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Olympia is an oil on canvas painting by Edouard Manet. Painted in 1863, it measures 130.5 by 190 cm. It was acquired by the French state in 1890 thanks to a public subscription organised by Claude Monet and is now in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
If Le déjeuner sur l'herbe had sparked controversy in 1863, Olympia caused an even bigger uproar when it was first exhibited at the 1865 Salon. Conservative opinion condemned the work as "immoral" and "vulgar". Journalist Antonin Proust later recalled, "If the canvas of the Olympia was not destroyed, it is only because of the precautions that were taken by the administration."
However, the work did not only have detractors. Emile Zola was quick to proclaim it Manet's "masterpiece" and added:
- "When other artists correct nature by painting Venus they lie. Manet asked himself why he should lie. Why not tell the truth?"
The painting was inspired by Titian's Venus of Urbino, which itself refers to Giorgione's Venus Asleep. A comparison can also be made with Ingres' famous Odalisque (1801). But Manet didn't depict a goddess or an odalisque, but a high-class prostitute waiting for a client. The classic work that most closely resembles Manet's in character is no doubt Francisco Goya's La Maja Desnuda (c. 1800).
The painting is also deviates from the academic canon in its style, characterized by broad, quick brushstrokes, studio lighting that eliminates the mid tones, large color surfaces and shallow depth. Instead of a smooth, idealised nude, Manet painted a "real" woman, whose nakedness is revealed in all its brutality by the harsh light (compare with Alexandre Cabanel's La naissaince de Vénus, also painted in 1863).
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