Edouard Manet

Édouard Manet is a French painter and forerunner of Impressionism, a revolutionary figure who broke with academic conventions and paved the way for modern art. His bold work, notably "Luncheon on the Grass" and "Olympia", caused scandal through its frank treatment of contemporary subjects, bright and contrasting palette, and rejection of traditional modeling in favor of flat areas of vibrant color. A bridge between Courbet's realism and Monet's Impressionism, he captures modern Parisian life with a freedom of touch and visual frankness that make him one of the founding fathers of contemporary painting.