The World of Art Through Collidescope Eyes: Inspiration & Influences of Manet

Edouard Manet was an artist whose specific talent was in painting. He painted with such a style that resulted in works of art that looked more like photographs with the colors he used to create the perfect lighting in his scenes he would paint. Many artists inspired him during the impressionist movement, which he was a part of, but most apparent were Raphael, and Titan.
One of Manet’s most famous works was the painting titled, Le Dejeunersur sur l’herbe or Luncheon on the Grass in English. This is a painting of a scene of two fully clothed and well dressed men in the forest having a picnic with a nude woman with a fuller figure, whose clothes are pushed to the side along with a basket full of fruit and bread like a still life painting. The two men are fully engaged in conversation, not acknowledging the woman’s existence, meanwhile, another nude woman bathes in the stream. Which at the time was seen as wildly inappropriate, leaving the French public in shock. The lighting of the painting is photographic, showing and casting almost no shadows, giving the viewer the impression that the subjects are not outdoors but in a studio scene so to speak. Which is inconsistent and unnatural, and is shown in the way that the woman bathing looks the same size as the two men and woman in the foreground. Especially with virtually no shadows being casted she looks like she is floating over them.
For this piece in particular Manet was inspired by Raphael, who was known for his painting and architecture in the High Renaissance. The bottom right portion of Raphael’s, The Judgment of Paris where the two men are sitting on the grass with a nude woman, however, in this piece both of the men are nude as well. The scene is the same with the two men engaged in one another, whether they are in conversation or not and the woman is fully engaged with the viewer as one would be engaged in a camera lens. Which shows how the set up of both of these artworks is set up like a candid photograph.
Another famous painting of Manet’s, called Olympia was inspired by Titan’s, Venus of Urbino. I can completely see how Manet was inspired by Venus because Titan’s painting is constructed with the same “studio” lighting that Manet loves to show in his paintings with virtually no shadows, just beauty. Manet’s, Olympia is even brighter of a painting with much less dimension to it. The two pieces are very similar in regards to their color palette of greens, reds, ivories, and golden browns and the poses and engaging stares of the two women.