Manet's Olympia

In a previous post I briefly talked about having a developed a love for art from my art teachers (here). While I think that role modelling at school was a contributor to my lifelong love of art, there is a streak of creativity from within my Father's family: his family were largely crafts-people; my grandparents met as amateur photographers; my Father drew; my aunt an art teacher; my uncle a cartoonist; one cousin an artist; my brother still draws.

So when we travel, my husband knows that he will get multiple visits to art galleries, museums and other 'houses of art', though we have an agreement: we only go for a morning or an afternoon, and there are never two gallery visits on one day. Not only does that prevent him getting too bored, but it also means I don't top out with impressions and glaze over.

However, there are some works which leave me unable to move. On a visit to Musee D'Orsay I found myself trapped by Manet's Olympia. She was hung on a pillar in one of the side galleries on the main floor, without - surprisingly - much of an audience. I found myself spellbound. I had always loved this work on paper, but seeing it IRL was surprisingly powerful. 

The canvas is reasonably modest. 130cm by 190cm. The model is gorgeous. Her surroundings appear luxurious. Beautiful flowers are being delivered from - we assume - an admirer. A cat lurks on the end of the bed. Olympia's hand is beautifully foreshortened on her thigh, keeping control. She is tiny compared to the rest of the work, yet so dominant within it. Her gaze is riveting: compelling, resigned, powerful, intimate.

"Manet portrayed his other [than-his-wife] favorite model, Victorine Meurent, eight times, usually in disguise, most notably as the courtesan Olympia [... .] Meurent’s status was [... as] an official artist’s model [which meant] she automatically occupied a dubious position, for models at the time were often considered social outcasts, even labeled prostitutes, since so many, out of financial necessity, had to supplement their incomes by providing sexual services. Even though she was also an artist (she exhibited three times in the Salon), it appears that Meurent was forced to model to support herself" (Kessler, 2006, p. 45).

The name "Olympia" was a name commonly adopted by prostitutes. When first exhibited, this work "was deemed indecent, ugly, and repulsive" (Kessler, 2006, p. 69), despite being exhibited alongside other nudes: but they were classical nudes, not a 'real' prostitute, whose gaze holds the viewer's so directly.

"there was shock and an incredible scandal around the painting. 'Insults rain down on me like hailstones', Manet wrote to Baudelaire, 'I’ve never had such a reception.' The painter was accused of every conceivable sin. At the same time, the Paris Salon was full of nude Venuses depicting the classical ideal of beauty. Baudry’s The Pearl and the Wave (La Perle et la vague) and Cabanel’s The Birth of Venus (Vénus, Musée d’Orsay, Paris) had generated enthusiasm in 1863; only a few years earlier, viewers had admired the female figures in The Romans of the Decadence painted by Manet’s master, Thomas Couture. The reappearance of Victorine Meurent, who was recognised immediately, caused great emotion" (Manet, 2005, p. 62).

"Her complete nudity was emphasised by a thin, velvet ribbon around her neck and by a bracelet. She was lying on a white sheet and a pink silk shawl. The black servant confirmed what everyone suspected, namely that this was definitely a prostitute waiting for a client who had brought her a bouquet carefully made by a florist. Unlike Titian’s Vénus d’Urbino, which Manet greatly admired, but which only existed in the closed world of his canvas, Olympia looked out at the viewer unabashedly. Everything in this painting caused indignation, beginning with the title on the frame" (Manet, 2005, p. 64).

How positively olympian of Manet: he painted a model, gave her a prostitute's name, and scandalised the art world. And she is spellbinding.

Sam

References:

Kessler, M. R. (2006). Sheer Presence: The Veil in Manet’s Paris. University of Minnesota Press.

Manet, E. (2005). Manet. Sirrocco.

Wikioo. (2023). Edouard Manet - Olympia. https://img.wikioo.org/ADC/Art-ImgScreen-4.nsf/O/A-9H5RBK/$FILE/Edouard_manet-olympia_musee_d_orsay_paris.Jpg