Musée No:498.011
Regular price £25.00Still Life with Two Apples
Artist: Edouard Manet
Date: 1880
Born into a wealthy family, Édouard Manet (1832-1883) was encouraged into art by his uncle and often visited the Louvre. In 1850 he entered the studio of Couture, who wanted to avoid conventional academic training and combine traditional painting methods with new techniques like allowing under-paint to form part of the final composition. Manet would absorb this technique into his work. His wealth meant that he didn't need to sell his work but he desperately wanted recognition as an artist.
By the 1870s Manet's palette had lightened and his brushwork became freer. These new aspects of his painting technique may have come from his contact with the impressionist group that began exhibiting in 1874. Although Manet was friendly with its members, and understood their goals, he never exhibited with them and continued to show his paintings at the official Salon. During the late 1870s, he began to experience health problems that made it difficult for him to work in oil painting, instead, he began to draw using pastel. Manet was truly innovative in depicting subjects of urban life. However, during his lifetime he enjoyed little support, and it was not until the impressionists gained general recognition that Manet was acknowledged as a truly modern painter.
