Art Series - Monet Manet

 

MIMI, a regular visitor here, has asked me to research and write about Monet. You can read Mimi's Blog HERE.

Monet Manet ... Monet Manet ... let us not confuse the two. They are both French painters. 

 Oscar-Claude Monet; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting. 

Now I always thought that being an impressionist meant doing impressions, like bird impressions. My cousin used to do bird impressions; she used to eat worms. Fortunately she did not try to do the impressions birds do on my car.

Monet was an impressionist painter. The painting above is called Impression, Sunrise, exhibited in his first exhibition in 1874. I don't know about you, but it gives me the impression that he has bought too much blue/gray paint. 

Édouard Manet; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, whatever that was in his period of time.

As you can see from the dates they were both contemporaries. Do I care about that? Not so much.

Anyway, my research led me to discover another coincidence about these two guys.

Manet (that's the one with an A in his name) painted a painting called "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe", also known as "The Luncheon on the Grass".

It depicts a naked lady having a picnic with two fully dressed men, whilst another half naked woman is having a wash in the river in the background.

Now my concern here is ants. What if there are any ants lurking in the grass where that woman is sitting? And what about the men? What are they talking about totally unperturbed by the naked lady next to them?

My research discovered that Manet's wife Suzanne Leenhoff posed for the naked woman, although the face on the painting is that of another model. Stranger still, the men sitting beside her are Manet's brother Gustave, and his brother-in-law Ferdinand Leenhoff.

There you have it ... a picnic on the grass and not a KFC in sight.

Not to be outdone, Monet (that's the one with an O in his name), also painted his version of "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe", in response to Manet's attempts at a picnic. It remains unfinished.

As you can see, again two men and two women, (or three if you count the unfinished one on the left), but all fully clothed and respectable. 

The only similarity between the two paintings is that there is no KFC in sight.

Suggestions for further art works to be researched by me and included in this Art Series are welcomed.

What's this Manet?

Today, we'll study Édouard Manet's "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe", also known as "The Luncheon on the Grass".

The first thing I noticed when I studied this wonderful oil on canvas, (more arty talk), is that it can't have been much of a luncheon, (or déjeuner), since there's no sight of any French Fries or chocolate milkshake. What kind of picnic is this without French Fries? Manet missed a trick there, but never mind.

The third thing I noticed, (the second being the subtle use of colours and the masterful brush strokes).

... As I was saying, the third thing I noticed is that we have here a naked lady having a picnic with two fully dressed men, whilst another half naked woman is having a wash in the river in the background.

At first I thought that it must have been very hot that day and she needed to cool down, but then, on reflection, I started to worry about any ants or insects that may be in the "herbe" in the vicinity.

I also noticed that the two men are happily talking to each other and totally ignoring the naked lady beside them; very uncharacteristic of most men I know.

Intrigued by all this I researched the painting a little more. I was surprised to discover that Manet' wife Suzanne Leenhoff posed for the naked woman, although the face on the painting is that of another model. Stranger still, the men sitting beside her are Manet's brother Gustave, and his brother-in-law Ferdinand Leenhoff.

You can imagine the conversation as they prepared to sit for the painting.

"Hello sister, you've put on some weight lately."

"It's all them French Fries that does it. Gustave, where have you put the French fries?"

"Édouard ate them. The milkshake too!"

And there you have it friends. An expose of Manet's "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe".

If there are any other artworks you would like me to research and critique, (another arty word), please let me know.