Olympia

Art is always more than what we see.  I would like to talk about the piece that we saw in the Musee d'Orsay which was painted by Edouard Manet, first exhibited at the 1865 Paris Salon. The painting as we saw it was about a nude woman lying on the bed, there is a black servant with flower and also a black cat at the end of the bed.

The woman, who is the main character of the painting, was modeled by Victorine Meurent.  She modeled for Manet for several other paintings, such as The Luncheon on the Grass. She herself is not a real model, and after continue developing the relationship with Manet, she began taking art classes. She exhibited in the Salon six times. And in 1876 her painting were selected for inclusion at the Salon's juried exhibition, when Manet's work was not.

The way Manet painting her nudity, the confrontational gaze and number of details identifying her as a prostitute, which caused huge arguments and criticisms.  Olympia was a name associated with prostitutes in 1860s Paris, because of this painting.

Manet's Olympia was inspired by Titan's Venus of Urbino. Titan's painting was refers to Giorgione's Sleeping Venus.

(Titan)

(Giorgione)