Can Courbet and Manet’s representations of the nude be described as ‘realist’?
Realism is the historical movement, which dominated the period of 1840-1880 in art and literature. The movement followed on from Romanticism and broke with the traditions of Neoclassicism. Realism is centred on the aim of providing a truthful representation of the world based off a detailed observation of modern life. This required artists to transform the visible world onto a canvas. Artists had to utilise the appearance and application of oil paint to allow it to become an important tool for altering and bringing to life an image on the flat surface of a canvas. Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) are named in art history as realist painters. Their depictions of the nude can be used to display why they were considered realist artists and the reasoning behind why some critics during the 19th century disagreed with this label.
Gustave Courbet focuses on the renewal of painting bringing it into the contemporary sphere. ‘The Sleepers’ (1866) by Gustave Courbet depicts two lesbian lovers. This sensual painting of two lovers caressing each other is an example of Courbet’s curiosity with erotic realism. This erogenous painting is very large in size and the clarity of the image shows Courbet’s attention to detail while reflecting his own personal attitude towards sexuality. Courbet has displayed the anatomies of the women through precise detail and precision. The flesh of the women is shown through the accurate use of light and shadow to demonstrate the blemishes of their skin. The lines of the ribcage and deep shadowed lines between the interlocking thighs and white bed sheets turn the bodies of the women into landscapes. The use of textures in this painting adds to the sensuality. The contrasting textures of the waves of one women’s hair in contrast to the airy curls on the other creates a juxtaposition not only between each other but also exaggerates the smoothness of their flesh.
Courbet’s painting shows the scene with coherent realism, the flesh appears moist, the bed appears unmade and disorganised, and their faces display warn out expressions all of which intensify this erotically charged scene. ‘The Sleepers’ displays how Courbet was manipulating traditional images through transforming popular subjects from the 18th century and creating a realist version. For example it is clear that the popular use of mythological subjects in the 18th century played a role in Courbet’s choice of subject matter. The painting could convey relation to the Myth of Diana, where Jupiter disguises himself as Diana in order to Seduce Callisto. Courbet however removes all mythological contexts from his painting keeping with the realism values. In the 19th century this lesbian theme was not recognised, and subsequently this painting caused a lot of controversy, as it was a direct attack on the bourgeoisie conventions of morality.
The difficulty with Courbet’s realist interpretations of the nude was the fact that many critics could not stomach the amount of detail they displayed. For example, in Courbet’s ‘The Women with the Parrot’ which was put on displayed in 1866 and was not received at the Salon with consistent opinions. The Golden haired nude in this painting appears relaxed, holding a parrot on her finger. Beneath and wrapped around the thigh of the nude women is a large piece of drapery which appears dishevelled and unclean. At this time the ideal, classical representation of the nude had accustomed the eyes of the viewers. Therefore when Courbet presented this depiction of an imperfect, voluptuous nude with unclean drapery, it was scolded for the inclusion of such realistic details. This was because they went against all classical traditions of ideal beauty and perfectly white folded drapery. When in 1867 Courbet re hung this painting in the Salon is received the same remarks as it had done previously when viewed by the de Goncourt brothers. It was not understood why Courbet, to produce a realist painting had to paint the vulgar details. However, despite their opinion, it received positive reactions from the everyday Parisian Salon visitor who appreciated the lavish fleshiness of Courbet’s nude figure. One could argue that these ugly and vulgar details, which Courbet included, did not necessarily make his work realist. Emile Zola defended Courbet’s work, yet he argues this point and rather suggests that what is important in a realist painting is the way that modern opinions are presented. He argues that to create a realist piece of artwork you have to paint in a way that evokes life in the object or figure. The nude in the painting has to appear lifelike to the eye of the viewer. Courbet could be argued to have achieved this by not conforming to traditional, ideal conventions and rather paints the unmasked nude women.
The development of photography had an effect on the work of an artist. Although a realist painting could never be as truthful as a photograph, an artist could use photographs to attempt to show an instantaneous moment to aid their representations of reality. Stéphane Mallarmé states that realism is the ‘lively depiction of things as they appeared to be, and vigorously excluded all meddlesome imagination’. Manet however in ‘Dejeuner sur l’herbe’ manages to create a realist painting despite it being far from the real and truthful portrayal captured in a photograph. Manet’s painting is set in a landscape of foliage, a woman is pictured in the background bathing in the river and in the foreground two clothes men are seated with another nude figure having a picnic. Manet does not appear to be attempting to render a painting, which shows relation to an exact depiction of real life. Manet uses strong tonal variation and bold colours, which are thickly applied to the canvas; his use of perspective lacks precision along with his very simple painting of the foliage around the figures. He is explicitly going against the works of realism, by disrupting the sense of perspective in the scene.
