Manet Preview

Manet, Portraying Life, Royal Academy
January 26 - April 14 2013

Being a 'friend' of the Royal Academy I was lucky enough to be able to attend, along with my competition winner, the preview of 'Manet, Portraying Life' last Wednesday. It is the very first exhibition to ever focus exclusively on Manet's portraiture. The works on display span his entire career and come from all over the world. Unfortunately, due to the arctic weather, the portrait of Marie Lefebure on horseback was not on show due to it being stuck at Sao Paulo due to a London flight cancellation.

Although portraiture constitutes about half of Manet's artistic output, his engagement with portraiture has never actually been explored in an exhibition before. The exhibition is comprised of more than fifty portraits, the majority of which are of his family, friends, and the literary, political and artistic figures of his day.  

Competition winner Nina Parker

On entering the exhibition I keenly whipped out my camera to take photos for my trusty blog followers though was immediately caught by a rather aggressive security man who shouted 'No photography, no, not even without a flash!' So sorry this post might be a little less visually appealing. 

Despite chattering away to Nina most of the way round I still learnt a lot about Manet. Each room focuses on a different aspect of his portraiture, first of all is the 'Introduction' which sets the scene...

Manet (1832-1883) came into his own as an artist during the height of Realism, an artistic movement based on the direct observation of the external world. Manet embraced the Realist approach to portraiture through working directly from the sitter, often approaching the subject matter rather unconventionally whilst using innovative compositions. He came from a wealthy family and therefore had the luxury of not having to live by his art, this also gave him the freedom to choose his subjects with out reference to convention. Through his portraits he explored the psychology and emotions of his sitter in an innovative but accurate way with no stylistic coherence, something that displeased the critics of his day.   

1. The first room is devoted to 'The artist and His Family' - like many artists Manet depicted members of his family, most frequently seen is his wife Suzanne Leenhoff who he married in 1863.  

2. The second room focuses on 'Music in the Tuileries Gardens (1862)'

Music in the Tuileries Gardens - 1862

I was surprised to see this work here as I wouldn't have classed it as a portrait though it is in fact a group portrait. This compositionally daring, cultural painting of modern life is situated in the Tuileries Gardens. He has selected people from his social and artistic world listening to an open-air concert, participants include, Henri Fantin-Latour, Frederic Bazille, Baudelaire, Gautier, members of his family as well as himself, situated on the far left - the orchestrator of this social gathering.   

3. 'Manet's World' - This chronologically charts his life, identifying the locations in Paris that defined his personal, social and professional worlds. Despite his individual style and subject matter and the fact that he supported the Impressionists, Manet was determined to establish his reputation through the official Paris Salon rather than alternative exhibitions. As a result his career was fraught with rejection and often received negative critical response. Having said this he had a wide circle of literary, artistic, musical and political friends who ardently defended him. 

4 & 5. 'Manet's Cultural Circle: Artists, Writers and figures of the Stage - As I've already mentioned novelists, poets, critics, artists and leading personalities of the stage fill his canvases, whether they be single or multi-figure representations. Through these works he conjures up Paris's literary and artistic worlds of the mid to late nineteenth century. 

6. 'Manet's Status Portraits' - Status portraits convey the social and economic circumstances of the sitter, there are portraits in this room of a politician and journalist, clearly illustrated as figures of authority through their dress and stature.

7 & 8. 'Manet's Models' - Manet occasionally employed professional models though more often than not relied on friends and acquaintances, preferring to depict people he knew as it was easier to capture their personalities. One model that dominates his work during the 1860's and 70's is Victorine Meurent, she posed for seven of his major works including Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe and Olympia.

Le Dejeuner sur l'herbe - 1862-1863

Olympia - 1863

Towards the end of the 1870's he contracted syphilis which led to locomotor ataxia causing him considerable pain and partial paralysis. As a result he increasingly used pastel over oil on canvas as it was less physically demanding and produced more rapid results.

Although Manet was regularly attacked by critics he had an ardent group of supporters who could see his forward thinking and modern approach to portraiture. His unique style, honest vision and willingness to take risks set him apart from his contemporaries, earning him the title of the father of modern art.

After six years of planning and pleading by the curators with museums and collectors all over the world for the loan of many of these paintings the show has come off. As one of 2013's blockbuster exhibitions I recommend you get down there, you have from tomorrow until April 14th, plenty of time!