In this portrait of Olympia and Laure, Manet is inventing what beauty could be for the modern world. Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. Zucker: [] For one, because it had the stamp of the official state. But at the same time, it was art that was formulaic, that was expected. Harris: [] Well, there was an idea that there was a definition of great art, and there was no point in looking for what was new or different, because great art was self-evident.
Great art was based on the classical and the Renaissance. Her name is Olympia. She looks very much like a real woman in a real apartment in Paris. Harris: [] Her features are not idealized. Zucker: [] In addition, the representations of the academic artists always show Venus or other nudes in a coy way. This woman is looking directly at us. She is sentient. She is thinking. Harris: [] There was a real problem for the viewers of this painting. One was confronted by her sexuality.
We must have, as the customer, walked into the room, and startled the cat at the foot of the bed as well as the two figures. Harris: [] When we use the word prostitute, we think of a figure of much lower class. Zucker: [] Important new scholarship has helped us to better understand one of the two primary figures in this painting. Harris: [] New scholarship by Denise Murrell helps us see that this is part of his attempt to capture modern life in Paris.
And modern life in Paris was decidedly diverse. Harris: [] There was a small Black community in the northern part of Paris. After , when territorial slavery was finally outlawed in France, that population grew.
Laure lived only 20 minutes away from Manet, and close to many of the other painters and prominent artists of the time. Zucker: [] Look at the way that Manet paints Laure in relationship to Olympia. Olympia is static, almost like a sculpture, whereas Laure seems to be momentary, seems to be a part of the modern world, seems to be in motion. We think that she was likely from the Caribbean or from Africa, but Laure is mostly lost to history. Zucker: [] Importantly, this scholarship notes that Manet has dressed her in modern clothing, but with a reference still to the Caribbean.
