Edouard Manet – Painting Nude Female, Adding Beauty to Nude Female Figures
Édouard Manet, a French painter (1832-1883), was one of the artists who painted modern-life subjects in nineteenth century. Manet played a greater role in the movement of art, too. He helped the transition from realism movement of paintings to the impressionism. Whether it is the portrait of Berthe Morisot or L’Inconnue, Manet had positioned the models eyes adding much value to the meaning of painting.
Dutch painter Frans Hals, Spanish artists Diego Velázquez, and Francisco José de Goya: these were the master artists influencing Manet’s art and style of painting. When he opened his studio in the year 1856, it was the period of realism, the era of loose brush strokes, simplification of details, and the suppression of transitional tones. He had followed the trend for a time. Cafe scenes, social activities, active urban life, and above all the female nudes: these were the subjects that occupied Manet’s canvases.
In many of his paintings the model was Suzanne Leenhoff. She was believed to be Manet’s mistress for a long period. Later she became his wife. Keeping the nude figure in centre of the canvas, Manet had added major attraction for this artwork. The yellow colour peeping from beneath the light red packs much sensuality in the painting, the hair strands resting on the back of the nude female model: these were the features he composed on canvases, highlighting the most sensual part of the nude female body.
Whether it is the portrait of Berthe Morisot or L’Inconnue, Manet had used the positioning of the eyes of model very crucially, adding much value to the meaning of the painting. In his nude paintings of Suzanne Leenhoff, too, the artist had painted the eyes, looking straight, involving the attention of the viewer directly to the focal point.
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I write short stories and articles about the paintings.
Diego Velazquez (las Meninas)
