Introduction
Edouard Manet is seen as a modernizer of French paintings and as a pioneer of modern art. The painter and the Impressionist painters were a source of inspiration for each other. His famous painting” Olympia” shows a nude woman reclining on a bed other (Encyclopedia of Art Education, 2018). The painting was shocking as it was not a nude of some goddess but a 19th-century prostitute and what made it more shocking was her direct confrontational gaze. The professional nude model for Olympia was Victorine Meurent (Raine, 2013).
The nude woman wears nothing but a gold bracelet on her wrist and a black ribbon around her neck. Her left foot is encased in gold colored heels. The white silken bedsheet and the flower in her hair are symbols of sensuality and luxury. A black servant attends with a bouquet of flowers while a black cat with its back arched and tail raised stands at the foot of the bed. What draws the attention of the viewer is her direct and confident look towards the viewer and the strategic position of her left hand. Olympia's naked display of her yellow-white skin on the white sheets makes a sharp contrast with the dark background.
There are gentle and soft contrasts on the contours of the naked body. Delicate lines accentuate the different curves of her body, whether it is the breasts or the curve of the stomach or the legs. The brushwork is fluid and smooth. The texture is created with different brushstrokes to depict the smooth glossiness of the sheets, the patterns of the background and the smooth nude skin. The light tends to fall directly on the bed and highlights those ruffles and crease in the pillows on the expanse of the sheet. The skin of the nude woman looks glaring white, and there are jarring visual transitions from light to shadow. There is an asymmetry about the artwork that is enhanced because of the way her head turns and the flowers in her hair. There is a rhythm in the artwork s the viewer’s gaze follows the face of the woman, her body and then ends with the black cat. The volume of body, the space occupied by the bed, the expanse of darkness shows the use of simple large shapes that add volume and weight to the artwork. There is a destructive tension in the artwork, because of the subject matter and how it is presented. Olympia is disturbingly ‘visible’ as it is illuminated within the claustrophobic void of blacks (Smith & Jenks, 2006). Olympia is indeed an informal portrait of a woman who is not afraid of her body.
References
Encyclopedia Of Art Education (2018). Olympia (1863), visual-arts-cork.Retrieved from https://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/olympia-manet.htm
Raine, C. (2013). Everything but the girl: the subtle sexuality of Edouard Manet. New Statesman, (5143), 39.
Smith, J. A., & Jenks, C. (2006). Manet’s Olympia. Visual Studies, 21(2), 157–166.
