【講演】 Édouard Manet,Théodore Duret and Japan: Representation of Japanese Aesthetics in the late 19th Century Europe,
Japan Forum, The Edwin Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Oct. 2, 1998.
Edouard Manet, Theodore Duret and Japan
- - representations of Japanese aesthetics in the late 19th Century Europe
in the contexte of Japonisme--
Friday, October 2, 1998, Harvard
University
Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
Shigemi INAGA
Associa te Professor
International
Research
Centre for
Japanese Studies
Kyoto, Japan
0.
As
~
who
Edouard
title
played
Manet
.laponisant,
,
the
my
indicates,
the
role
and
Japan.
talk
proposes
of
Theodore
a
By
bridge
Duret
between
focusing
several
(1838 - 1927)
on
new
19th
this
Century
forgotten
hypothesis
as
French
for
symbolic
'"
~
significance
extent
aesthetics?
artist
as
century?
did
And
one
t
lA'" ot)oT~c.~d
Edouard
traces
in
the
Manet's
thirdly,
of
the
why
Manet's
Dejeuner
conception
of
Japonisant
aesthetics
how
most
did
was
Modern
Manet's
important
influences~ And
"..as
influence ,;"
?
We
of
and
Manet's
(\...LIAV'C/~
J
)
v",
in
l'herbe
Secondly,
contribute
aptheosis
artists
sur
art?
to
realizied,
the
yet
such
facts
second
have
obtain
a
how and
to
the
Modernist
constituting
half
of
his
shall
neglected
see
personal
that
by
the
Duret's
interventions
collective memory. The politics of
posterity,
influence
are
~blivion
.r.~ IMA.~" ~
Bee..
almost
CAMI ( now"'
even by the specialis ts of Manet studies n&
personal
imply
and
painter,
the
the
19th
will argue that in all these three questions Theodore Duret exercized
non - negligeable
%0£ s::<!
how
tant-=-
crit~
art
Japonisme. Mainly three questions can be raised.
Firstly,
f' QN ~ 0""\..-
was an . ; r
is
0
hys. How and why Duret's
and
all
almost
completely
wha t
does
the
more
completely
this negligence
crucial
erased
as
the
from
our
by and around Theodore Duret is the
basso consonante of our discussion.
Let
Dejeuner
sur
us
bej:lin
l'herbe
~~~~~~~~
by
1-... S loe~"
~
the
believed
first
to
question.
have
Manet's
provoked
a
famous
scandal
at
pain tings
the
Le
Parisien
Salon des refuses in ;1863. It has been commonly said (at least until in the late
70's) that the year
The
monopoly of
1863 marks a symbolic year in the evolution of modern art .
the state run art market Salon was shaken by the Salon des
-1 -
t
refuses
authorized
thatl
independent artists put
a nd
the
professors
year
by
the
Emperor
Napoleon
1II
himse lf;
the
K
into doute the authority of the Aca demie des Beaux-Arts
of
the
lOcole
des
Beaux-Arts;
the
then
dominant
historical
yie ld
their
s upre macy
;.
paintings
a nd
r e ligious . pa intings
classical
hierar;!1,
life;
subject
of
A
the
Fine
were
arts
to
a lso
to
landscape
and
genre
paintings
in
the
of
everyday
mythological or historical,
were no
. ~
matter
or anecdote, e ithe r
longer of primary importance and what mattered henceforth was "the plane surface
covered by colors assembled in a certain order" ["Ia surface pla ne recouverte de
coule urs
1890.
dans
From
un
the
certain
ordre
assembles" ] as
symbolical year of
1863,
of
~
[" Nouve lle pe inture "] , to borrow the term
Maurice
Denis
wo uld
It
put
in
the awakening of the "Ne w Painting"
Edmond Duranty, was set forth.
The most devoted promotors of these ideas were, Andre Malraux, Georges
Bata ille a nd
Gaetan Picon, among others.
the Olympia,
stains
the blue
table-cloth of the Dejeuner s ur I'he rbe a re
of colo rs and its
re present e d
things".
material is
Bataille,
that
in
this
painting,
that
all
else
falls
Malraux declared "the pink pe noire of
faithful
"the
into
that of
to
brightness
silence".
the pigme nt
his
a nd
According
and
e vide ntly
not
that
theory
of
sacrifice,
dissona nce
of
colors
to
Picon,
Gaetan
of
the
t he
formulated
are
so
Manet's
great
Dejeuner
sur I 'herbe marked the symbolic de pa rture of t he "birth of the Modern pa inting "
["Nanissance de I' Art mode rne" ].
So muc h ink has been already she d on the "scanda l of the Salon des
ai
refuses"
1863, and The Dejeuner sur I'herbe was singled out,
Symphony in White as the main targets
not
s ure
since
whe n
notorious
focus
of
welcomed
by
the
rather
the
"provocative " a nd
c hosen for a
railler y",
scanda l".
Theodore
Duret
Dejuener
attention.
r e ma rks
yet
by
Chesneau
these
reported
in
is
t he
I'he rbe
true
really
that
main
Thore=BOrger found
there
do not
de
lOdoua rd
Ma net
scholar, Alan Krell blamed
lIimmense
{I;r
raillet>;"
responsible
for
a nd
the
et
biography of
son
oeuvre.
Theodore Duret of
declared
staging
de
of
that
this
no other
It
a
testify
the
pa inting
was
a rt
c ritics:
Manet's (three)
"subject
to
the
matter
"immense
Manet publised in
0.'
t( ..
was in 1983 that one
1902,
~
t...
Histoire
the
become
conte mprary
recognized
re ma rks
his
sur
It
defected anatomy,
Ernest
And
of the public resentme nt. However we are
the
public
negative
Castagna r y pointed out
paintings
precisely
with Whistler's
f'
young
the fa llacious fabrication of this
than
mythological
Theodore Duret
scanda le
of
the
was ma inly
Dejeuner
sur
I'herbe in 1863.
More c uriollS than Alain Krell 's condamnation is the fact that Theodore
Dure t ,
who
was
to
become
the first
historiographe r
of
Ma net's Life a nd
(beside Edmond Bazille's accounts a nd An tonin Proust's memoire)
-2-
~
Work
by no means
(fAtal
\?.e..er'
\r<i'1f'>
1863. At that year Duret. a t the age of
/eyewitness of the Salon des re fuses of
25.
was
a
young
his
hometown
re publican
Saintes.
and
opposition
the
the
at
regional newspape r
his e lectora l c~aign day by day. Judging from
could no t have
-r9
candidate
legislative
Inde pe ndant
elec tion
in
de Saints de picts
the sche dules and dates. Duret
the time to go to Paris to have a look at the Salon des r efues
ney<t. ~~
this
year.
