Édouard  Manet    Born:  23rd  January  1832,  Paris,  France.  Died:  30th  April  1883,  Paris,  France.  Aged  51.  Nationality:  French  Spouse(s):  1.  Suzanne  Leenhoff  (Married  28th  October  1862)  Children:  1.  Leon  Koella.  (This  is  speculated  as  his  due  to  Suzanne  being  Manet’s  father’s  speculated  mistress  at  the  time  Manet  himself  was  seeing  her.  Different  surname  is  thought  to  be  Manet’s  mother’s  doing  to  hide  the  secret  that  it  might  be  Manet’s.)  Father:  Auguste  Manet  Mother:  Eugenie-­‐Desiree  Manet  Siblings:  2.  Eugene  and  Gustave  Manet.    

1. Manet’s  mother’s  godfather  was  the  king  of  Sweden,  Charles  Bernadotte.  2. Manet’s  father  was  a  judge.  3. He  came  from  a  very  prestigious,  well  off  background.  4. Manet  ‘s  most  famous  works  include,  Luncheon  on  the  grass  and  Olympia.  5. At  17,  Manet  trialled  in  the  navy  sailing  to  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil  but  

decided  against  the  life  and  decided  to  become  a  painter.  His  uncle  encouraged  him.  

6. In  Rio  de  Janeiro  he  apparently  succumbed  to  a  very  attractive  Brazillian  prostitute.  

7. He  did  not  want  to  go  to  the  Ecole  des  Beaux-­‐Arts  as  it  was  too  consevative  for  him.  Instead,  he  studied  painting  at  the  schools  of  Thomas  Couture  and  Pere  Suisse  but  still  didn’t  like  their  teaching  techniques  so  his  father  helped  him  set  up  his  own  studio.  

8. Manet  was  supposedly  a  very  good-­‐looking  man  and  drew  in  a  lot  of  attention  from  women.  

9. He  predominantly  began  painting  ‘the  ordinary’  such  as  singers  and  musicians  rather  than  ‘the  extraordinary’  powerful  mythological  and  religious  subject  matter  of  the  time.  This  was  effectively  the  birth  of  Impressionist  ideas.  Manet  was  painting  modern  life.  

10. Manet  enjoyed  discussing  artistic  ideas  and  politics  in  the  cafes  of  Paris.  11. Manet  caused  outrage  with  his  painting,  ‘Luncheon  on  the  Grass’  after  

submitting  it  as  an  entry  to  The  Salon  (The  annual  exhibition  of  the  Academie  des  Beaux-­‐Arts,  which  artists  of  the  time  submitted  work  to  for  judgement  by  an  artistic  jury.  It  was  rejected  and  hung  in  The  Salon  des  Refuses  (An  exhibition  of  rejected  paintings  for  the  public  to  come  and  criticise).  

12. The  first  Impressionist  he  met  was  Edgar  Degas,  in  the  Louvre.  13. In  1866,  Manet  met  Monet  after  seeing  a  caricature  joking  about  the  

similarity  of  their  names.  Monet  introduced  him  to  Renoir,  Bazille  and  Sisley.  Manet  introduced  Degas  to  them.  Cezanne  was  thrown  into  the  mix  by  painting  tutor  and  artist  Antoine  Guillemet.  Cezanne  eventually  bought  Pissarro  along.  This  was  the  start  of  the  Impressionists.  

14. In  1868  Manet  met  Berthe  Morisot  at  one  of  his  mother’s  soirees.  He  began  to  paint  her  and  developed  a  friendship,  which  led  her  into  the  Impressionists.  Whether  anything  more  happened  between  them  is  

speculated.  If  anything  happened,  Morisot  married  Manet’s  brother  anyway.  

15. Manet  never  exhibited  with  the  rest  of  the  Impressionists  even  though  he  was  a  founder  of  the  group  and  it’s  ideas.  He  still  maintained  Impressionist  ideas  in  his  work  however.  

16. When  the  Franco-­‐Prussian  war  began  to  escalate,  Manet  signed  up  as  a  gunner  and  stayed  in  Paris.  

17. In  1872,  Manet  sold  51,000  francs  worth  of  paintings  to  art  dealer  Paul  Durand-­‐Ruel  in  one  week.  For  most  this  amount  would  take  a  year  to  earn.  

18. Plein-­‐air  painting  was  not  Monet’s  forte  according  to  Degas  as  well  as  critics.  

19. Monet  eventually  began  to  exhibit  in  The  Salon  frequently.  With  the  fortune  he  was  earning,  he  was  lending  money  to  other  Impressionists.  Particularly  Monet.  

20. In  1875,  he  was  rejected  from  The  Salon  so  he  held  his  own  exhibition  in  his  studio,  which  was  very  well  received.  

21. In  1978,  after  Manet  began  receiving  sharp  pain  in  his  foot  and  back.  After  visiting  his  Doctor,  Dr.  Siredey,  he  was  unsure  he  was  telling  him  the  full  truth  behind  his  symptoms.  Dr.  Siredey  knew  what  was  wrong.  Manet  looked  up  his  symptoms.  He  was  in  the  tertiary  stages  of  syphilis.  

22. The  public  of  the  time  generally  considered  Manet  to  be  the  leader  of  the  Impressionists.  

23. In  1881,  the  voting  system  for  the  jury  of  The  Salon  changed.  Exhibiting  painters  could  vote  for  who  was  in  the  jury.  Enough  supporters  of  Manet  were  voted  on  for  him  to  receive  to  Hors  Concours  honour.  He  could  exhibit  at  The  Salon  every  year  from  now  on  outright.  

24. In  July  1882,  Manet  wrote  his  will,  instructing  to  leave  everything  to  his  wife  Suzanne  who  will  –  when  she  dies  –  leave  everything  to  his  ‘son’  Leon.  

25. In  1883  Manet  was  in  intense  pain  and  on  his  deathbed.  He  painted  his  last  oil  painting  there.  On  April  18th,  Dr.  Siredy  told  Manet  that  his  leg  needed  amputating  as  he  had  gangrene  and  it  had  turned  black.  

26. On  the  30th  April  1883  at  7  O’clock,  Manet  died  in  his  son  Leon’s  arms.  27. His  funeral  was  on  the  3rd  of  May.  He  was  buried  in  the  huge  cemetery  at  

Passy  in  Paris.