Édouard Manet

Édouard Manet (1832–1883) was a French painter born and died in Paris. Coming from a well-off family, he gave up the idea of a naval career and studied under the academic painter Thomas Couture from 1850 to 1856. Manet is seen as a bridge between Realism and Impressionism. His Luncheon on the Grass was refused by the official Salon and shown at the Salon des Refusés in 1863, and Olympia, shown at the Salon in 1865, provoked an even louder scandal. Both are now regarded as turning points towards modern art. Other well-known works include The Fifer (1866), The Balcony (1868–69), The Railway (1873) and A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882). Although he influenced the Impressionists, he preferred to send his work to the official Salon and did not exhibit with their group. He received the Légion d'honneur in 1881 and died in Paris in April 1883, aged 51, after complications following the amputation of a foot.