Edouard Manet: Likeness

“Get it down quickly, don't worry about the background. Just go for the tonal values. You see? When you look at it, and above all when you see how to render it as you see it, thats is, in such a way that its make the same impression on the viewer as it does on you, you don't look for, you don't see the lines on the paper over there, do you? And then, when you look at the whole thing you don't try to count the scales on the salmon, of course you don't. You see them as little silver pearls against grey and pink – isn't thats right? – look at the pink of the salmon, with the bone appearing white in the centre and then grays, like the shades of mother of pearl. And the grapes, now do you count each? No, of course not. What strikes you is their clear, amber colour and the bloom which models the form by softening it. What you have to decide with the cloth is where the highlights come and then the planes which are not in the direct light. Halftones are for the magasin pittoresque engravers. The folds will come by themselves if you put them in the proper place. Ah! M. Ingres, there's the man! We're all just children. There's the one who knew how to paint materials! Ask Bracquemond [Paris' artist and print-maker]. Above all, keep your colours fresh. [instructing his new protegee, the Spanish young woman-painter Eva Gonzales, circa 1869]”

Edouard Manet

Manet, recorded by Philippe Burty, as cited in Manet by Himself, ed. Juliet Wilson-Bareau, Little Brown 2000, London; p. 52
1850 - 1875

Children , Way , Light , Appearance

“No one knows what it feels like to be constantly insulted [by art-critics in Paris]. It sickens and destroys you... The fools! They've never stopped telling me I'm inconsistent [in his painting style]; they couldn't have said anything more flattering.”

Edouard Manet

quote of Manet, recorded by his friend Antonin Proust in his last years, Manet by Himself, p. 304, as quoted in The private lives of the Impressionists, Sue Roe; Harpen Collins Publishers, New York 2006, p. 241
1876 - 1883

Fools , Art , Feeling , Painting

“We have reached that delightful moment when 'Impressionism' is about to be born, when its light (the formula for which has yet to be found) is still only a hint, a caress, in the silvery snows of Monet or in the pale skies of Pissarro. Ah, how one would like to prolong this moment of hesitation for ever, this moment of transition, when transparent blue shadows are putting black shadows to flight and bitumen disappears!”

Edouard Manet

Source: Posthumous publications, Portrait of Manet by himself and his contemporaries (1960), p. 212.

Light

“I don't know why I'm here. Everything before our eyes is ridiculous. The light is wrong, the shadows are wrong. When I enter in the studio I feel like I am entering a tomb [in the studio of their common art-teacher Thoman Couture ]. I know we can't make a model undress in the street. But there are fields, and at least in the summer we could do studies of the nude in the country, since the nude appears to be the first and the last word in art.”

Edouard Manet

Manet's early quote in 1850, spoken to his friend Antonin Proust; as quoted in Manet, Nathalia Brodskaya, Parkstone International, 2011, ISBN 978-1-78042-029-5, p. 12
1850 - 1875

Art , Feeling , Study , Light

“Who is this Monet whose name sounds just like mine and who is taking advantage of my notoriety?”

Edouard Manet

Quote 1865, recorded by Theodore Duret at the [[w:Salon (Paris)|Paris Salon that year; as quoted on: SCRIBD - 'Manet's letters' https://www.scribd.com/document/344176445/manets-letters-worksheet
1850 - 1875

“So, they'd prefer me to do a nude, would they? Fine I'll do them a nude... I'll redo it [his painted copy of Giorgioni's 'Woman with musicians'], with a transparent atmosphere, like those women over there [women bathing in the river, Summer of 1862]. Then I suppose they'll really tear me to pieces. They'll tell me I'm just copying the Italians now, rather than the Spanish. Ah, well, they can say what they like.”

Edouard Manet

the painting Manet means here became his most famous one: 'Déjeuner sur l'herbe'
Manet's quote to his friend Antonin Proust in 1862, from Manet, Francoise Cachin, Barrie & Jenkins, London 1991, p. 16
1850 - 1875

Women , Tear , Summer , Painting

“My dear Zola, - I am making up my mind to hold a private show. I have at least two score pictures to exhibit. I've already already been offered a site in a very good location near the Champ de Mars. I am going to stake the lot and seconded by men like yourself, am hopeful of success. See you soon. Cordially, yours ever, All of us here are delighted with your article, and I am instructed to send you thanks.”

Edouard Manet

Quote of Manet's letter to Zola, Wednesday, 2 January 1867; as quoted on: SCRIBD - 'Manet's letters' https://www.scribd.com/document/344176445/manets-letters-worksheet
1850 - 1875

Men , Hope , Success

“In a face, look for the main light and the main shadow; the rest will come naturally — it's often not important. And then you must cultivate your memory, because Nature will only provide you with references. Nature is like a warden in a lunatic asylum. It stops you from becoming banal.”

Edouard Manet

Source: Posthumous publications, Portrait of Manet by himself and his contemporaries (1960), p. 98.

Nature , Light , Memory