DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51520#0034
it will be always difficult to decide whether
the egg preceded the chicken or the chicken
preceded the egg. But this at least is certain,
that the event of solid painting was bound
to lead to Impressionism, to the Nouvelle
Athenes.
The glass door of the cafe grates upon the
sand again. It is Degas, a round-shouldered
man in a suit of pepper and salt. There is
nothing very trenchantly French about him
either, except the large necktie. His eyes are
small, his words are sharp, ironical, cynical.
Manet and Degas are the leaders of the
impressionistic school, but their friendship has
been jarred by inevitable rivalry. “ Degas
was painting ‘Semiramis’ when I was paint-
ing ‘Modern Paris,’ ” says Manet. “Manet
is in despair because he cannot paint atrocious
pictures like Duran and be feted and decorated;
he is an artist not by inclination but by force,
he is a galley slave chained to the oar,” says
Degas. And their methods of work are quite
different. Manet paints his whole picture
from nature, trusting to his instinct to lead
him aright through the devious labyrinth of
selection. But his instinct never fails him,
there is a vision in his eyes which he calls
nature, and which he paints unconsciously as
he digests his food, thinking and declaring
vehemently that the artist should not seek a
synthesis, but should paint merely what he
sees. This extraordinary oneness of nature
and artistic vision does not exist in Degas, and
24
the egg preceded the chicken or the chicken
preceded the egg. But this at least is certain,
that the event of solid painting was bound
to lead to Impressionism, to the Nouvelle
Athenes.
The glass door of the cafe grates upon the
sand again. It is Degas, a round-shouldered
man in a suit of pepper and salt. There is
nothing very trenchantly French about him
either, except the large necktie. His eyes are
small, his words are sharp, ironical, cynical.
Manet and Degas are the leaders of the
impressionistic school, but their friendship has
been jarred by inevitable rivalry. “ Degas
was painting ‘Semiramis’ when I was paint-
ing ‘Modern Paris,’ ” says Manet. “Manet
is in despair because he cannot paint atrocious
pictures like Duran and be feted and decorated;
he is an artist not by inclination but by force,
he is a galley slave chained to the oar,” says
Degas. And their methods of work are quite
different. Manet paints his whole picture
from nature, trusting to his instinct to lead
him aright through the devious labyrinth of
selection. But his instinct never fails him,
there is a vision in his eyes which he calls
nature, and which he paints unconsciously as
he digests his food, thinking and declaring
vehemently that the artist should not seek a
synthesis, but should paint merely what he
sees. This extraordinary oneness of nature
and artistic vision does not exist in Degas, and
24