“Manet: Three Paintings from the Norton Simon Museum”

Édouard Manet (1832–1883) was arguably one of the most transformative figures in art history, a radical painter whose work touched off Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, and maintained an impact well into the 20^th-century. Loaned for this exhibit by the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, the three canvases here each represents a different key aspect of Manet’s oeuvre. Still Life with Fish and Shrimp (1864) demonstrates his mastery at using still life for painterly inventions that would later influence abstract artists. The Ragpicker (ca. 1865–71) reveals Manet the appropriationist, sampling and re-mixing art-historical references into bold new artistic statements. Madame Manet (ca. 1876), a portrait of his wife, shows the artist drawing upon elements from his own life that in sharp contrast to his revolutionary art was comfortably bourgeoisie.