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Olympia (painting)
Encyclopedia
Olympia is an oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet
. Painted in 1863, it measures 130.5 by 190 centimetres (51 x 74.8 in). The nation of France acquired the painting in 1890 with a public subscription organized by Claude Monet
. It is now in the Musée d'Orsay
, Paris
.
. Conservatives condemned the work as "immoral" and "vulgar." Journalist Antonin Proust
later recalled, "If the canvas of the Olympia was not destroyed, it is only because of the precautions that were taken by the administration." However, the work had proponents as well. Émile Zola
quickly proclaimed it Manet's "masterpiece" and added, "When other artists correct nature by painting Venus they lie. Manet asked himself why he should lie. Why not tell the truth?"
The painting was inspired by Titian
's Venus of Urbino
, which in turn refers to Giorgione
's Sleeping Venus. There is also some similarity to Francisco Goya
's La maja desnuda
(c. 1800).
There were also pictorial precedents for a nude woman, attended by a black servant, such as Ingres
' Odalisque with a Slave
(1842), Léon Benouville's Esther with Odalisque (1844) and Charles Jalabert
's Odalisque (1842).http://19thc-artworldwide.org/spring_04/articles/floy_print.html Comparison is also made to Ingres' La grande Odalisque (1814). Unlike other artists, Manet did not depict a goddess or an odalisque
but a high-class prostitute
waiting for a client.
The painting deviates from the academic canon in its style, characterized by broad, quick brushstrokes, studio lighting that eliminates mid-tones, large color surfaces and shallow depth. Instead of a smooth idealised nude, as in Alexandre Cabanel
's La naissance de Vénus
(also painted in 1863), Manet painted a real woman, whose nakedness is revealed in all its brutality by the harsh light.
The model, Victorine Meurent
, went on to become an accomplished painter in her own right.
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....
. Painted in 1863, it measures 130.5 by 190 centimetres (51 x 74.8 in). The nation of France acquired the painting in 1890 with a public subscription organized by Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
. It is now in the Musée d'Orsay
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Critical reaction
Though Manet's The Luncheon on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l'herbe) sparked controversy in 1863, his Olympia stirred an even bigger uproar when it was first exhibited at the 1865 Paris SalonParis Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
. Conservatives condemned the work as "immoral" and "vulgar." Journalist Antonin Proust
Antonin Proust
Antonin Proust was a French journalist and politician.Antonin Proust was born at Niort, Deux-Sèvres. In 1864 he founded an anti-imperial journal, La Semaine hebdomadaire which appeared in Brussels...
later recalled, "If the canvas of the Olympia was not destroyed, it is only because of the precautions that were taken by the administration." However, the work had proponents as well. Émile Zola
Émile 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...
quickly proclaimed it Manet's "masterpiece" and added, "When other artists correct nature by painting Venus they lie. Manet asked himself why he should lie. Why not tell the truth?"
Precedents
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
's Venus of Urbino
Venus of Urbino
The Venus of Urbino is a 1538 oil painting by the Italian master Titian. It depicts a nude young woman, identified with the goddess Venus, reclining on a couch or bed in the sumptuous surroundings of a Renaissance palace. It hangs in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence. The figure's pose is based...
, which in turn refers to Giorgione
Giorgione
Giorgione was a Venetian painter of the High Renaissance in Venice, whose career was cut off by his death at a little over thirty. Giorgione is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work, though only about six surviving paintings are acknowledged for certain to be his work...
's Sleeping Venus. There is also some similarity to Francisco Goya
Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era...
's La maja desnuda
La Maja Desnuda
La maja desnuda is an oil on canvas painting by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya , portraying a nude woman reclining on a bed of pillows. It was executed some time between 1797 and 1800, and is sometimes said to be the first clear depiction of female pubic hair in a large Western painting...
(c. 1800).
There were also pictorial precedents for a nude woman, attended by a black servant, such as Ingres
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was a French Neoclassical painter. Although he considered himself to be a painter of history in the tradition of Nicolas Poussin and Jacques-Louis David, by the end of his life it was Ingres's portraits, both painted and drawn, that were recognized as his greatest...
