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Thursday, December 15, 2016

Reasons Why The Oil Painting Olympia By Manet Is Revolutionary

By Timothy Moore


Art remains to be great way for humankind to record events and give different generations and civilizations a picture of what their culture and era was like. Visual representation has been a method that humans have been using throughout millennia. A notable thing is the different techniques that they use despite current technology.

The Renaissance was probably one of the most technically evolved eras when it came to art and realism. Artist aimed to capture the beaut of reality while combining it with the divine. This was evident in the subject that they chose which revolved around myth, religion and history. But on piece that challenge conventions was the oil painting Olympia by Manet.

The thing is that he made a mockery out of the Venus of Urbino painting . Although this stand against conventionality spurred a more modern take on art. Olympia has a great story behind it which makes the work very revolutionary. It was Manet showing the honesty of human beauty on canvas. It was as if he was saying that we are humans so why not look upon our own beauty and not that of goddesses.

One huge reason why this painting caused such an uproar was because he replaced the goddess with a prostitute. Olympia is a common name for a courtesan, a more prominent and highly paid sex worker. To do this was an act of blasphemy in a sense. Manet saw it as honesty that 1865 France did not want to face.

Now you may think this chick was your run off the mill girl, but as you can see she had a servant. This entails that the subject was of a higher position in the job that she holds. The servant also holds a bouquet which seemingly comes from a patron. What shocked people during the era when this work was released was how vulgar the piece was.

The woman on the painting stares at you point blank which was a huge statement if you compare it to the Venus equivalent. It was as if Manet meant the asymmetry of her face to say that no female face is symmetrical and as perfect as a goddess and that is still worthy of making into art.

The rawness and honesty was not welcomed by the its viewers, although its revolutionary nature made the piece an obra maestra. The painter wanted to make sure that there is little visual depth to really emphasize to its viewers that this was artwork and not something you use to blur the lines between what is real and imagination.

This painting effectively became something revolutionary and is a genius way to cross abstraction with traditional realism. Then it would have been considered as a bad painting. But it is general understanding that if the piece is able to evoke emotion. It can never be considered as bad art.

Revolutionary is what this piece became when released to the public during its time. And like any work made for that purpose, was met with disdain, laughter and criticism. Manet effectively broke tradition and was unapologetic about showing his perspective on reality. France of 1865 was not ready to face the truth that the goddess they come to know has been reduced into a courtesan, especially one that stares you dead straight in the eye.




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