21 January 1832

On January 23rd, 1832, the impressionist painter Édouard Manet was born in Paris. The son of Auguste Manet, a public officer, and Eugénie-Désirée Fournier, Édouard soon proved to be a poor student, more interested in painting than formal education, and his father’s efforts to address him towards law studies were useless: when he was 18 years old, Manet started to attend the studio of Thomas Couture, who would train him for six years. In 1856, he started his own studio and he traveled for a short time to other European countries, developing his innovative style. In 1863, he married a Dutch woman and his paintings started to create a stir: his Luncheon on the grass and the later Olympia were criticized for their female characters, considered too realistic and provocative. Manet’s pictures continued to be rejected by the most prestigious galleries, disapproved by the critics and the artistic establishment for some time until, after a public praise by the writer Émile Zola, some critics began to appreciate his art. After joining the army during the Franco-German war of 1870-1871, the painter went back to Paris, where his friendship with Claude Monet strengthened. Despite knowing the other impressionists, Manet never entered their group and he went on exhibiting his paintings alone. He died because of a disease that affected his legs in 1883, when he was 51 years old, after receiving the French Légion d’honneur. His artistic merits and his role of a pioneer of the impressionism movement and modern art were only recognized in the 20^th century.