Duret's
alibi
[A13bai]
of
abse nce
at
the
Salon
des
refuses:
this
supporte d
by
Duret 's
own
~. \lie \IlZ.A
simple fact !las not been r eveale d by a ny scholar until now.
t \p-("\.L ~ 1$1,. ~t
This" s urprising
revelation
is
implicitely
account in his biogra phy of Manet. For Duret describes his unexpec te d e ncounte r
with Manet in Madrid in 1865 as their first meeting.
This
provoke d
in
Ma ne t
the Salon.
of
restaurant
year,
the
that he
Hotel
near Puerta de l Sol.
was so frustrated
de
fled
Paris.
by
the
scan daly his Olympia had
from
Paris
to the Spanish capita l.
At
opened
only
two
situated
years
earlier
and
the
Mane t we re pushing bac k a ll the dishes he ha d ordered as
being not e dible . Duret. who had
just arrived from Portugal by a coach. was so
hungry that he asked the waiter to bring bac k the dishes Mane t had r e jected, and
began
to
eat
them
with
an
e normous
appetite.
At
this
scene.
Manet
lost
his
temper
a nd stood up to confront this stra nger, by saying: "you a r e ma king fun
of.
knowing
me,
stranger
[Duret
that
I
am
himself]
was
Ma ne t. .... .
totally
at
this
pe rplexed,
s tate me nt.
because
Duret
he
had
narra t es.
ne ve r
the
heard
of
the na me of Manet nor the scandal in question •.•
How could it be possible. then tha t Duret had known Ma net' s supposed
scandal
of
possible
to s uppose, from
but
the
Dejeuner
sur
l'he rbe
two
years
earlie r?
By
the
way.
it
is
this well-known anecdete. that Duret late r imprudently
candide l y projected this ne rvous reaction of Manet he observed in Madrid in
1865 ( afte r
the (real) scandal of
des r efuses of
the OlymlPia.) back into
the
contex t
of Salon
1863, as if Manet ha d · also been welcomed by a simila r "imme nse
ra illerie" [reilari] that year.
Anyway.
Manet 's acquaintance with Duret is date d from
this happe ning
and the record preserve d at the Prado Museum confirmes that Ma ne t a nd Duret
visited Ghe
Prad~ togatherJon
Exposition
unive rselle (in
fra nc;:ais e n
1867
a nd
Sep.
1865. Two years later. at t he occasion of
I,
1867 ~ Duret
published
devot e d one c hapte r
his
first
to Ma ne t. The
book
painte r
on
Pe intres
made a small
portrait of the young art c ritic in toke n of their friendship ...
*
Now
making
back f to
1863 .
What
is
more
Sign{ficative
tha n
the m ythological
of the Scandal of the Dejeuner s ur l ' he rbe is a nothe r scandal which was
to be r e pressed a nd forgotten since then. One huge painting by Gustave Courbet,
- 3-
Re tour
de
la
confer e nce,
not only r e fused by the
"for
1863,
This
the
of a rousing
t he a nger a mong
Eugenie
o bvious,
le tte rs.
is
"I
ma de
bring me a
I
inten~d
G-:Jo.
t he
the
ta ble au in
the
was
.l'c~€
the
re ligio us
of
<!IilAel l3ion
a
mora lit y" .
his tor ical
a nd
catholic a uthori ties surrounding t he
himself
orde r
de cla re d
that
it
as
should
f ollows
be
Impe ra trice
one
In
re ject e d ;
of
which
his
would
money ". Courbe t' s a nti -clerical
outset
at
procession ,
the Salon des r efuses of
agains t
the
in
s phe re of the pe riod . Gus tave Courbet 's inte ntion
to
provoke
a
a,
of
beginning
machine de gue rre was
"" ~
/"' >:' ''''''-'1
scanda l
rdem~,Etratjng.J)his
")J(
political
ti"-"J
2(K
pa inting , Re to ur de la confe r e nce, is said
~~teriallY ~estroyJi{ as
ca tholic
priests
from
outrage
with
to the Second Empire . The
to have been
fana tic
this
drunke n
R;';;)'Ywas simply too muc h bl{sphe mous t o be
3.3
Courbe t
fort une, the
fro m
opposition
a nd
an
carica ture
(2.3n';'~ [on]
Fre~ch7'PUblic
presente d in a ny
~
commiting
a nti - cle r ical
pa inting
t he
Salon but a lso r e ject e d
reason of
outs poke n
re ligious
re presenting
"scandalous a nd impious dirt y tric "
the
20 th
Century
1m¢: • thus ?
. " _. (h~
--~~==~-----------­
exists.
no
~
lo nger
( ' ~ fC\r,,~
Curiously e nough , howeve r, this r eal scanda l of Courbe t 's Retour de la
confe re nce in
1863 is comple t e ly e clipsed a nd hidde n by c.he m ythological scanda l
of Ma ne t' s Oe june r sur l' he rbe. By c ompa ring the fate of these t wo pa intings, it
can be said t ha t
of
Ma ne t' s
Mode rnist historiogra phy re quire d a f alse inven tion of t he
De je une r
retrospective ly--
s ur
t he
l'he rbe
t riQmph
of
order
In
"a utonomy of
to
ina ugura te
art" ,
and
whe r eas
myth
cele bra t e
t he
double
scanda l
of C ourbe t' s Re tour de la Conference, being refused f rom the Salon des refuses,
was
a lso
Ta lking
r e ject e d ,
a bo ut
the
a nd
a nachronic
pre te nde d
to
for
the
thi r d
polit ica l
scanda lous
be
f r ee
scanda l
in
f ro m
time,
t he
a ny
from
of
an
political
ra tif ie d by its being re fused to be
mode rnis t
a rt
a n ti- re ligious
concep tion
of
historiogra phy.
pa inting
mode rn
involve me nt .
was not o nly ma t e ria lly lost; but
masterpiece
t he
is
i t self
histor y,
which
Courbet's
absurd
a rt
Thus
its m ateria l loss was in a sense
re m e m bere d as a scanda l, on t he symbo lical
le ve l of historiogra phy.
And it mus t be no t e d t ha t Theodore Duret himself was closely e ngaged
In
this
symbolical
buria l
("ente rre m e nt")
of
t his
last
huge
[a n ti - ]his to rical
pa inting by Cour be t . By a c urious coincide nce, t he pa inting ha d been executed in
1862 in a
Saintes,
progress.
t he
t he
be longing t o Dur et ' s own brothe r in la w, E t ine nne
ba rn
a nd
Dure t
And
yet,
confessed
in
his
having
biogra phy
birt h of O m a ns'?, Master , in
a bs ur dities
c reation.
While
a nd
worthlessness
justifying
closel y assisted
the
of
Courbe t
19 18,
Dure t
of
s uc h
loss
- 4-
of
in
pe rson
publishe d
at
at
the
trie d ·to pe rsua de
a
s uch
polit ical
a
higly
work
Baudr y in
t he
work
in
cente nnia l
of
the
reade rs
in
politically
of
Courbe t' s
c ha r ged
pi
propaganda mac hine , Duret spared more than 10% of his pages 'on this los t work -a pla in contradiction - - which he had known better than anyone e lse.