We can use the depiction of the nude in Manet’s ‘Dejeauner sur l’herbe’ as an example of Manet’s complicated use of realism. Firstly the poses of the three figures in the foreground are taken from the Renaissance etching by Raimondi. Manet takes these idealised, classical poses from the past and converts them into a realist painting. Manet is renewing this ideal depiction of the nude. Manet is arguing that these classical figures by Raimondi are in fact not idealised but rather the eye of the viewer is trained to perceive them as perfect. Manet’s depiction of the nude displays classical qualities, for example, her white skin tone, symmetrical features, and her elegant pose, however, Manet revives these traditional qualities. The face of the nude in Manet’s painting is a recognisable figure called Victorine Meurent, as well as the two men next to her. On the right is the depiction of the combination of his two brothers, Eugène and Gustave Manet and on the left the man is based off his brother in-law Ferdinand Leenhoff. Manet’s use of these familiar faces contributes to what makes this a realist painting. It may not be Manet’s use of a model which makes this depiction seem more real, but due to Manet’s rendering of the nude, when the viewer perceives her they are not only encountering a nude female figure but the figure of an actual person called Victorine Meurent, as the presence of Victorine can be felt in the painting. The figure of the nude stares directly at the viewer, although the viewer does not know what the model looked like, the fact that she is rendered from a real person creates a response from the spectator to that of real women. The nude is situated in a staged, unrealistic setting, the impact she has on the spectator unites the viewer with the real world. Manet is not abandoning all classical influences but rather is removing any conventions that could affect the way we contemplate the figure of the nude. One cannot deny the sensuality of the nude in Manet’s painting but rather Manet achieves this through intensifying the senses of the viewer without the nude being masked in an ideal illustration. Rather it could be argued that the women is, in fact, naked and not nude, the flattened rendering of the figure and bundle of clothes beside her suggests she has undressed, she does not relate to the clearly nude figure of a classical, theological or mythological figure.
Mante’s painting ‘Olympia’, 1863 is based on Titian’s, ‘Venus of Urbino’ (1534) yet Manet’s challenges the classical ideals established in Titian’s painting. ‘Olympia’ was kept in Manet’s studio for almost two years before he decided to submit it to the Salon in 1865. The nude Olympia is reclining on a chaise lounge; she wears nothing but a couple of accessories. Behind Olympia, a Black servant leans forward to present her with a bouquet of flowers. Manets Olympia shows is an example of where an artist has discovered a modern setting to represent the nude. Manet illustrates a Prostitute, a subject that was deemed suitable for only the low class, yet controversially Manet has illustrated Olympia as upper class women in a bourgeoisie setting. Manet’s Olympia in some ways is clearly realist in depiction. She is not painted in a conventional manner, she is not idealised, and her face is asymmetrical. The body of Olympia lacks tonal variation and there is little to show that Manet paid much attention to the details on her body. Unlike the classical idealised nude Manet paints Olympia with hard edges outlined in black, her breasts are not modelled but rather tonal attention seems to have been given to subtle areas like her hands and feet. Manet illustrates her as a contemporary woman, with no attempt of an idealistic illusion, rather the contemporary prostitute is unmasked looking directly at the viewer.
T J Clark argues that aspects of Manet’s ‘Olympia’ go against the suggestion that this is a realist painting. He argues that Courbet showed how the positioning of a nude in a painting could be arranged in a certain way to evoke a certain response from the viewer. For example, the height of the nude will affect how the spectator reacts to the nude, too high and the nude may seem condescending, while too low and the nude becomes submissive to the audience. T J Clark argues that the placing of Olympia suggests no attention to the compositional arrangement. The gaze of Olympia is guarded and closed and does not invite the viewer into the painting. Although both ‘Olympia’ and the nude in ‘Dejeuner sur l’herb’ are based on the same model, the presentation of the nude does not evoke the same striking impact. The blackened, dot like pupils of Olympia and thin inexpressive lips are unwelcoming, making Manet’s ‘Olympia’ harder to relate to.
Manet and Courbet’s representations of the nude can be described as realist. Both artists are detaching the viewer from the conventional, stable and idealised form of the nude, unmasking the traditional nude for the viewer’s eye allowing the spectator to feel the presence of the figure in the painting.