The Naked Lunch

Le petit déjeuner sur l’herbe, Édouard Manet, 1863Somewhere in the world it’s lunchtime right now. If it is, may I suggest you honour Édouard Manet on his birthday and eat it al fresco in your birthday suit?

Édouard Manet, portrait by Nadar, 1874The French painter was born today in 1832 (d. 1883), and he was one of the first artists to begin to veer away from pure realism, paving the way for the Impressionists. His work marks the beginning of modern art, in particular his paintings Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863) and Olympia (1863). Both the naked lunch and Olympia caused great controversy in their day, mostly for their connotations of sexuality and prostitution.

These four pictures I have included have always been my favourite paintings of his, although I also like some of his boating subjects. I particularly remember my high school art teacher pointing out the noses of the ladies on The Balcony (1869), how in the brilliant sunshine they lost all form and are defined only by the shadows underneath – apparently this was another shocking thing for Manet’s contemporaries to come to terms with.

Olympia, 1863The Balcony, 1869It is A Bar at the Folies Bergere (1882) that is my favourite however. There is such richness of detail and colour. It always held my fascinated gaze for long moments, my eyes wandering over the barmaid’s resigned expression and all the paraphernalia on the marble bench. I’m not forgetting the reflection of the man before her, but it is easy to do so because the distance suggested by the reflection does not quite tally with our viewpoint. It seems as though we ought to be peering over his shoulder. Some conjectures suggest this is not a mirror image at all, although none of these explanations satisfy. Perhaps Manet was simply taking some artistic licence and indulging in some painterly smoke and mirrors. 

Manet’s last great painting, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, 1882