All
Courbet
as
of
an
Duret's
artist
...... k."
political figure,
19 19, at
at
effort
the
seems
price
of
IN' bv?
unde r
to
the influence of
be
concentrate d
definitive l y
Pierre Joseph
on
oblitrating
re habilita ting
Courbet
as
Proud'hon. Duret added
the e nd of his new e di !ion of Manet' s boigraphy , that
~ ~j
in
"the historical
painting to which ma n has given the name of Great Art is no longer but a memory
~.
~:c.of
0. v ~ 1"",,"e»'" I:i~
f 1-7
~
the
the past".
[n short,
canonizat ion
historical
of
writings,
poli ticiza tion"
of
Manet's
the
triompht
Dejeuner
sur
k
l'he rbe
Linda
Nochlin's
elimination
Mode rn
Art
(to
!
-5 -
hand
historical
the
political maneuver.
went
~ a nd
father of
of
with
use
founding
in
ha nd,
painting.
te rm)
was
in
Duret's
The
"de-
itself
a
2
It
r e publican
du
wa s
a ft e r
fri e nd
and
monde. Before
the
r ich
Pa r is
Commune
ba nke r ,
He nri
that
Dure t
fle d
Paris
Cenruschi (1 82 1- 1898),
se tting sail to New York on June 8,
to
with
ma ke
a
his
t our
187 1, Dure t wro t e from
Liverpool to f: doua rd Ma net: "I am so conf used to le ave Europe without paying f or
your pa intings." It
is kno wn
that during t he
Commune
Ma ne t de posite d his m a in
paintings with Dure t , a nd c ons tit ute d Duret as the executor of his will, in case
of
pa inte r 's
death .
Af t e r
c rossing
the
Atla ntic
a nd
Cenruschi disemba rke d in Yokoha ma on Oct o be r 28,
stay
in
books,
Japa n ,
they
including
the
purc hased
huge
many
bronze
bornze
s ta tue
U.S.A.
Dure t
a nd
187 1. During the i r two month
wares,
of
the
the
ceramics,
Meguro
ukiyoe- pr ints
Bo uddha ,
the
a nd
la r giest
s pecime n e ver t o be brough t out f rom J a pan.
On
Oc tobe r
5,
1872,
s ho rtly
be for e
e mba rking
for
t he
re turn
trip,
Duret wro t e a gain to Ma ne t f ro m Pondiche r y. "It seem s as if we ha d not writte n
each
othe r
fo r
centuri!T..
Cernuschi
will
S(/'o\,.. r"(M{<J€ ~
collection ofJ\ bronzes,
t ha t
completel y
you.
overwhe lm
Imme diately
aft er
bring
no body has e ve r
would
Dure t' s
re turn
no t
to
back
seen.
say
The re
any
F ra nce,
f rom
mo re
an
Japa n
are
[Je
a nd
C hina
a
pieces which will
ne
dira is
impressionnis t
que
pa inte r ,
o;:a]."
Camille
'-../
P issarro,
a bout
wro t e
J a pa n .
a rtistic".
was
to
I am
hi m ,
so
"I
will
inte r est e d in
With his a ccomplis he d
expected
to
r eally
ser ve
as
a
be
t hat
de lighte d
we
can
ta lk
t ogathe r
ex traordina r y count r y, so fres h a nd so
mission in
sorte
if
of
J a pa n , D ure t, as a
a postle
of
J a pa nese
ra re
eyewitness,
aesthe t ics
in
his
f rie ndly Parisien a r tistic circles.
Wha t we r e t he n the lessons Manet a nd impressionist pa inters could draw
fro m
Dure t' s
expe rie nce
s umma rize the m
dra wing,
in
second;
r estra int of
in
Japa n .
i"" fo(I . .. ~
three p6ints.
the
the
bold
As
fa r
as
the
expressive lines of
Fir s t,
a rra ngem e nt
European acade mic
of
linear
pa inting
the
is
pictoria l
pe rs pective
c oncerne d ,
t he
pla ne,
we
can
s ponta neous
f ree
a nd third , t he
from
the
wide usage
of inte ns ive pure c olors unde r the luminosi ty of the ope n air .
Firs tl y,
a
stroke,
as
striking
f or
Ma net 's
example
can
inte rest
be
found
in
in
Ja pa nese
Ma ne t' s
a nd
drawing
Orie ntal
of
the
brus h
J a pa nese
s panie l, na me d Tama, whic h Duret has brought back f rom Yama to- K6riyama in J a pa n.
On
a
same
imitations
was
leaf,
of
Japa nese
pre pa ring
tra ns lated
for
into
in tent iona lly
inde btedness
Ma ne t
le ft
to
the
painte rs ' seals
the
F r e nc l]
ma de
lithogra phic
by
t his
J a pa nese
his
f rie nd
s tud y
so
lessons.
In
s ketch
a nd
of
t he
the
dog
head
of
illust ra tion
St e pha ne
as
his
- 6-
to
of
togathe r
the
Edgar
Ma lla rme.
It
de m ons tra t e
important
a r t icle,
with
a wkward
ra ve n , whic h
Ala n
seems
Poe 's
as
Ma ne t
Ra ve n,
if
Ma net
ost e nta t ious l y
"Le
J a pon
a
his
Pa r is",
publishe d
in
Gazette
des
Beaux-Arts
"bold dripping" ("tache hardi") of
in
1878,
Ernest
C hesneau
applauded
the
Ma net 's dra wing of the Raven as a remarkable
achievement of the Japonisant aesthetics.
It
a nd
is
of
Work
the r efor e
t doua rd
no s urpirse
Manet
tha t
(1902),
Duret,
tried
to
in
his
biogra phy of The
convince
his
reade rs
of
Life
Ma ne t' s
audacious inovation in dra wing by compa ring him with Hokusai.
"In Ma net 's case, the drawings gene ra lly r e main in the state of ske t c h
("esquisse") or draft ("croquis").
fusitive
aspect,
a
move me nt,
These drawings
a
trait
or
we re
an
execute d so as to grasp a
e minant
detail
( ... ).
The
slightest
object or its de tail, which ha d interes te d his eye was imme deat e l y fixed on the
pape r. These drafts o r
drawings whic h we can call snap -shots, s how how sure ly
Manet graspe d the c ha racteris tic
To compare
knew
how
trait , the decisive move me nt to be single d out.
with Ma net in t his order, I can fi nd nobody e lse but Hokusai, who
to
combine
t he
simplifica tion
with
a
pe rfect
de t e rmination
of
the
c haract e r in his drawing ma de of the first attack on the Mangoua . Also Ma ne t
muc h a dmire d what he c ould see of Hokusai, a nd the volumes of Mangoua accessible
to him we r e welcomed by his unconditiona l pra ise" (Duret 1902/ 1906, p.2 11).
dra wings
Thus,
thanks
were
justified
apparently
positive ly
this
as
uncertain
a ppreciated
instantaneous
the
to
Hokusai's
as
as
his
of
with
the
e levated
fixes
his
vision
the
a rm ,
on
the
f ugitive
than
Japanese
paper
by
defect.
first
for
fugitive
the
aspec ts.
