Reasons The Oil Painting Olympia Remains To Be Revolutionary

By Timothy Moore Some of the best paintings were made using oil paint. The most realistic ones were by the great artists from the Renaissa...

By Timothy Moore


Some of the best paintings were made using oil paint. The most realistic ones were by the great artists from the Renaissance. The subjects for the works made during this era were essentially religious, evolving around concepts with an abundance of cherubs, biblical characters, gods and goddesses.

Nudes with both men and women are a favorite subject with themes revolving around religion. A goddess in particular that has graced so many notable works is Venus. Traditional Renaissance works make a point that brush strokes are not evident and the anatomical representation as accurate as possible. These conventions were challenged by Manet with his oil painting Olympia.

The thing is that he made a mockery out of the Venus of Urbino painting . Although this stand against conventionality spurred a more modern take on art. Olympia has a great story behind it which makes the work very revolutionary. It was Manet showing the honesty of human beauty on canvas. It was as if he was saying that we are humans so why not look upon our own beauty and not that of goddesses.

The woman on the canvas was not Venus, but a parodied symbolism named Olympia. Based on what she was wearing, slippers and a black choker, this tells you that she is a courtesan. The most ironic thing you can use to portray a goddess would be a prostitute. Maybe even then people thought the concept was offensive and sacrilegious.

The shock value was immense initially. Now, we see it as the start of the modern art movement. Technically, the artist intended to make the brush strokes evident as opposed to what most critics were used to. He probably did not want to sedate the public with the beauty of his work, but rather, snap them back to the reality of what already surrounds then.

It gives you the impression that this era of France was hung up on the convoluted perception of beauty and the standard was that of royalty or deity. One thing that makes the subject stand out is how it deliberately stares at you, straight in the eye, as if it was coaxing you for looking at her. Most nudes of Venus made during this time always had the subject looking away, if even at all.

The rawness and honesty was not welcomed by the its viewers, although its revolutionary nature made the piece an obra maestra. The painter wanted to make sure that there is little visual depth to really emphasize to its viewers that this was artwork and not something you use to blur the lines between what is real and imagination.

The piece is a cross between abstraction and tradition which encouraged modern art. There was lesser pressure to perfection. This is evident on the asymmetry of features you can see on the subject. The detail is essentially on the hands and the feet which seems peculiar, instead of focusing on the bosom and the womb.

Revolutionary is what this piece became when released to the public during its time. And like any work made for that purpose, was met with disdain, laughter and criticism. Manet effectively broke tradition and was unapologetic about showing his perspective on reality. France of 1865 was not ready to face the truth that the goddess they come to know has been reduced into a courtesan, especially one that stares you dead straight in the eye.




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Reasons The Oil Painting Olympia Remains To Be Revolutionary Reviewed by Quốc Bình on 15:52:00 Rating: 5

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