Picnic on the Grass: Manet's Rejected Masterpiece - Essay Sample

Introduction

Le Dejeuner Sur I'Herbe titled initially as Le Bain, is a large oil canvas painting by Edouard Manet. This work was created in the year 1862 and 1863. The work depicts a picture of female nude and a scantily dressed female bather on a picnic together with two fully dressed men in a rural setting. The painting was rejected by the Salon jury of 1863. As a result of this, Manet seized the opportunity to exhibit this and two other paint9ngs in the year 1863 salon des refuses, where the painting sparked a lot of public notoriety and controversy as well. Currently, the work of Manet is found in Paris and a smaller portion if seen in London (Chang, 2019).

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Le dejeuner is described as a disturbing painting because, on many occasions, the message of the work is considered to be challenging and politically incorrect in certain circles. In the art, it is evident that there are two couples and perhaps at the picnic site. Additionally, besides them, there is a basket of food. However, it does not look like it is a mainly organized meal at all. Similarly, the men were seen to be conversing. It is reported that in the year 1863, if Manet indeed wanted to shock the middle class, then that was his wish. The reason was seen since the panting was only shown in the salon des refuses. And the writer claims this lead to the closure of the salon (Damisch, 2018).

Furthermore, the painting shocked even the emperor of the state. And when he saw the picture, he termed it as an offense which was against the decency. Additionally, the portrait was so disturbing to an extent where the leader avoided to look at the picture. The scene that Manet created seems to be stark, blunt, and even provocation when compared. The scene left people wondering if the woodland in the paintings was the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. This was a contemporary haunt which was known for prostitutes, which are up to date retains the steamy association of trysts and sex. Also, from the look of the picture, the scene looks like an illustration of how a woman can impress a man. This gives evidence of how the painting is disturbing.

The painting of the novel can be described to be a large scale. This painting was generally reserved for the religious, historical, and also mythological subjects. Manet's description of a mundane or everyday social activity went against how large the canvas was used traditionally.

Manet's technique is compared with his contemporaries. The scale if the bathing woman, for instance, is too large as compared to the figures in the foreground. Similarly, the brush strokes are also rough, and they are not hidden. This gives an appearance that the painting is not finished in some parts of the work. Additionally, the background also lacks depth as if the piece was painted in a studio rather than outdoors. The nude even in not as smooth as other paintings that were created in the same period.

One of the significant discussion which points about Le Dejeuner Sur I'herbe is how the figures in the art interact which one another. More particularly, is that the statistics seem to mostly not acknowledge or interact with one another except two men in the painting. Painting the picture contrasts naked with the clothed, masculine with feminine qualities and the white color palette of the female nudes with the dark colors of the dressed men (Defeyt et al., 2018).

Le Dejeuner Sur I'Herbe looks Manet's other work. Beyond the use of the same models, the portrait also features a nude woman who is staring at the viewers. The novel Le Dejeuner Sur I'herbe also resembles 'The Tempest,' which also contrasts a naked woman and a dressed man in the rural setting. It is also similar to the work by Jean Antoine Watteau's, especially 'Le villageoise.'

Conclusion

In summary, Le Dejeuner Sur I'herbe's work is indeed a disturbing painting primarily in the religious, mythological, as well as in the social, subjects. Similarly, Manet's painting was the boldest. The reason for this is to emphasize the modern industry, especially in the art sector.

Reference

Chang, L. (2019). Nature and Modernity in Edouard Manet's Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe and William Holman Hunt's The Awakening Conscience: a Comparative and Critical Reading. Journal of Visual Art and Design, 11(2), 119-134.

Damisch, H. (2018). Uma mulher, portanto: Le dejeuner sur l'herbe. ARS (Sao Paulo), 16(32), 59-72.

Defeyt, C., Walter, P., Rousseliere, H., Vandenabeele, P., Vekemans, B., Samain, L., & Strivay, D. (2018). New Insights on Picasso's Blue Period Painting La famille Soler. Studies in Conservation, 63(1), 24-35.