DOI Heft:
No. 94 (January, 1901)
DOI Artikel:Proust, Antonin: The art of Edouard Manet
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19786#0258
Edouard Manet
He travelled in Holland, in Italy, and in Spain, engaged in a series of studies—UEtudiant de
and when he discovered the simplicity of drawing Salamanque, Mo'ise satiTe des Eaux, La Toilette,
and the transparent colouring of Velasquez he and La Promenade—scrupulously noting on the
felt a delight such as a man feels when he finds back of each page all that the masters of his choice
himself once more among his own people after a had taught him.
sojourn in an unknown land. He never denied, The first picture he sent to the Salon was the
but freely admitted, the influence Velasquez had Buveur d Absinthe, which was rejected. The critics,
over him. devoted to the worship of the antique, uttered cries
The conscientious sincerity of the primitive of horror, and Couture himself was merciless. No
Italians moved him too, and the boldness of Franz one realised in this solid work, this most harmonious
Hals also made a deep impression. Thus, when piece of colouring, a picture, which, as Manet
he returned to Paris, fortified by all these memories, himself says, recalls the Buveurs in the Madrid
Manet plunged hardily into the study of the divers Gallery.
aspects of life in the great city. With perfect good humour Manet tried again.
In this respect Manet's life is a splendid example People did not understand him. Perhaps they
of artistic honesty. From 1858 to i860 he was would recognise a Spanish type? The result was
the Joueur de Guitare,
which won " honourable
mention " at the Salon of
1861. This is a work
which has no superior in
point of vigour in any
Gallery. The treatment
of the face and hands, the
delicate greyish shades of
the clothing, the accurate
colouring of the green seat,
and the freshness of the
still life in the foreground
baffle criticism.
The Portrait de mon
pere et de ma were, also
exhibited in the 1861
Salon, again upset the
critics, who were again
completely at fault. Velas-
quez and Goya had been
thrown in Manet's face
before, but the influence
of Franz Hals, unknown
to them, was not recog-
nised, and there was silence
on this point.
Nowadays, when one sees
in the gallery of M. Faure
(the happy possessor) these
three first pictures by Manet,
the Spanish masters and the
great Haarlem painter are
suggested, but it is im-
possible to discover the
slightest trace of the teach-
ing conveyed by the author
■STUDY (By permission of M. Viati) BY EDOUARD MANET of the Romains de la
230
He travelled in Holland, in Italy, and in Spain, engaged in a series of studies—UEtudiant de
and when he discovered the simplicity of drawing Salamanque, Mo'ise satiTe des Eaux, La Toilette,
and the transparent colouring of Velasquez he and La Promenade—scrupulously noting on the
felt a delight such as a man feels when he finds back of each page all that the masters of his choice
himself once more among his own people after a had taught him.
sojourn in an unknown land. He never denied, The first picture he sent to the Salon was the
but freely admitted, the influence Velasquez had Buveur d Absinthe, which was rejected. The critics,
over him. devoted to the worship of the antique, uttered cries
The conscientious sincerity of the primitive of horror, and Couture himself was merciless. No
Italians moved him too, and the boldness of Franz one realised in this solid work, this most harmonious
Hals also made a deep impression. Thus, when piece of colouring, a picture, which, as Manet
he returned to Paris, fortified by all these memories, himself says, recalls the Buveurs in the Madrid
Manet plunged hardily into the study of the divers Gallery.
aspects of life in the great city. With perfect good humour Manet tried again.
In this respect Manet's life is a splendid example People did not understand him. Perhaps they
of artistic honesty. From 1858 to i860 he was would recognise a Spanish type? The result was
the Joueur de Guitare,
which won " honourable
mention " at the Salon of
1861. This is a work
which has no superior in
point of vigour in any
Gallery. The treatment
of the face and hands, the
delicate greyish shades of
the clothing, the accurate
colouring of the green seat,
and the freshness of the
still life in the foreground
baffle criticism.
The Portrait de mon
pere et de ma were, also
exhibited in the 1861
Salon, again upset the
critics, who were again
completely at fault. Velas-
quez and Goya had been
thrown in Manet's face
before, but the influence
of Franz Hals, unknown
to them, was not recog-
nised, and there was silence
on this point.
Nowadays, when one sees
in the gallery of M. Faure
(the happy possessor) these
three first pictures by Manet,
the Spanish masters and the
great Haarlem painter are
suggested, but it is im-
possible to discover the
slightest trace of the teach-
ing conveyed by the author
■STUDY (By permission of M. Viati) BY EDOUARD MANET of the Romains de la
230