1/ A would-be sailor
Édouard Manet set his sights early on a naval career, despite his evident talent for drawing. After leaving school in 1848, he joined the Navy. He failed the entrance exam to the Borda Naval School on his first attempt and instead embarked as a trainee sailor aboard a training vessel bound for Rio de Janeiro. Only after failing the exam a second time did he abandon the idea of a maritime career and fully commit himself to painting.
2/ A natural copyist
Manet’s earliest works were copies of the great masters. The young painter toured European museums in search of inspiration while reproducing famous canvases. In the Netherlands, he discovered the works of Frans Hals and became fascinated by the paintings of Velázquez and Goya. He worked most extensively in Paris, copying works by Titian, Tintoretto, Daumier, Courbet, and Delacroix. The latter even encouraged Manet to reproduce Dante and Virgil in Hell, which became his first official work.
3/ Spanish painting
Manet was particularly drawn to the work of Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya, and he became deeply interested in their approach to painting. The vibrant colors of the great Spanish masters, along with so-called “Hispanic” themes, can be found in Manet’s early works such as The Spanish Singer, Lola de Valence, and Young Man in a Majo Costume. Manet also went through a “tauromachic” period, with The Dead Man being one of its most striking works.
4/ Between praise and criticism
Although Manet’s paintings were initially rejected by the official Salon and he exhibited Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe at the Salon des Refusés, his work nevertheless attracted the attention of the Impressionists of the time. Monet, Cézanne, Renoir, and Pissarro praised him, while critics judged his work to be far from academic standards. Manet, who had bourgeois aspirations, regretted throughout his life that he never achieved broader public success beyond the admiration of his fellow artists.
5/ Zola at Manet’s
One of Édouard Manet’s most ardent admirers was Émile Zola. The novelist, already well known to the public for Thérèse Raquin, defended the painter’s work on several occasions and praised his innovative style. As a gesture of gratitude and homage, Manet painted Portrait of Émile Zola in 1868, depicting the young literary critic seated at his desk, surrounded by various references to Manet himself: a brochure bearing his name, a reproduction of Olympia, and Japanese objects.
6/ Realism and Impressionism
Manet’s work, in turn, inspired his contemporaries, particularly the Impressionists, who regarded him as a founding figure. However, Manet refused to participate in the first Impressionist exhibition organized by his close friend Claude Monet. He wished to preserve his own distinct style, though he was influenced by the Impressionists’ use of color. This places him at the intersection of movements, often described as the last Realist and the first Impressionist.
7/ A painter of the open air
Manet’s Impressionist friends encouraged him to paint outdoors in order to capture the full intensity of natural light in his works, aiming to depict nature as it appeared at a specific moment before the artist’s eyes. Outdoor painting became more widespread in the 1840s with the invention of paint tubes, and Manet produced several such works throughout his career, including Young Girl in the Garden of Bellevue in 1880.
8/ The bunch of asparagus
Manet is less well known for his still lifes, although they constitute a significant portion of his work, especially toward the end of his life when illness confined him to his studio. Among these is A Bunch of Asparagus (1880), which was purchased for more than its asking price by Charles Ephrussi. In response, Manet sent him a second painting depicting a single asparagus spear with the note: “One was missing from your bunch.”
9/ Final paintings
Manet’s last two official paintings encapsulate two major aspects of his work. A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1881–1882) reflects his fascination with Parisian social life and the importance of cafés in the artistic life of the capital. Country House at Rueil (1882), painted in the shade of an acacia tree shortly before his death, clearly echoes the Impressionist influence that accompanied him throughout his life.
10/ An early death
Manet contracted syphilis in his youth during his trip to Rio. Following complications, he developed locomotor ataxia and had a leg amputated in 1883. The illness forced him to adapt his painting style and influenced his choice of subjects: working seated, he painted still lifes and pastel portraits. Partially paralyzed and now an amputee, he died of gangrene in April 1883 at the age of 51.