Duret
the
no r etouc h
("de
was
s pontaneous
"Handling
whom
"unfinishe d"
s troke
Moreover ,
by
attack
c riticized
brush
aesthetics.
a rtists,
the
in
as pects
"impressionnistic"
the
the
rather
of
fixation
t echnique
me rit
of
Manet's often
instantaneous
capricious
a nd
fixation
essence
an
Ma nga,
pri me
His
a lso
de fine d
drawing
paintbrush
is
possible,
saut"),
with
a
boldness, gracefulness a nd confide nce". And This is why, according to Dure t , "the
Japanese a rtists are worth be ing r ecognized as the firs t and the most pe r fect of
the Impressionists" (Duret, 1885, p.167).
However,
Duret's explanation would have easily lost its ground
if the
fact had been known that Hokusai a nd o the r ukiyo-e c rafts me n did not ma ke t he ir
drawing
sur Ie
by
the
f irst
attack
("de
prime
sau t") (lor
by
capturing
living
("saisir
vif "), but that the ir technique depende d muc h more on "de c hic", i. e. on
a "me mory of the hand" as Cha rles Baude laire despisingly difine d. The a ppare ntly
improvised
"s ketch
made
a ft e r
("dessin
life
d' a pres
nature ") of
the
Manga,
was
in realit y more based o n the physical skill of the habitua l hand trained by the
repetitive
nature
copying
a nd
a uthe ntica ting
of ! masters '
mode l,
sponta neous
fixation
of
Manet's
impressionist
ra the r
i ts
than
on
t he
effects.
In
s hort ,
aesthetics
- 7-
by
refering
direct
observation
Duret's
to
effort
Hokusai's
of
of
Manga
.t
proves to be baseless and positively mileading ••..
Secondly,
pictorial
plane,
in
terms
clearly
of
composition,
indifferent
to
the
the
free
academic
arrangement
principle
of
of
the
the
Western
linear perspective, is commonly observed in the layout of Hokusai's Manga. Duret
observes that "in the first volume of Mangua, the human figures and objects have
only one inch or so, and scattered here and there, from the top
of the pages, without the ground to
forward
And
("repousser").
and economy
yet,
to the bottom
sustain them nor the background to put them
they are
posed
there
with such a
convenience
that each of them retains its movement and characteristics of its
own lank and position" (Duret, J 882, p. J 67).
Once
"decoupage",
what
again,
and
"assemblage"
the contemprary
diverse
sources
curiously
and
enough,
"montage
ll
it
observed
European
critics blamed
from
classics
ranging
such
was
the
in
similar
Hokusai's
Manet for.
Ti tiano,
as
strangeness
Manga,
that
Quoting freely
Velasquez
and
image~
and
distorted
figures.
where
the
public
or
miscalculated
Such
shortcomings
noticed
perspective
in
Manet,
apparent
and
lack
of
anatomically
however,
could
from
composition
perfectly
to
combined
skill,
disproportionate
be
was
Goya
graphic illustrations and reproduction prints, Manet used to make up 4
of
human
defended
in
terms of Japanese aesthetics visualized in Hokusai's Manga, and ukiyo-e prints.
[t would be misleading and preposterous, however, to suppose that the
discovery of Japanese prints encouraged Manet
10
composition.
confirmation
ex
Rather
post
it
was
facto
to
only
Manet's
to venture into such (( anormalities
later
that
Hokusai's
previous
choices
(/
/
examples
gave
and
Duret's explanation
and
its
did justice to Manet' s boldness only as an ulterior catch up./
Thirdly,
the
intensity
of
pure
primary
colors
juxtaposition
in
a bright open air condition were a constant preoccupation of Theodore Duret. As
an
eyewitness
intentional
could
of
Japan's
exaggeration,
appear
excessive
nature of Japan". [n
"When
harsh
that
colors
there
effects of
For,
these
that
at
J 880,
Duret
"the
first
vivid
claimed,
primary
sight,
were
new
out,
side
by
procedure
nature we had
Japanese
reality
side,
worth
neglected or
images,
was
without
ukiyo-e
Quite
some
prints which
faithful
to
the
which
we
on
where the most contrasting and
the leaf,
trying
thought
had,
which
the
Mantz, when he criticized in
term
J 863
chosen
at
by
we finally
would
understood
reproduce
certain
impossible to render until
first,
were, in reality, astoniphingly faithful to the nature". (Duret
"Bariolage"
of
not
Duret wrote retrospectively as follows:
spread
a
probablly
colors
in
we looked at Japanese images,
were
was
nature,
a
taken
for
J 885:
p.67).
conservative
art
a
then.
"bariolage"
critic·,
Paul
the violent tone of colors IOdouard Manet had
- 8-
<
e mploye d
in
his
"bariolage",
or
"faithfulness
privileged
an
to
nature "
Valence.
of
to
nature
to
prints,
brightest
de
inharm6nious
trave lle r
'faithf ulness
ukiyo-e
Laura
whe r e,
r,
jam
c rude
J a pa n,
Duret
Dure t
a
put
usual,
prima ry
Duret
was
la
of
by
"the
the
the
As
to
Japanese
blue,
this
on
prints.
testify
the
the
justify
insisting
to
of
gr een,
to
Japa nese
e ntitle d
nature")
by side
tried
colors,
colorat ion
it ,
jux taposed side
as
of
the
("fide lite
as
tone [we r e ]
He re
a
s uc h
landscape
re d in their
without any inte rme dia r y half -tone
or transition" (Duret 1885: p.I 7).
Incide ntally
---or
more
tha n
incidentally- - ,
it
was
in
1874-,
or
jus t
one year after Dure t' s re turn from Japan, that I'.doua rd Manet went to Argente uil
a nd,
toga ther with
side,
without
Claude
Monet, painte d
attenua tion",
the
most
the la ndscape
striking
tones,
by
juxtaposing "side by
just
as
Theodore
Duret
recomme nde d the m to prac tice as "a new procedure worth trying ". However, Ma ne t' s
Argenteuil,
salonie rs
by
at
the
of
its
supe rnatura l
because
its
deviation
friendly
an
presente d
c ritic
f rom
like
indigo- m a niac
pa inte rs
we r e
a n ill - nature d c ritic is m
baseless-color
anti-thesis
Impressionists'
and
too
eye
lazy
Karl
from
of
to
sever e l y
"pushe d
painting.
cla iming
to
we r e
r esis t
the
but
truth
Huysmans '
diag nosis,
the
the
a nd
even
a
or
impressionist
was
faithf ulness
against
suc h
me ntione d
to
natur e
opinion,
effect
ma ny
"indigomanie",
It
it
in
was
its
not
r~tina was too weak
Europeans '
light
that
the a bove
fantastic
by
paroxysm"
so
it
("daJtonisme").
print 's
that
of
a nd
calle d
D uret 's
ill,
its
ironically
blindness
J a pa nese
c riticized
to
So
that Theodore Duret formula t e d
t hat
to
"Huysmans
color
was
indigo- blue
According
According
r e ndition.
