Manet’s Advertisement An understanding of Vue de l’Exposition Universel

An understanding of Vue de l’Exposition Universelle, Paris 1867 â€Å"Manet a toujours reconnu le talent là   oà ¹ il se trouve et n’a prà ©tendu ni renverser une ancienne peinture ni en crà ©er une nouvelle. Il a cherchà © simplement à   à ªtre lui-mà ªme et non un autre.† Edouard Manet, Motifs d’une exposition particulià ¨re, May 1867 (in Courthion: 139) Manet is a transitional painter, emerging from the realism of the early to mid nineteenth century and a precursor to — included in by some authors — the impressionist movement. The public’s fascination with his work is remarkable. But, as much as his work is appreciated today, he has been criticized and misunderstood by his contemporaries. His radical explorations in composition and representation made him an easy target for unfavorable critics. He has been accused of leaving his paintings unfinished, of not being able to compose, of lack of imagination and even of vulgarity (Hanson, Howard, Mainardi, others). His position as part of the â€Å"tribe of eccentrics† (Chesneau q. in Mainardi: 109) has kept Manet out of the conservative catalog of the Fine Arts section of the Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris. Since, in the artist’s words, â€Å"montrer est la question vitale, le sine qua non pour l’artiste† (in Courthion: 140), he was forced to prepare his own show to display his work to the very important public brought to Paris by the world fair. So, he and Courbet borrowed money and set up on the Place de l’Alma, right on the path leading from the Salon at the Place de l’Industrie to the Exposition Universelle on the Champ de Mars (Mainardi: 109). It is in this ambiance of optimistic defiance that Manet produced Vue de l’Exposition Universelle, Paris 1867 , his illustration of the fair. ... ...er Levin Associates, 1988 Hanson, Anne Coffin. Manet and the Modern Tradition. New Haven: Yale U. Press, 1977 Howard, Seymour. â€Å"Early Manet and Artful Error: Foundations of Anti-Illusion in Modern Painting† in Art Journal. New York: College Art Association of America. Vol. 37, Fall 1977: 14-21 L’Exposition universelle de 1867: guide de l’exposant et du visiteur, avec les documents officiels, un plan et une vue de l’Exposition. Paris: Exposition universelle de 1867, 1866 L’illustration. 6 Avril 1867 Mainardi, Patricia. â€Å"Edouard Manet’s ‘View of the Universal Exposition of 1867’† in Arts Magazine. 54(5), January 1980: 108-115 Reff, Theodore, ed. Manet and modern Paris: one hundred paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs by Manet and his contemporaries. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1982 The Illustrated London News. 6 July, 1867