There are a few paintings hanging in galleries across the world that hold a legendary, almost folkloric attraction. People make pilgrimages to see these works of art, but they also infuriate me by crowding in front of them, taking selfies.
The inventory of such legendary paintings includes Van Gogh's series of Sunflower canvases, the Mona Lisa, Monet's various incarnations of Water Lilies, and the picture that I shall discuss today, Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe, by Edouarde Manet.
Inspiration for today's article came from a recent conversation with a friend who is a photographic model, in which she mentioned that her career path was sparked into life by her first sight of Manet's iconic canvas.
When it was first exhibited in 1863. Le Déjeuner caused a furore of notoriety and controversy. Art lovers were accustomed to nudes, of course, but nudity (usually female) had hitherto been presented in a classical context, and it was primarily goddesses who were naked, usually in naked or semi-clad company. What was not considered acceptable was a naked 'girl-next-door' seemingly in cahoots with two fully-clothed men-about-town, about to partake of luncheon (one would assume), staring penetratingly and enigmatically at the viewer, the while.
So what do we have here? We have a painting that, first of all, candidly displays influence from at least two classical masterpieces. It does that, of course, most provocatively. One painting that Manet had in mind is Raphael's The Judgement of Paris (1510-20) in which the nymph in the lower right hand corner is gazing out of the painting in a way not dissimilar to the that of the lady in Manet's picture. Raphael's pair of male river gods, however, are naked too; shock-value immediately reduced!
The other is Titian's Pastoral Concert (c 1509) but, hang on, here the female figures are nude while the two male musicians are clothed. Perhaps Manet's vision is not so new after all.
People love to be scandalised. So much fault was found with Le Déjeuner that it was not accepted into the Paris Salon as the artist had hoped, being relegated instead into the Salon des Refusés – the 'reject's room'. There is more to the scandal than that though, and therein lie the numerous sensual frissons, I feel.
Gone is the glassy, idealised alabaster skin of classical nudes, as Manet presents his female subject in a notably flat painting style, devoid of anything more than cursory shading and tonal modelling. Brushstrokes throughout the painting are far from disguised. There is a roughness that is at odds with the picture's classical allusions.
Proportions are peculiar and the painting is spatially 'off'. The head of the man on the left is larger than that of the woman, who nevertheless sits further forward. Are we witnessing a representation of patriarchy ?
The woman's feet are huge, and the female figure in the background, at the water, appears larger than she should according to the distance at which she is placed in the group.
Now onto the messages, and the frissons.
Manet's painting was originally entitled Le Bain – The Bath - though, undeniably, neither much bathing nor luncheon is unfolding in the scene before us.
Instead, we find two fashionable young men, the one on the right wearing a hat apparently usually worn indoors, the pair seemingly engaged in learned discourse, with a fully nude young woman positioned riskily close to them. Beside them, a luncheon – either abandoned or as yet untouched – of bread (the staff of life) and fruit (forbidden fruit?) lies, spilling libidinously out of its basket, semi-strewn over the woman's hastily-discarded clothes.
The man on the left, though his companion is depicted in full flood of pronouncement, seems not to be listening. He looks past us, over our shoulders. On what is his mind occupied ? His right hand is positioned close behind the woman; is he intent on leaning in, on feeling her heat, taking in her scent, and planning his amorous purpose?
The man on the right gesticulates with his outstretched hand in a way that appears to echo the hand of God in Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam.
Now look at the legs and the feet in Manet's painting. The naked left sole of the woman nearly touches the left foot of the right-hand man. More potently still, her right foot is directed up between the legs of the man on the right. I think that, despite her enigmatic and insouciant gaze, she is indulging in some serious body-language, and that it is very clear which of the two men she prefers. Her toe is even slightly upward-curling in suggestion of imminent pleasure.
And what of the woman in the semi-distance, still partially clad? Will she soon join the trio and reveal herself, or has she already participated in the amorous play?
Food being referenced as an allegory for sex is nothing new – Shakespeare is full of it. Nature too, holds strong and longstanding literary, folkloric and artistic associations with sexual desire and fertility. The lunch is being taken 'on the grass', shocking enough given the behavioural context, but perhaps Manet also had in mind the scent of grass and its associations with those of sex.
It could be then, that the subliminal allusions of Le Déjeuner may have offended Paris society as much as its more overt departures from convention. Sometimes things are particularly intriguing when we don't quite know what is going on.
Bon Appetit!
Copyright Haydn Dickenson 2024
Your act of looking is enlightening! Always aware that this painting was a game changer in its day, I had not looked. I had nog looked so intensely! He may have a larger head: she, however, holds all the cards!