1875
"ortography"
disease.
suffering
of
~
the
Joris
Salon
the
Japanese
eye
could
ex pe rie nce in the open a ir.
•
f ar
So
interpretation
of
pe rceived
l.e.
it,
we
have
Edouard
(i)
examine d
Manet,
in
s pontane ity
in
three
c haracteris t ics
r efere nce
drawing
to
(ij)
Japanese
f reedom
in
art,
in
Duret's
as
Duret
compositiona l
a r rangem e n t and (iii) the bold coloration.
Throughout
Ma ne t
proved
between
to
Japanese
these
be
three
s trongly
aesthe tics
points,
biased ,
a nd
Theodore
Duret's
excessive ly
Manet 's
art .
It
way
of
exaggerating
seems
as
if
inte rpreting
the
affinities
t hese simila rities
between the two would save Manet from the public incompre he nsion a nd gua ra ntee,
instead, the m e rit of his c r eation. "Ja pa n" was a magical spell to transmute the
notorious
process
excentricity f of
of
e la borated.
alche my
Le t
us
Mane t 's
that
re mind
Duret 's
work
into
idea
here that
- 9-
--or
its
utmost
ideology--
qua lity.
of
It
in
t his
Impressionis m
was
Duret is regarded as one of
was
the
earliest
c hampio ns
a nd
surpris ing,
then,
Impressionis m
a uthorities
to
re mark
were
la r gely
of
Ma net
tha t
a nd
Duret's
re lyi ng
the
view of
upo n
his
Impressionists.
Ma ne t
and
exaggerate d
It
his
a nd
wo uld
be
whole idea of
a lmost
fa n tatic
id~ which we can now call Duret's Japonisme.
If"" j"'f'o'('~~t,
bias
rP
C'V1
e"" I, Ie","
i:c.
IAve
f 5
t
~
the
and
in
my
o pinion,
fa ntasy,
did
c ontribute
founding
vital
r ol e
important
fat he r
in
and
the
of
the
process
Duret's
to
the
Mode rnist
of
re presen tative
Japonisme
defense
aesthe t ics.
canoniz ing
a rtist
in
and
the
aesthetics,
a nd
illustration
Indeed,
Duret
l egitimiz ing
second
despite
half
of
was
Mane t
of
its
Manet,
to
as
the
s trong
play
the
19th
as
a
most
Century
French Art Histor y. In the third a nd fina l part of m y talk, I would like to put
forward this hypothesis.
ha9/ a
~
vi i
stheti
Impre
,
io nsit
impo tance
m o b · ized
i
the
10
painters)
t he
is
legi llJizing a nd cano lz ing M
ess
d
of
my
opinion,
stration
0
Our
i
j
- 10 -
ure t
I
S
J
onisme
of
the
with
of
3
Edouard
Manet
regarde d
unanimousl y as
French
19th
was
s till
Century
a
highly
the
a rt
controversial
painter
history.
who
Let
will
us
figure,
represent
take
just
a nd
was
the
mains tream
three
by
typical
no
means
of
the
examples
of
criticism to Manet .~ ".e:hro~pecl'..re,
First, Edmond About, who was to e nte r into the Academie franGaise that
year,
could
not
tole rate
the
Manet
retros pective
to
be
he ld at
the
Ecole
des
Beaux- Arts. "Why didn't Manet come to the Art School while he was s till a live;
~
then he could possibly have been ma de a
un peintre"]. For About,
dunghill"[" e norme
-
pa inte r" ["on e n aurait fait pe ut -e tre
all the work left
fumier"],
a nd
it
was
by Manet was simply a n "e nourmous
out
of
Question
to comme morate
at
the
Ecolf! a n artist who had r e jected the teaching of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts• • t)plf,
Second,
Albert
Kaempfa n,
then
Directeur des
Beaux-Arts ha d declared
that
to ask the ha ll of the Beaux-Arts for the Manet re trospective _
a lmost
cI
""ra mounr to ask the arch.ti?ichop to open the gate of .the Cathedra le Notre Dame for
s~rvoltaire
the glor ification of,
day,
had
[fa mous atheist in t he Enlighte nme nt].
Third,
Albe rt
Wolff,
one of
publishe d
in
Le
Figaro,
"Manet
did
not
ha ve
of
the
May
most
I,
influencial
1883,
a rt
an obituary
c ritics
of
the
to Manet,
and
declare d:
on t he wall
the
satisfaction of finding one of his
paintings
of the Luxembourg Muse um [the n the National Museum for Conte mporary
Art]. Future will revenge him by placing Le Bon Bock and L'Enfant
a
I' e pee at
the Louvres. It is an e nough glory for an a rtist to die at the age of 50 a nd to
leave behind himself two pages worth being collec t e d a mong the ma nifestations of
~
Frenc h painting"a
Judgeing
is
rather
srJous
a
positive
c halle nge
implicit e l y
from
to
de nie d
to
the
totalit y
account
the
on
Manet's
defende rs
recognize
(about
of
any
60)
work.
Manet.
value
...t
of
obituaries,
Still,
Wolff's
For,
by
",II
either
to
judgeme nt
this
the
Wolff's
opinion
was
a
stateme nt). Wolff
Olympia
or
to
the
De je une r sur I' he rbe. f.... Moreover, Le Bon Bock was famous for its fl e mish brown
dark tone and
unde r
the
L'Enfant a I' e pee was a n early piece of s panish taste executed
st rong
influence
of
VelasQues.
Designating
these
GV
re presentative masterpieces of Manet was seemingly mode rate
a
la rgel y
refusal
£6
Of
accepted
Manet's
1i,~
~.
But
what
impressionistic
was
hidde n
la te r
works.
- 11 -
two
-;~"' .
unde rnie th
O bstinate
n
was
pieces
as
the
it was certainly
the
categorical
resistance
to
the
ope n
alr
a nd
hatre d
to
the
unfinishe d
brus h -stroke
conserva tive art c riticis m . To have the
de f e nde rs
a nd
c ha mpions
of
Ma ne t
la t e
ha d
we r e
Mane t
to
fight
two
consta nts
a ccepte d by t he
agains t
these
of
the
public , the
two
formidabl e
obs tacles.
