Manet’s 'Coup de Tête': The Secrets Hidden in Plain Sight

Modern art began with Édouard Manet’s The Picnic (Le Déjeuner sur L’Herbe, 1863). A small minority of scholars have ventured that Manet’s impetus for breaking from tradition stemmed from memories of his 1849 voyage to Brazil. This view is eschewed by the majority and the museum establishment, who hold to a French and classical origin. Through a close examination of early written sources, the paintings themselves and links to 19th century Rio, the author proposes that Manet worked distinct Rio memories into two pivotal paintings: The Picnic, which he set in the forests of Guanabara Bay; Olympia (1863) was inspired not by a Parisian brothel, but by slave-owning, midnineteenth century Rio de Janeiro. This article recounts how the research unfolded.