DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51520#0023
there was a feeling of relief among us all
when the painters came in. We raised our-
selves up to welcome them—Manet, Degas,
Renoir, Pissaro, Monet, and Sisley ; they were
our masters. A partition rising a few feet or
more over the hats of the men sitting at the
usual marble tables separated the glass front
from the main body of the cafe ; two tables in
the right hand corner were reserved for Manet
and Degas and for their circle of admirers.
It is pleasant to remember my longing to
be received into that circle, and my longing
to speak to Manet, whom I had begun to
recognise as the great new force in paint-
ing. Evening after evening went by and I did
not dare to speak to him, nor did he speak
to me, until one evening—thrice happy
evening ! as I sat thinking of him, pretending
to be busy correcting proofs, he asked me if
the conversation of the cafe did not distract
my attention, and I answered : “ Not at all, I
was thinking of your painting.” It seems to
me that we became friends at once ; he in-
vited me to his studio in the Rue Amsterdam,
where his greatest works were painted—all the
works that are Manet and nothing but Manet,
the real Manet, the Parisian Manet. But
before speaking of his painting some descrip-
tion of his personality is essential to an
understanding of Manet. It is often said
that the personality of the artist concerns us
not, and in the case of bad art it is certainly
true, for bad art reveals no personality, bad
13
when the painters came in. We raised our-
selves up to welcome them—Manet, Degas,
Renoir, Pissaro, Monet, and Sisley ; they were
our masters. A partition rising a few feet or
more over the hats of the men sitting at the
usual marble tables separated the glass front
from the main body of the cafe ; two tables in
the right hand corner were reserved for Manet
and Degas and for their circle of admirers.
It is pleasant to remember my longing to
be received into that circle, and my longing
to speak to Manet, whom I had begun to
recognise as the great new force in paint-
ing. Evening after evening went by and I did
not dare to speak to him, nor did he speak
to me, until one evening—thrice happy
evening ! as I sat thinking of him, pretending
to be busy correcting proofs, he asked me if
the conversation of the cafe did not distract
my attention, and I answered : “ Not at all, I
was thinking of your painting.” It seems to
me that we became friends at once ; he in-
vited me to his studio in the Rue Amsterdam,
where his greatest works were painted—all the
works that are Manet and nothing but Manet,
the real Manet, the Parisian Manet. But
before speaking of his painting some descrip-
tion of his personality is essential to an
understanding of Manet. It is often said
that the personality of the artist concerns us
not, and in the case of bad art it is certainly
true, for bad art reveals no personality, bad
13