*
The most c ritical c ha llege / the de f e nde rs of Mane t ha d to c onfro nt (came
on Feb. 4- and 5, 18 84-, whe n the a uc tion sale of
presen t
he re
o ne
Le t
me
was
accomplis he d
not
sale
of
was
hypothesis:
by
the
a
Ma net 's s tudio was ta ke n place.
hidde n
scandal of
re volu t ion in artis tic
&t (a-;-r
Olympia , nor by
the
the
judgem e nt
m ythological
scanda l of the De je une r sur l'he rbe in the Salon des re fuses 1:,L~/in the a uc tion
[t
18 84-.
Ma ne t's
s tudio
in
ma inly
as
tha t
a
resul t
.of
the
+~
"successful"
sale ~
i uc tion
"sc andal. ;':'1' we r e r e trospective ly single d as
- "'" ~~-+i:
""
C,1
\11'
00
.r..~~
re le va nt a nd m e mora ble his torica l "facts ".
J"
l)
•
<
f~" ... Je .... )
Until now, Ma ne t' s s tudio a uction has not been seriously ana l yse,
188 4-
the
g ran te~as
a nd e ve n the Ma ne t schola rs have ta ke n its success for
rna tte r
of
c ourse.
situa tion wa s
Howe ve r,
for
those
who
we r e
QMt-
~
to tally dif f e re nt . (1) To r ealize a t a ny
re tros pective
ecole des Beaux-
pe rsona l
frie nd of Mane t) and (i1) to accomplish s uccessfully the sale of the
~e we re "two decisive to uc hing s tones f or the pos thumous fa t e of
auc tion.
of
The
M ane t".
Proust,
Antonin
c ons tituted
have
line
executor
of
r e publican
just
ex - Ministre
cit e d
Mane t' s
la rge l y
the
close
powe r
possi ble
sale ,
political
(which
ma de
the
the
the
Arts
was
:m
re sponsible
if it we r e a
is
from
t est a m e nt
by
des
tha nks
Arts
The odore
the
wjjj
to
a nd
Dure t ,
of
the
who
e douar d
ha d
pa inter
been
himself,
a nd was to assume t he r esponsa bility of organiz ing the a uc tion sale.
He r e le t us f oc us on the origina l regis t er or the
proc<~s-ve rbal
of
the
Ma ne t Sale, conserve d a t the Arc hives de Seine. F0i' this doc ume n t presents some
~.1I'1t:
The
inconsis t a nc ies wit h ~ a lready known a nd wide ly acknowle dged a ccounts .
mos t
second
s triking
J\~ >o.,\~
day,
C hez Ie
i.e.
Pe re
discrepa ncy
Chez
Ie
La thuille
is
Pe re
re la tive
has been be lie ve d to
6': 0" <
Ma net,
reali ty , bo th
expe nse
of
pa inter 's
J\
of these
as
muc h
brot he r.
two works
as
appeare d imme diate ly a fte r
13.000
price
of
two
main
paintings
Linge
on
the
f r .).
(8.000
be bought by "M. Lehnhoff" ,\ the n
Linge was publicly known as be ing bought by
However
.
we r e
the
P:;';'d.t
f r a ncs.
proces - ve rba l
r e ve ale d
tha t ,
in
by The odore Dure t himself for the
Curiously
e nough,
the
pa inting
which
these two works was nothing but the Olympia , which
ha d to play a symboJ,ic role in t he whole sale .
the
the
La thuille 0'~ a n~
kno wn as Ma ne t' s ne phe w, a nd Le
Eugene
to
~i
Le hnhoff
at
day. The
t o t a l tra nsa c tions of t he second
10.000
frs.,
- 12 -
ma rking
The Ol ympia was withdra wn by
the
highest
da y a mounte d to
price
of
4-3.74-5
the
second
f rs. for 9 4-
pieces.
revelation,
this
From
associated
with
some
factual
data,
five
observations must be made. Firstly, the prices of main works in the auction were
s us t ained
auction,
by
t he
family
and
friends
t hree main paintings i.e.
amounting
to
transactions
23.000
911
(of
frs.
Manet.
As
for
Le
Pere Lathuille,
by
themselves,
cover,
pieces).
of
Secondly,
we
can
the
second
day of
the
Le Linge a nd the Olympia
almost
assume
60
that
of
%
the
the
prices
total
given
by
Duret to Chez Ie Pere Lathuille a nd Le Linge were clearly a preventive mesure to
avoid the s harp drop in price of the following Olympia. How the bidding by Duret
was intentional is evide nt when compar ed to the result of the fi rst day.
Among
the main pieces, Nana made only 3.000 frs, Le Bar aux Folies-Bergeres no more
than
5.850
"reached"
frs.
Only,
the
(at least on the register) to
the;fj. ~is.
priceS clearly indicates
a
letter
wrote:
'"
Argenteuille,
to
worried about
had
appeared
before
the
two,
12.500 frs. The sharp slide down of the
And
Duret confessed himself the very day, in
ZOI~ '" failure'"" ~
Emile
am
which
the
bidding
tomorrow's bidding, for
of
the
first
da9 Duret
Manet's family a nd friends
have a lready used up all the available resources at todays' sale."
Thirdly,
sustained
the
uselessly
s uch
expense,
which
Argenteuille
while
mains
a
Manet's
works
negative
was
family
in
the
secret
Q>~rs.),
was
friends
auction ,
impression
kept
and
to
they
the
to
the
in
reality
practically
took
public.
public.
the
Let
pains
alone
Koella
unique
bought
not
betraying
Duret's
personal
Lehnhoff,
son of
back and
who
tdouard
took
Manet,
and expert Jacob, who took the Olympia (by 10.000 frs.), was the representant of
Mme. Manet. And according to an eyewitness, both pieces were withd rawn without
any
r eal
before
for
bidding
hand
being
if
as
a
your reference,
paintings
at
taken
place.
premeditated
that at
seems
It
insider's
that
the af!rir had
business.
Forth~ it
been settled
must
be
t hat moment of the auction, nobody bought
their estimated
prices.
The
Argenteuille and
The
Bar aux
added,
Manet's
Folies-
Bergeres had been stimated respectively 15.000 frs. and 10.000 frs.
Finally,
it
must
be
a lready
c lear
that
the
prices
presented
a nd
sustained by Manet's camp betrays a certain tendency. Apart from the _Oly~pia and
p.~v,
the
Bar aux
Folies-Bergeres (both
withdrawn
by
the family,
&\Ci
as "schedule d),
all
other main works so far discussed were more or less controversial pieces because
of
their
been
impressionistic
c riticized
Hysmans,
who
for
overtones.
its
judged! at
Manet remaine d mediocre".
As
excessive
the
we
have
indigo
e ve n
Beaux - Arts
already
by
r e trospective
a
seen,
Argenteuille
friendly
that
critique,
"the later
had
J.K.
works of
C hez Ie Pe re Lathuille and Le Linge were <!11'1!11 highly
appreciate d{bY Stephan Mallarme but were harshly attacked by Paul Mantz, himself
~
- 13 -
ex- Minis tre des Beaux- Arts, who had declare d "not be ing a ble to recognize any of
the traces of the so ofte n discussed o pe n a ir" in these pieces.
high
impressionistic
works
organizers
the
of
given
pnces
The
undoubtedl y
a uctio n
s upport
Ma net 's
the
s tudio.
sale .
