Edouard Manet

1832-1883 · French (Paris) · Realism / Pre-Impressionism

Known for: Father of modern painting who scandalized Paris with Olympia - a nude prostitute staring directly at the viewer

Manet was the hinge between old and new art. His Olympia - a naked prostitute gazing coolly at the viewer - and Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe caused genuine scandals that catalyzed modern art.

He was elegant, urbane, and deeply bourgeois, craving Salon approval even as he demolished its conventions. He contracted syphilis and died at 51 after a leg amputation.

What Edouard Manet would be watching

The “if they lived today” Q&A on this page gives Edouard Manet Eyes Wide Shut (1999) as a favourite film. Their reason: “Kubrick understood the bourgeoisie's secret life.” Rankquant scores it above 58% of films, drawn from 1,122 IMDb reviewers individually re-centred rather than averaged raw. The full film & TV rankings are built the same way.

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