Princess Belozersky by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

She looked over at us and replied "Why do I dress like this? Three reasons: I can, I like to, and I'm me and not you." As always, Princess Belozersky was right. 1798 by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

 

Madame Jules Guillemet by Manet

Monday with Edouard Manet!

 State Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia, c. 1880
the actual pastel is in the St. Louis City Art Museum, MO, USA, 1880

Portrait of the artist's mother and sister by Morisot

Tuesday with Berthe Morisot!

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA, 1869-70

Self-portrait of Berthe Morisot and her daughter Julie by Morisot

Tuesday with Berthe Morisot!

private collection, 1885-86

Rosalie Reisener by Morisot

Tuesday with Berthe Morisot!

Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, 1866

Manet by Henri Fantin-Latour

Mondays with Edouard Manet!

1867

The reading by Manet

Mondays with Edouard Manet!

Dominated by white, the painting shows Manet's "stepson" Léon Leenhoff reading to Manet's wife, Suzanne (Leenhoff). Like Victorine Meurent, here Suzanne is staring right at you -- or is she looking at her husband and wondering what she's gotten herself into.

Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 1869

Two portraits of Eva Gonzales by Manet

Mondays with Edouard Manet!

Eva Gonzales studied painting, more or less, under Manet -- much to the chagrin, so they say, to Berthe Morisot for reasons now lost to time and dust. In any case, she eventually developed her own style and became a rather accomplished impressionist painter in her own right. 

private collection, 1879

Here's Eva, again by Manet, working on one of Manet's canvases:

National Gallery, London, UK, 1870

Berthe Morisot with a Fan by Manet

Mondays with Edouard Manet!

Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, 1872

Portrait of Berthe Morisot by Manet

Mondays with Edouard Manet!

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lille, 1874

Self-portrait by Degas

Wednesdays with Edgar Degas!

Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, 1855

Berthe Morisot with a Bunch of Violets by Manet

Mondays with Edouard Manet!

Quite possibly one of Manet's most well-known portraits of his fellow impressionist painter and sister-in-law, Berthe Morisot.

Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, 1872

Manet Self Portrait with a Palette

Mondays with Edouard Manet!

private collection, New York, 1879

Madame Boursier and her daughter by Berthe Morisot

Tuesdays with Berthe Morisot! 

Frankly, there's nothing quite like an exquisite painting to forget the ugliness in this world, at least for a moment or two.

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, USA, 1873

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.

Update from Grand Rapids

It's been some time since I've posted an update from West Michigan but there's no time like the present and so here we go.

Most of our Sundays and occasionally a Saturday has been spent out at Clear Lake this summer. It's been a place of refuge, given the nature of our country today, a refuge sorely needed and warmly embraced. In fact, we're going back out there this Sunday to help celebrate a birthday. Good times, good food and good folk, what a wonderful combination. And when family become friends that makes for an unbeatable combination.

Susie no longer bakes out in Grand Haven. While the opportunities presented by the kindness and generosity of Patty and Paul at Patricia's Chocolate were nothing short of incredible, the drive had just become too tiresome. Now, the French Tarte has a license to bake out of Nonna's Pantry in Ada, just 15 minutes from our house. The new owner loves her pastries and thinks the world of her, having seen what she could do when Susie provided the occasional French delicacy for the Pantry a couple of years back. Anyway, the new arrangement is so much better for her/our peace of mind. She has also scheduled an occasional class at Nonna's through the fall season as well. Tres cool.

As for me, well I just finished giving a two-week presentation on the Historic Cemeteries of Paris at Aquinas and I'm moderating a digital photo portfolio review and discussion session at Aquinas later this month. This is the third one this year and I have to say they're lots of fun. Contrary to what some of you might think, I actually don't say much -- a shocker I know -- but it's really all about the other photographers sharing their ideas and comments about their own photos.

Besides our involvement with the Alliance Française Grand Rapids chapter -- I maintain their website -- our lives remain rather sedate here in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Lastly, I have been obsessed of late with one of the great French portraitists of the late 18th and early 19th century, Elisabeth-Louise Vigée madame Le Brun. I've put together a short slide show of a sampling of her work -- now maybe you'll be obsessed, too.

Julie daydreaming by Morisot

Tuesdays with Berthe Morisot!

Julie Manet painted by her mother Berthe Morisot.

1894