At
Wit hout
the
"success"
expec te d
to suc h artist s
wha t
of
la ter
privileged
at
st a ke
a uction
Mone t,
of
Manet 's
but
risky
creating a
de batable
fa mily
place
works,
was
sale,
the
no
Pissa rro, Sisley,
r e ma ining
f uture
of
brillia nt
Re noir
a nd
f or
the
ne w ma rket which
'" ,,"' "" ,;..vlA
expe rime nta l
was
highly
and
inte n t ion
they a ime d a t
Mane t
as
the
this
impressionis tic
Obviousl y,
these
bet rays
"socia l cons truction of ne w value "
would
to
unsold
in
Impressionism.
future
could
be
e t c . the n known
by
the disda inful name of the Ba tignolles Sc hool, o f whom Mane t was once regarded
as the leade r. It was by no means by c ha nce tha t the pe rson in c ha r ge of the
sale ,
Theodore
Dure t ,
Impressionism I" a nd
was
the
to
become
t he
c hampion
a ppraiser -commissionne r,
and
Pa ul
c hie f
defende r
Dura nd - Rue l
of
the
to
be
was
re me mbe re d in hist o r y as the gene rous protect e r and the ma in marc ha nt - deale r of
the Impressionist painte rs.
In short , the sale of Ma ne t' s studio was conceived a nd "direct e d" (in
a
thea trical
directors
sense
t he
(Dura nd - Rue !)
Impressionist
pa intings.
face- to- face
c ritics like,
~
of
Besides,
Ma ntz,
A.
to serve as arbit r a t o rs>--
s"'"' m..., e '"
The
by
s peculating
conf ron ta tion
P a ul
term)
on
the
script - wr i ters
(Dure t)
f uture
rise
in
a
hidde n
the
Ma ne t
a uc tion
its
o rganizers
between
Wolff
those
a nd
Huysmans ,
was
a nd
the
~
: lIieh
of
a nd
price
s tage
of
ba ttlefie ld
conser va tive
the
a udie nce
~~ i i ",.J d.L
Ir
of
a rt
we r e
of fo ~ -tov\:-t;: VV'Ct+'" r~ V "o "''''""i,' () ~ ""-Ovt-~
two days bidding in
the
.
(f
1884 has been pe rceived as a s uccess or (a t
worst as a "de mi-succes ") a nd was ta ke n as a ma tt e r of course by ma n y Ma ne t
specialist s.
in
1884,
Howe ve r
the
it
sta tus
founding fa the r of
mus t
Ma ne t
be
not e d
was
mode rn a rt"
that without
going
could
to
e njoy
the
"success " of the a uc t ion
(and
still
not have been ra tif ie d.
e n jo ying)
Duret
as
"the
was, a mong
(' CA.:t..
othe rs, one of the key pe rsons who staged the a uction a nd gave it the outlook of
a
of
"success " a t
an
the
a uc tion ha ll a nd con tribute d
"unexpect e d s uccess"
to
the
posteri ty.
In
the reaf te r to diff use this image
his
biogra phy of
Ma ne t
( 1902),
Dure t gave the f ollowing descript ion.
liThe
immediate ly
sale,
t ook
a/)'
which
ha d
unex pected
begun
in
s uccesful
s uc h
looking
a
precarious
( ... )
The
condi tions,
prices
looked
ex traordina r y. T he s pect ators, who were looking f orwa rd to the failure a nd ready
to br ust out la ughing, we re now; forced to
- 14-
~
sile nce. Ma ne t sells ! t he c rowd
.sfw; 7M
1- '
l<2 '" ) J
was saying in as tonis hme nt at the excit door ... ".
In
however ,
188lf,
confession in a more
reserved tone.
prices] fort unatel y did
diffic ult
to
imme diate l y
not
be accepted
take
after
the
auction,
Duret
ha d
made
a
"M y worry [a bout the s udde n slide down of
place on the second day, a nd the s tudies most
a lso found
buyers
(... ).
The public
takes the
r esult as
a n e normous victory. And I myself think I have e nough reason to be satisfied" .
Although Duret was kee ping s ile nce on the issue , we already know that
mo re than 30 % of t he total amount of the second da y,t was sustaine d by nobod y
e lse than Duret himself, to prevent the s lide down of the prices a nd to save the
face of t he Olympia. Without exaggeration it was a t least pa rtly by his persona l
sacrifice,
{t
that Duret succeede d in creating the
1'/
impression of the s uccess of the
auction. He re is the reason why Duret found himself "worth being satisfied".
The
unde rneath ,
at
the
prevailed
there
side
was
of
Duret's letter
image
of
hidde n
realit y:
a
Mane t 's
the
s upporte rs.
"success"
was
almost
a
fiction,
and
the c ritical shortage of necessar y fund
But
this
c ritical
situation,
reveale d
in
to Zola in ' 8lf, has been e ntire ly effaced from the description of
1902, leaving no hint ~o.-ran y possible desaster. But Dure t cannot be blame d for
this
manipulation and conceale me nt.
1902
had
pre viously
excluded
the a uc tion. On the
in
itself
188lf
any
such
contrary, it
that
For t he
m a de
publication of Mane t's
possibility
was nothing
the
of
describing
biography in
the desaster
in
but the "success" of t he aucution
publication
of
Manet's
biography
possible.
question.
What has ha ppe ne d
*
Before concluding,
by
t his
total
"s uccess" of
upside- down
the
of
a
let
us
a uction
?
value
ask
the
Three
judgement
final
re marks
was
will
be
a ccomplished
necessary.
by
the
First,
auction.
a
The
obesrvation of Albert Wolff, who was a t the a uc tion ha ll of the H6tel Drouot, is
C(' I
d" . ~ ,'/-... ~ ~
wort h b e log
at id } 5e . .... \ "'-' ""
"I was conte mplating for one hour, not without inquietude, the way his
frie nds,
whe re
the
passionate
Manet's
talent
and
is
the
speculators
triomphantly
were
s parkling
snaching
but
a lso
not
the
only
the
mos t
works
insignificant
(?
t hings
Cc;olors,
as
and
value
of
money
- :;
prInted- A tte: 5],
or
as
ha lf
vale ur
effaced
of
art .
Even
because of
the
the
portraits [in
moisture
in the
wate r studio
could obtain a re latively insane prices ["les prix re lativement insences"]".
