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Julia Watson's avatar

A Tabled reader emailed me this: Re the Manet, according to my Italian art history course, the Manet was a deliberate parody/challenge by him of two famous and revered Giorgione paintings (where the nude women and the clothed men were not seen as shocking by anybody, since they were 'classical'). His work can be seen as fully 'feminist'-aware in the terms of the time, between him and other revolutionary impressionists who were in so many ways challenging the assumptions and conventions of previous generations of artists and their society. The woman is a model and friend he often used (Victoire Meurent) - and also an artist member of the impressionists, and her direct gaze at us has been interpreted increasingly as both challenging and satirical, thus underlining his intention - think also of her direct gaze in the Olympia ('who you lookin at?!'. It was of course refused by the Paris Salon and so became one of the first in the Salon des Refusées.

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Mary Bartlett's avatar

A wonderful feast of a story, Julia! And being nostalgic... I remember that picnics in our family included some project. Usually a dam. While my grandmother unpacked the fried chicken and bread and butter sandwiches, my father and brother would be digging around and creating a dam in some nearby stream... me, mainly watching.

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