June 6th: Courbet and Manet

The collection at the Musee d’Orsay, a former train station converted into a museum, spans from Neoclassicism and Romanticism to Modern Art. This museum also features paintings by Courbet and Manet, which disrupted the painting conventions of the classical era. Perhaps the most striking difference between the classical paintings and the modern paintings of Courbet and Manet can be seen in the painting techniques. Classical paintings sought to distract the observer from the idea they were looking at a painting by disguising the brushstroke. The paintings by Courbet and Manet stand out in comparison; evidence of the brushstroke can be seen in their works.

Another convention ignored by both artists was the traditional subject matter artists were expected to address. Painters were allowed to capture a subject that existed above reality; references to religion and mythology were essential parts of accepted artworks. Through their unconventional methods, Courbet and Manet proposed that art could be about reality. This can be seen in the work Funeral by Courbet. This painting is on a rather large canvas, and it features a group of ordinary people attending a funeral. The subject in this painting is not the history or mythology to which it refers, but rather the moment in time that it captures. In this style, elements such as composition and technique become central to the reading of the work.

Manet tackles this “crisis of the subject” in his work Luncheon on the Green. At the time of its creation, this painting was considered to rather controversial because it contains an undressed woman in the presence of two clothed men. With reference to antiquity, featuring a naked woman was allowed, but this painting provides no context for this unnatural situation. This lack of strong subject matter allowed Manet to focus on painting techniques and compositions. This change in approach from artists like Courbet and Manet changed the dialogue of painting as the art world transformed from the classical to the modern era.