Comparing the innovations of Gustave Courbet to those of Edouard Manet
French artist Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) was born in a small town in the east, but from the moment he came to Paris to study art he became a risk taker and revolutionary and, subsequently a pioneering figure in the history of modernism. He is famous now not only for his brilliant art pieces, but also for his lust for controversy, his radical vision that stayed with his till the end of his life (SithsonianMag).
He became a real sensation at the Salon of 1850–51 when he showed to the public that daily, common life in his village in France can be painted on large canvases realistically as if depicting outstanding historical landscapes. It was only the very beginning of scandals and revolutions he made in artistic salons and expositions. Sometimes his work were even denied to be put on display, but he accompanied his works with a manifesto. In his ‘Realist Manifesto’ he stated his reasons and desires to ‘translate the customs, the ideas, the appearance of my epoch, according to my own estimation’ which sounds completely reasonable right now, but the manifesto became very controversial topic in 1860s, far more controversial than many recent shockmeisters (SmithsonianMag).
His involvement in realism did not stop there as he moved to the portraying suburban leisure and fashion. He also became a provocateur in the Salon due to his manner of paining female nude bodies, he did not only painted real Fresh woman, his painting were extremely realistic, ‘his depiction of the models' discarded clothing, the marks left on their flesh by corsets, and their body hair—were unmistakably modern and transgressed accepted convention’ and often explicitly erotic (MetMuseum).
His concern with politics ended poorly as it ‘led to imprisonment and, ultimately, self-imposed exile in Switzerland’ (MetMuseum), he died in Switzerland in 1877. He affected many artists that followed him and admired his works, including Edouard Manet.
Emile Zola, a famous and highly respected French writer and journalist tried to describe and analyze the whole modernistic movement, he wrote a lot specifically about Edouard Manet and his opinions on art.
Edouard Manet (1832-1883) was born in Paris, in the artistic center, in upper-class family. He quickly realized his attraction to the world of art and he was quite young when his name became famous in the salons. Zola pointed out that Manet followed the same conventions Courbet set for himself, which are ‘obeyhis own personal inclinations concerning vision and understanding’(1). Consequently, these personal inclinations are contrary to the conventions of the academy. Manet’s name was associated with the scandal as well as Courbet’s, but Emile Zola argued that revolution and controversy was not Manet’s intentions, but just a result of his originality and new vision. It is not possible to say the same for Gustave Courbet who was proud to be a rebel.
Nevertheless, Zola notes that Manet is just an example of ‘of the way really original personalities are received by the public’ he wants to protest against (2). He describes further that public turns such artists to ridiculous characters that does not correspond to the truth. But he also praises the artist even more due to the fact that Edouard Manet continues to paint according to his own taste and his own thought despite the public opinions (3). Zola, who is considered to be Naturalist turned his attention to Manet’s ability ‘to see Nature as it really is, without looking at the works or studying the opinions of others’ (4).
Diving into details, this new vision meant that the artists follow carefully the scales of tints and what Zola calls ‘the law of tone values’. If compared to Nature, Manet’s paintings are more high key, lighter, paler, more luminous, it is perhaps not as the landscapes or people appear to the eyes of all the viewers, but these are definitely true visions of Manet, ‘there is not the slightest forced effect here’ Zola notes (6).
Comparing the two revolutionary artists it is possible to note that Courbet’s innovations are mostly connected to the subjects of his painting, he deliberately chose the subject and the manner of painting that could not be combined in one work before him. For Manet, the innovation lies in his pure and translucent vision that affects the way things and people are portrayed.
Looking at the most famous painting by both artists, it is possible to see that they preferred large scale, almost life-sized figures. Gustave Courbet’s iconic work ‘The Painter’s Studio’ (1855) which is also described by the artist as ‘A Real Allegory Summing up a Seven-Year Phase of My Artistic Life’ is called by Linda Nochlin ‘a translation into contemporary’ (8) or it may even be called a parody of classical or large-scale historical paintings. The allegory lies in the figures he chose to include in the painting and even the ones he deliberately did not include, but it is not explained completely by the scholars (Nochlin 10). Nochlin calls Courbet’s masterpiece an avant-garde work, as it was unlike anything else painted before, it was furthermost ‘an emblem of what the making of art and the nature of society are to the Realist artist’ (12).
In Manet’s case the situation was different, his famous painting ‘Le Déjeuner sur L’Herbe’ was his largest picture, but it did not ‘drastically affect the development of Manet's art or that of his modernist contemporaries’ (Hayes Tucker 4). But the painting is still avant-garde work, it is visible in the way figures on the canvas are portrayed, Zola describes it as if ‘He treats figure subjects in just the same way as still‐life subjects are treated’ (7). Paul Hayes Tucker notes that Manet also used such a big canvas to make allusion to historical paintings, but he chose to depict ‘the subject of lesser standing’ (6) which was a loud challenge to the French society of the time.
It goes without saying that such renovations and revolutions were needed, the technology was quickly emerging, it was the time photography was born and the city, especially such cultural center as Paris was changing completely undergoing urbanization or what is called Haussmannization. The artists in their own way were responding to the changes in time and they brought such changes into art world with their bold works.
Works cited
Berman, Avis. "Larger Than Life". Smithsonian, 2008, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/larger-than-life-31654689/?page=3.
"Gustave Courbet". The Met Museum, 2008, http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2008/gustave-courbet.
Hayes Tucker, Paul. ‘MANET’S LE DEJEUNER SUR L’HERBE’. Cambridge: University Press, 1998.
Nochlin, Linda. The Politics of Vision. New York: Harper&Row Publishers, 1989.
Zola, Emile. ‘A New Manner in Painting: Edouard Manet’. Paris: Revue du XX Siecle, 1867.
