2019-12-01 The Artist\'s Magazine

6 Artists Magazine December 2019

Prime ANATOMY OF A PAINTING

T

heMonetFamilyinTheirGarden

atArgenteuildemonstratesthe

adaptabilityofÉdouardManet

(French,1832–83)asanartist.Inthe

1860s,Manethadbecomenotorious

forprovocativefigurepaintings.

Olympia, setinmodernParis,was

a scandalouspaintingthatreferenced

theOldMasters.Manetwas,atheart,

a studioartistofthehighestlevel,

onewhosimultaneouslydrewfrom—

andupended—traditions.

Manet’syoungercolleague,Claude

Monet(French,1840–1926),was

anequallyradicalpainter,though

withscantinterestintheartofthe

museums.Monetwas,forthemost

part,a pleinairartist,soit’sfitting

thatManetdepictedhimoutside.In

thesummerof1874,Manethelped

hisfriendfinda houseinArgenteuil;

asif returningthefavor,Monet

convincedhimtotrypaintingout-

of-doors.AlthoughManetnevertook

totheopticalphenomenaofsunlight

andbrokencolortotheextentof

otherImpressionists—hislandscapes

usuallyfunctionedprimarilyas

settingsforhumansubjects—his

sophisticatedlightnessoftouch

enableda nimbletransitionfrom

studiotogarden.

TheMonetFamilyinTheirGarden

atArgenteuilfamouslymarksa

convergenceofmasters.Thefriend-

shipbetweenManetandMonetis

obvious,thelatterseenwatering

geraniumswhilehisfirstwife,Camille,

andtheirson,Jean,posebeneath

a tree.AfterManetstartedworking,

Pierre-AugusteRenoir(French,1841–

1919)droppedbyandrequested

materials,andwassoonpainting

CamilleandJean,too.Yearslater,

MonetrecountedthatManet“passed

discreetlyclosetometowhisperinmy

ear,pointingatRenoir:‘Thatboyhas

notalent...you’rehisfriend,please

tellhimtogiveuppainting!’” Manet

alreadyowneda paintingbyRenoir,

soit wasa drolljokebetweenfriends.

Manet’spaintingisa recordofa

summerdayontheoutskirtsofParis,

ofbonhomieamongpaintersandof

domesticintimacy.ItrevealsManet

shiftinggears—andhavinga fine

timedoingso.

JerryN.Weissisa contributingwriter

toartmagazinesandteachesatthe

ArtStudentsLeagueofNewYork.

The Monet Family in Their

Garden at Argenteuil

by Édouard Manet

1874; oil on canvas, 24x39¼

A Convergence

of Masters

ÉDOUARD MANET and Claude Monet’s friendship

inspired a day of creative camaraderie.

by Jerry N. Weiss

Manetroutinelyuseda knife

toremovewetpaintfrom

his canvases and repaint

unsatisfactory passages. Art

historian Richard Brettell

believed that Manet scraped out

an entirely different composition

prior to developing this painting.