Victorine Meurent by Manet

Mondays with Edouard Manet! 

Today we're going to look at his most ubiquitous model, Victorine Meurent.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA, c. 1862

One of the striking things about impressionism, and Manet in particular, is the way his models look right at the viewer. You're watching them but they, in turn are watching you. And his most riveting model was Victorine Meurent who, like her pose here and in "The Railway" below, stares right through you, a technique she perfected in both "Olympia" and "Luncheon on the grass." (both follow).

c. 1873

Victorine Meurent was, without a doubt, Manet's most well-known model. Her image, or rather images as portrayed in "Olympia" and Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe also known as "Luncheon on the grass" set the world of 19th century French art on fire.

"Olympia" Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, 1863

Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 1863

Besides the highly controversial "Olympia" she was also the center of attention in "Luncheon on the grass."  Here, she's the only nude figure in the painting and she's the only one staring at the viewer, perhaps at someone walking by who stopped to look at the risqué scene in the woods.