' Odalisque with a Slave
Odalisque with a Slave
Odalisque with a Slave is a 1839 orientalist painting by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres commissioned by Charles Marcotte. The painting is on display at the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts...
(1842), Léon Benouville's Esther with Odalisque (1844) and Charles Jalabert
Charles Jalabert
Charles François Jalabert was a French painter in the academic style. He rapidly gained renown as an artist among Parisian high society in the second half of the 19th century and attended the salon of Madame Sabatier. Some of his works are now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes....
's Odalisque (1842).http://19thc-artworldwide.org/spring_04/articles/floy_print.html Comparison is also made to Ingres' La grande Odalisque (1814). Unlike other artists, Manet did not depict a goddess or an odalisque
Odalisque
An odalisque was a female slave in an Ottoman seraglio. She was an assistant or apprentice to the concubines and wives, and she might rise in status to become one of them...
but a high-class prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
waiting for a client.
Content
What shocked contemporary audiences was not Olympia's nudity, nor even the presence of her fully clothed maid, but her confrontational gaze and a number of details identifying her as a demi-mondaine or courtesan. These include the orchid in her hair, her bracelet, pearl earrings and the oriental shawl on which she lies, symbols of wealth and sensuality. The black ribbon around her neck, in stark contrast with her pale flesh, and her cast-off slipper underline the voluptuous atmosphere. Whereas Titian's Venus delicately covers her vulva, Olympia's hand firmly protects hers, as if to emphasize her independence and sexual dominance over men. Manet replaced the little dog (symbol of fidelity) in Titian's painting with a black cat, which symbolized prostitution. Olympia disdainfully ignores the flowers presented to her by her servant, probably a gift from a client. Some have suggested that she is looking in the direction of the door, as her client barges in unannounced.The painting deviates from the academic canon in its style, characterized by broad, quick brushstrokes, studio lighting that eliminates mid-tones, large color surfaces and shallow depth. Instead of a smooth idealised nude, as in Alexandre Cabanel
Alexandre Cabanel
Alexandre Cabanel was a French painter.- Biography :Cabanel was born in Montpellier, Hérault. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter...
's La naissance de Vénus
The Birth of Venus (Cabanel)
The Birth of Venus is a painting by the French artist Alexandre Cabanel . It was painted in 1863, and is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris...
(also painted in 1863), Manet painted a real woman, whose nakedness is revealed in all its brutality by the harsh light.
The model, Victorine Meurent
Victorine Meurent
Victorine Louise Meurent was a French painter and a famous model for painters.Although she is now best known as the favourite model of Édouard Manet, she also was an artist in her own right, who exhibited repeatedly at the prestigious Paris Salon...
, went on to become an accomplished painter in her own right.
Homage
- "Odalisque I. Looking at Manet. Olympia," and "A Family (painting)A Family (painting)"A Family" is an oil on canvas by Louis le Brocquy. Depicting a stark human condition in the aftermarth of World War II, Síghle Bhreathnach-Lynch, Curator of Irish Art at the National Gallery of Ireland notes: 'The mother, lying on a table, leaning on one arm, stares out with quiet dignity while a...
," paintings by Louis le BrocquyLouis le BrocquyLouis le Brocquy is an Irish painter born in Dublin. His work has received many accolades in a career that spans seventy years of creative practice...
. - "Calypso," a 1977 painting by Paul RobertsPaul RobertsPaul Roberts is an English singer who was the lead singer of The Stranglers between 1990 and 2006.-The Stranglers:...
. - Spirit of the Dead WatchingSpirit of the Dead WatchingSpirit of the Dead Watching is an 1892 oil on burlap canvas painting by Paul Gauguin, depicting a nude Tahitian girl lying on her stomach. An old woman is seated behind her...
, an 1892 painting by Paul GauguinPaul GauguinEugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
.