Manet's Women

Nineteenth century France was a period of rapid modernisation and expansion. Édouard Manet, the quintessential painter of modern life, was a man of his times and his paintings were powerful, often shocking, representations of modern society. In particular, Manet scandalised French society with his iconoclastic depictions of women as objects of pleasure and commerce, as products of a burgeoning capitalism and a commodity of the bourgeois male. An understanding of the historical and social context is essential in appreciating the significance of Manet's paintings such as Le déjeuner sur l'herbe, Olympia and Bar aux Folies-Bergere. Fully illustrated with images in context by Manet and his influences including the popular illustrators of his time.
Includes excerpts from Baudelaire's highly influential 'The Painter of Modern Life' (1863).