Manet seated. Turned to the left 1864

Edgar Degas made this print of Édouard Manet, most likely in Paris, using etching, a medium amenable to capturing the fleeting moment. Degas, from a wealthy background, met Manet in the mid-1860s. Manet was slightly older and already something of a leader among avant-garde artists. In this informal portrait, we see Manet, hat in hand, as a bourgeois gentleman, in a pose familiar from established portraiture. But the sketchy quality of the print suggests that Manet, and by extension Degas, sought to democratize art by breaking down the conventions of academic painting. At the time, The French Academy prescribed painting clear, precise images that appeared real, not man-made. By contrast, the image is suggestive, not descriptive. Prints like this one help us to understand better the place of Manet and Degas within the Realist and Impressionist movements, but also to understand how artists like them were consciously challenging the aesthetic values of French society. By consulting letters, diaries, and exhibition reviews, we can appreciate the cultural and institutional context in which they worked.