"The
a ntes" ] were
about
f rom
most
things"
pre cisely' what Theodore
by c alling them
being
insignificant
"t he
insignificant ,
Duret,
[" Les
in his letter
studies most difficult
these
frag me nts,
- 15 -
c hoses
les
plus
to Zola,
insignifi -
was worring
to be accepted". Howe ver, fa r
"les
plus
difficiles
faire
"
accepte r", ~ had to be accepte d de facto at the auction, for the auction was
the
place
where
construc te d
into
the
"most
commodity
insignifican t
goods
to
things"
be
should
circ ulated,
be
with
transfigured
profit,
in
the
and
art
market.
Secondly,
value
judgeme nt
preaching
it
is
must
e phe me r a lity,
a lready
concomitant
e xplaining
in
be
s pontaneity
with
the
that
this
aesthetics
excution,
c rude
overturn
of
Unfinishedness,
Mane t.
in
clear
in
Japonisme
Dure t
fragmen tali ty,
primary
colors
unde r
aesthetic
was
sketch - like
the
open
air
e-f-L f . e re the characteristics Duret was pra ising in Manet by forcing comparison with
~.
~
Ja panese
ukiyo-e
overturn
in
prints
aesthetic
and
value
Orie nta l
ink
drawings.
judgeme nt
was
a
t ~ -:"
Needless
necessary
to
,("II
p:~te~
~~is
pre riquisite
for
the
future of Impressionism as a whole .
Thirdly,
it
r e marka ble
IS
tha t
Wolff
was
saying
that
"this
aucition"
was an "assembly of friends and ha llucinate d" , and which was "one of the most
fascinating
cynically
some
madness
grasped
of
our
that
"insanit y" of
this
the
time"
["folie s de
re volution
pe ople
in
possessed
notre
temps"].
artistic
taste
by
, collective
some
had
Wolff
been
cooly
realized
"halucination".
and
with
The
auction was a kind of public stage magic show of ·a lche my , where "Ies c hoses les
plus
insignifiantes"
a mdira tion
(as
unde rwe nt
we ll
as
a mazem e nt
these series
a potheosis "
["apotheose
tha t
of
a
of
tra nssubstantiation
s pecula tion).
posthumous
imprevue"].
t erri bles" ["Ma net's friends are .... "].....
().ir'fry
Now
conclusion.
As
he
• f'
became
Incide nta lly,
promotion
And
a nd
of
Wolff
Ma ne t ,
sighe d
"Ies
as
amis
objects
ha d
an
de
seen
of
with
"unexpected
Mane t
sont
•
I~r~· ~r"""5
Pierre
Bourdieu
Ail'tPt
put
it,
what
has
been
definitive me nt lauched b y Mane t a nd his friends was "a sort of ba nkrupcy of the
Centra l Bank of
the
defende rs
of
Mane t
horrifie d
at
the
s uccesfull y
he re
but
rathe r
their
"institutionalisa tion
realized
f rom
symbolic capita l in a rt".
Camille
at
the
r 884
Pissarro's
Ironica lly e nough, it was not
convinced
of
Ma ne t
the
anomie",
a uc tion.
observation
e nemy,
which
Albe rt
Wolff,
which
As a
last
cast
an
was
the
who
was
plotte d
and
ci ta tion, let 's quote
ironical
insight
into
this IIsymbolic revolution" .
"Ma net was a
be ing
r ecognized
aspired
to
the
by
great painter but
the
honor.
constitute d
He
die d
he
had a
a uthorites,
without
a ttaining
he
it.
fa ult , he
believed
Dure t ,
was starving for
10
the
Antonin
pate nt,
he
Prous t
are
na me d executor of his las t will , and
to frame up his exhibition with sole mnity,
they
found
wors t
[like
Wolff ],
it
best
to
to
the
a ppoint
the
organizing
official? I Ma ne t's
committee,
- 16 -
so
as
to
re le ntless
give
an
e ne mies
official
certificate
loved
["cachet
[irony
!!J
officiel"J.
and
All
the
defended
the
bourgeoisie
artist.
are
there,
Shocking
all
those
who
( ..• )
It' s
Backward!
miserable, but it's therefore in good order [" c 'est bien dans l'ordre "J.
Here is a
alienated
bourgois
merciless observation by a n anarchist to the paradox of an
a rtist.
Manet's
a rtistic
achie ve me nt
had
pre ve nte d
him
from
obtaining the social honors he aspire d to. And yet the pos thumous honor prepared
by
Manet's
Manet's
re publican
To
will.
friends
decieve
a moute d
the
to
a
bourgeois
spiritual
one
treason,
s hould
a
disguise
betrayal
oneself
to
as
a
Q,n('~
bourgeois
is
artist;
finished,
who
but
~r
can
distinguis h
the
cer emony of
the
this
disguised
masquerade
fro m
the
(i.e.
r eal
the
auction)
bourgeois
Those
?
e ne m y bourgeois were plotte d in the cons piracy of a symbolic r evolution, tramed
by
Durand - Ruel
Duret.
things
insignificant
"most
bourgeois
decieved
j
and
now
In
//
(,
hallucination,
value
as
leaves
make
contras t ,
profit
scornfu lly
double
of
this
despised
those
artists,
like
ceremony
of
good~
consume r
in
the
have
paid
value
of
a rt" .
hall,
without noticing
.......... .,i r.n. t-.' u.<-{ )
auction
c he r fully
~ ~ ,.., <>
Pissarro
their
himself,
precursor,
felt
canonization. $;uch
~
treason implied in the symbolic
negotiable
the
Orr( tfvv.-'"
canonization of
the
money,
trirmphantly
t hat they have been decieved.
In
of
they
who
Still
would
be trayed
are
for
the
the
those
able
and
to
Pissarro
ironies
of
the
revolution which fabricated t he Manets as
snow - ball- like
potlachi
of
the
bourgrois
a rt
market.
The following year in 1885, Duret a nd Durand - Ruel c rossed the Atlantic
to sell Manet and Impressionist painte rs in New York a nd Boston in searc h of new
a m e rican
of
markets, which would e ve ntually contribute
Manet
"C' est
a nd
roide,
Impressionists
mais
c 'est
in
bien
their
dans
native
l' ordre ".
to the ultimate legitimation
F ra nce.
As
At
cente nnial of
the
Pissarro grimly
the
put
it,
birth of
Edouard Manet, in 1932, his "triumphe" will be commemorated by Paul Valery and
Manet
will
History.
of
" mISSIOn
' ,
responsible
was ...
a
And [to put
this
oblivion.
become
to
But
representative
t he
am
useless feet
' "
accomp I Ie,
Manet's
sttre,
classic
(,, , , v,,,
Ladies
<>\
tradition of Frenc h Art
'-t-t't
to the snake: tEJEJ as the opposite side
" emm
. ' a nce
our
posthumous
in
apotheosis,
and
gente lme n ,
the
, zrif"'~[" gra y
grise
was
you
~()J\-
CD
(\OW
now
ready
can
say
' ' nce
'J
e mme
I who'
- 17 -
fall
this
j'(T\.'3<A/\.1'
New York, Sep. 28- 30, 1998
f
to
so
into
person
v