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Edouard Manet Facts & Worksheets

Edouard Manet was a French painter known for his The Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia. He was one of the firsts 19th-century painters to depict everyday scenes and modern life of people during the transition of art into realism and impressionism.

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Edouard Manet was a French painter known for his The Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia. He was one of the firsts 19th-century painters to depict everyday scenes and modern life of people during the transition of art into realism and impressionism.

See the fact file below for more information on Edouard Manet or alternatively, you can download our 24 page Edouard Manet worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Early Life

  • On January 23, 1832, Edouard Manet was born in Paris, France. He came from the bourgeois family of Auguste Manet, a high-ranking judge, and Eugénie-Désirée Fournier, diplomat’s daughter. His father wanted him to become a lawyer but young Edouard showed interest in art.
  • His uncle, Edmond Fournier, frequently took him to the Louvre and supported his interests in art.
  • In 1841, Manet entered the College Rollin. He enrolled in a special course in drawing as advised by his uncle.
  • In 1848, he boarded a training vessel to Brazil as part of his father’s suggestion for him to take on a seafaring life. After two failed attempts to pass the examination for the navy, Manet’s father finally relented to his interest in art.
  • At the age of 18, he studied art under the apprenticeship of Thomas Couture. Manet learned the basics of drawing and painting. In his spare time, he visited the Louvre to copy the works of the Old Masters.
  • Between 1853 and 1856, he traveled to Italy, Germany and the Netherlands and was greatly influenced by the works of Frans Hals, Francisco José de Goya and Diego Velázquez.

Edouard Manet’s Struggles and Success as a Painter

  • After years of academic art study, Manet opened his own studio and produced his first work, The Absinthe Drinker. His early attempts at realism showed canvasses featuring beggars, street people, bullfights and singers. Manet submitted his first work to an official art exhibition in France but it was rejected.
  • Some viewers were impressed while others thought his style was slapdash.
  • In 1863, he submitted The Luncheon on the Grass at the Salon but it was rejected. Instead of giving up, he exhibited his work at the Salon des Refuses or Salon of the Rejected, a parallel exhibition of the official Salon.
  • The Luncheon on the Grass featured his wife, Suzanne Leenhoff, future brother-in-law Ferdinand, and model Victorine Meurent. The nude female alarmed the selection committee from the annual Paris Salon. In 1865, Manet submitted Olympia but the jury once again rejected his work. Olympia was inspired Titian’s Venus of Urbino. His boldness in style was deemed too scandalous for the general public, yet his contemporaries saw the opposite.
  • After a year, he went to Spain and met novelist Emile Zola. In addition, he also befriended Impressionists painters like Paul Gauguin, Paul Cėzanne, Edgar Degas and Claude Monet.
  • By 1870, Manet served as a soldier during the Franco-German War. His studio was greatly damaged but he was still able to sell some pieces to art dealer Paul Durand Ruel.
  • It was only in the 1870s when his works finally received fame. His pieces including At the Cafe, The Beer Drinkers, and The Cafe Concert impressed viewers. Despite his bourgeois upbringing, Manet featured subjects of both the common and elite classes.

Later Life, Death and Legacy

  • In 1874, he was invited to the first Impressionists exhibit but he turned it down to remain devoted to the Salon. After a year, he was commissioned to draw the illustration for Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven.
  • During his lifetime, Manet painted around 420 pieces. Some works depicted his wife Suzanne, like The Reading, and his son Leon in Boy Carrying a Sword.
  • By 1881, the French government awarded him with the Légion d’honneur.
  • On April 30, 1883, Edouard Manet died in Paris and was buried in the Passy Cemetery. He is considered one of the pivotal figures during the transition from realism to impressionism. Moreover, some scholars regard him as one of the founding fathers of modern art.

Edouard Manet Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about painter Edouard Manet across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Edouard Manet worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Edouard Manet who was a French painter known for his The Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia. He was one of the firsts 19th-century painters to depict everyday scenes and modern life of people during the transition of art into realism and impressionism.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Edouard Manet Facts
  • Father of Modern Art
  • Mix and Match
  • Crossing Time
  • Picture Wall
  • Contemporaries
  • Word of Art
  • A or B?
  • Realism v. Impressionism
  • Impressionism
  • Olympia

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Link will appear as Edouard Manet Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, April 25, 2018

Use With Any Curriculum

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