Édouard Manet started at the studio of the painter Thomas Couture. He painted modern scenes, including the Parisian bourgeoisie, beggars, prostitutes, and the destruction caused by the Franco-Prussian war. During the 1860s, the Salon rejected many of his works, causing controversy among critics for his famous paintings, including Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe (1862–1863) and Olympia (1863). Despite not aiming to be provocative, Manet revolutionized art with his portrayal of modern subjects, unconventional brushwork, and photographic style, shaping the new French avant-garde.
Manet remained a leader among the Impressionist circle throughout the 1870s, though he did not exhibit his work with them, choosing instead to exhibit independently after further rejections by the Salon. Two years prior to his death in 1881, he was awared by the French Legion of Honor. Manet’s work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
