Rose and tulip Edouard Manet Date: 1882; France * Style: Realism Genre: still life Media: oil, canvas Dimensions: 36 x 56 cm Location: Private Collection
Given the importance of still life in Manet's work, many recognised as early as the 1890's, the revolution he had been accomplishing - the birth of a painting solely preoccupied with itself and freed from the tyranny of the subject. By rejecting all hierarchy within the painting itself, highlighting the accessory as much as the figure, Manet assuredly broke away from academic rules. Devoted to a few figural masterpieces (Portrait of Zacharie Astruc, Young Man Peeling a Pear, Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Portrait of Théodore Duret, Portrait of Eva Gonzalès, London, National Gallery), a section of the exhibition will focus on the subtle connections Manet established between the sitters and the referential objects that surround him.
Many of Manet's still life paintings of the 1860's are complex, large-scale compositions. After 1870, his intent for the most part changed. He now isolated fruits, vegetables, or flowers, which he set on a neutral support, against a neutral background, disdaining other objects including the usual crockery. It was not that he neglected the still life, but it had taken another turn. It had acquired greater softness along with transparency and fragility.
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