Lecture on Manet's Painting 'Olympia'

Tradition of Female Nudes

• Long tradition of erotic, sensuous representations of female nudes
  • Clothed by mythology or sheer beauty
  • Back to ancient Greeks and Romans (e.g., sculptures of goddess Venus)
• Manet drew on these traditions but made it modern

Academic Art

• Defined by official Academy associated with French government
  • Formulaic, expected
  • Based on classical and Renaissance art
  • Had a ready market value
• Manet challenges those established ideas
  • Introduces modernity

Realism in 'Olympia'

• Unlike idealized features of classical nudes
  • Asymmetrical face, thin lips
• Olympia is a real woman in Paris, not a Venus
  • Direct, confronting gaze
  • Recognized as a courtesan (prostitute)

Social Context

• Name 'Olympia' associated with prostitutes
• Olympia’s servant depicted handing her flowers from a customer
  • Scene suggests customer walked in and startled the characters
• Difference between lower-class and higher-class prostitutes

Modern Life and Diversity

• Manet captures modern life in Paris, including diversity
  • Inclusion of a black woman (servant named Laure)
  • Modern clothing with Caribbean reference in headwrap
• Modern portrayal vs. exoticized or ethnographic depictions of black figures
• Denise Morell's scholarship on Laure
  • Likely from Caribbean or Africa
  • Lost to history

Reaction and Criticism

• Press reaction was vicious
  • Described Olympia as cadaver-like
  • Criticized Manet's lack of modeling in her flesh
• Caricatures emphasized shadows on hands and feet

Artistic Techniques and Intentions

• Flatness of the figure
  • Rejects clear articulation of represented space
  • Acknowledges the two-dimensionality of the canvas
• Confronts viewer with complexities of painting
  • Not pretending painting isn’t paint
  • Unmasking illusion of traditional representations
  • Draws attention to viewer's sexual interest

Modernity and Baudelaire's Influence

• Reflects Charles Baudelaire's call to paint modern life
• Manet invents modern beauty
  • Honest depiction of materials, subjects, and viewer's motives