MANET

Art geniuses

An episode from the series THE GREAT MASTERS OF PAINTING

Synopsis

A major French painter of the late 19th century, Edouard Manet is considered the initiator of modern painting which he frees from academism.

He starts by painting genre scenes, which are seen as scandalous. He’s rejected from official exhibitions and decides to spend time at "la bohème élégante" where he meets artists that admire him like Edgar Degas and writers such as Charles Baudelaire or Emile Zola of whom he paints a famous portrait.

He also paints some of his friends like the poet Stéphane Mallarmé or Georges Clemenceau. He dies in 1883 at the age of 51, leaving more than 400 paintings behind him.