Manet Olympia
by Weston Westmoreland
Title
Manet Olympia
Artist
Weston Westmoreland
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Olympia, Edouard Manet, 1863.
The natural antagonist of Venus de Cabanel, Olympia caused a scandal in the Salon of 1865 and despite its obvious beauty was branded as grotesque. Manet's Olympia, made just that year, showed a naked woman, like Cabanel, but devoid of a classic mythological framework and with a much more sensual, almost lascivious tone.
Manet reinterprets the classic theme of the female nude without costumes and makes a clear reference to the Venus of Titian, the nude maja of Goya and the odalisque of Ingres. The Olympia is the new contemporary muse and probably one of the first paintings of modern art. Venus has become a prostitute, challenging the viewer with her calculating look. This profanation of the idealized nude, the very foundation of academic tradition, provoked a violent reaction.
Manet is known as one of the fathers of impressionism, even though he never defined himself as one. Manet wanted to change the classical art for a more contemporary one from the inside, postulating the Salon de Bellas Artes in Paris, for which he never participated in any of the 8 exhibitions of the so-called impressionists.
This painting can be admired at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, France.
As for Paris... what can one say about the City of Light that has not already been said...?
More amazing paintings one copy-paste away at my gallery at https://weston-westmoreland.pixels.com/collections/paintings
More views of Paris one copy-paste away in my Gallery at http://westonwestmoreland.com/collections/paris
Weston Westmoreland.
Uploaded
November 3rd, 2020
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