Subtitled Histoire naturelle et sociale d'une famille sous le Second Empire , it follows the life of a fictional family living during the Second French Empire and is an example of French...
series. However, there is no clear evidence of mutual inspiration in the choice of the theme and the title, as the book was published three years later. Perhaps Manet found inspiration in L'Assommoir
L'Assommoir
L'Assommoir is the seventh novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series Les Rougon-Macquart. Usually considered one of Zola's masterpieces, the novel—a harsh and uncompromising study of alcoholism and poverty in the working-class districts of Paris—was a huge commercial success and established...
, Zola's previous book, in which the character of Nana appears for the first time.