Sense of pleasure - Manet

The paintings of Edouard Manet show the enjoyable life which he led. Manet painted scenes showing the fun activities of the people of Paris, of himself, of friends and family. Many of his works were simply these paintings of enjoyable activities. He depicted cafes, bars, restaurants and other leisure activities which show the happy lifestyle that he had. Aspects of the surroundings important to him include the costumes and the activities of the people. The whole mood of the paintings suggest the pleasure, relaxation and fun of people in nineteenth century Paris. I will discuss the works of Manet which especially show this exciting world, and his desire to paint pleasure for pleasure's sake. I like the way which he chose to show this simple interesting world of people enjoying themselves and will examine several of his works which show this. Not all his paintings show a pleasurable look at the world around him such as his earlier works of working class people, but I will focus on the ones that do.

Manet painted a picture of people he knew enjoying themselves in the Tuileries Gardens. Music in the Tuileries was a painting of the sort of lifestyle which he enjoyed; music, conversation, dancing and fun. While the picture has been regarded as not very well finished, the atmosphere created by the work is wonderful, giving the viewer a sense of his surroundings. It is easy to imagine the music which would be playing while the events in the picture are going on; the conversation and the sounds of glasses clinking. The senses are very much a part of this work. With the work showing a group of people that included a self-portrait, he was clearly trying to show the colourful splendid world around him. "Both subject and style suggest he had attempted to capture the raw beauty and vivid reality of his own society." (Hanson 1971: 162) The painting shows people he knew personally; artists, authors and musicians. He based the work on a series of sketches which he did when he visited the Tuileries gardens and did sketches of people relaxing and playing. He "went almost daily to the Tuileries from two o'clock to four o'clock, doing sketches en plein air, under the trees, of children playing and groups of nursemaids relaxing on chairs." (Cachin 1995: 32) With the painting based on these sketches, Manet really tried to capture the atmosphere of the place in every way that he could.

Manet's paintings of cafe scenes show the leisurely world of restaurants in Paris. People are depicted doing many activities such as drinking beer, listening to music, flirting, reading or waiting. His painting of Chez le Pere Lathuille is a clever modern painting of a leisurely pursuit. It "tackles the theme of leisure... thoroughly urban and tinged with wit." (Krell 1996: 183) He often visited the Brasserie Reichshoffen on boulevard de Rochechourt, and based on what he saw there, he painted At the Cafe in 1878. This painting shows several people at a bar, a woman looking towards the viewer while others wait to be served. He also painted typical views of what he would have seen upon going to one of these places, a crowded scene of people drinking, enjoying themselves, talking, having fun. They are painted in a style which is loose, yet captures the mood and feeling of a bar at night; crowded with many things happening. In Corner of a Cafe Concert, Manet shows a person smoking while behind him a waitress is in the middle of serving drinks. In The Beer Drinkers a woman drinks from a glass at a table with another woman. In The Cafe Concert a more sophisticated looking gentleman sits at a bar while a woman stands very confidently in the background sipping her drink. It is easy to relate to this comfortable relaxed world of Manet; to imagine what it was like at the bars and cafes of Paris in the nineteenth century. Many of these paintings he based on sketches which he did at the cafes. These paintings always showed a happy party going atmosphere. They show "the brighter side of Parisian life, the life of the cafes and cafe-concerts.. the theatre and the opera." (Duchting 1995: 15) He painted because he enjoyed painting, and painted the things in which he enjoyed doing. "Painting was to be practised for its own sake, and enjoyed on its own terms." (Lucie-Smith 1971: 223) These paintings were of the restaurants Paris, yet he often painted leisurely pursuits at other locations in Paris and when he went for holidays outside of the city.

Manet painted lovely pictures at many of the recreational activities he enjoyed, and when he left Paris to go on vacations. On holidays Manet painted his surroundings such as when he went to Bologne during the summer. On these trips he painted Departure of the Folkestone Boat which shows a crowd of well dressed people milling about in front of where they would watch the boat leave, or possibly wave to people they knew on the boat. The lady in the long white dress holding a dainty umbrella to the left of centre sums up this relaxed scene. He also painted Moonlight over Boulogne Harbour which is a darker painting at night time, which nevertheless shows the moonlight glistening off the water; a calm view of the serene harbour at night. Social activities were portrayed in works by Manet. In Masked ball at the Opera, Manet shows a crowd of people enjoying a party. Men stand with top cats and long black suits while talking to women with masks and costumes. It is a crowded atmosphere of an enjoyable activity. He included portraits of his friends in this picture. "Manet introduced a few of his friends in this frieze of men-about-town in top hats." (Cachin 1995: 118) Many of his works show a sense of pleasure, "men and women in moments of relaxation, gaiety, nonchalance, in search of small quotidian pleasures." (Cachin 1995:122) Manet's painting of people in the countryside having lunch shows the simple pleasure of eating outdoors. While a controversial painting because of the nudity of the woman beside fully clothed men, Luncheon on the Grass can also be regarded as simply, a happy outdoor scene.

In his work, it is the positive aspects of Manet's surroundings which are usually important to him. He looked for scenes showing ordinary life of cafe-goers and waitresses, looking for a minute when they might be poised ready to have a drink, or thinking about what they are going to say next, or quietly sitting relaxing. Other senses than sight play a part in Manet's paintings. There is very much a sense of the sound which the viewer imagines for the crowded meeting places, with such titles as "Music at the Tuileries" the viewer immediately is drawn to thinking about the music and the noise of the people in the crowded area. In the other works of restaurant scenes, it is very easy to imagine the sounds taking place in the crowded happy meeting places.

The happy mood of many of the people, and the type of fun activities suggest the pleasure and the enjoyment they had while being part of the nightlife of Paris. The feelings of the people in the painting is obvious even though some of the faces are sometimes not very detailed. Manet may not have painted work with the same level of realism as earlier masters, yet he showed that similar or even better atmosphere could be achieved without photo realistic detail. The cheerful mood of the girl in The Beer Drinkers, or the joyful looking man in Le Bon Bock, suggest a feeling of happiness. Sometimes Manet makes pleasure out of an unhappy situation, showing that even where there is sadness, there is still beauty in the costumes and the setting. In A Bar at the Folies Bergere he suggest the pleasure of the people in the background, seen in the reflection in the mirror, who are watching the opera. Manet depicted other popular activities in his work, such as the races in Racing at Longchamp, which shows popular horse racing, where the excitement of the horses as they rush towards the viewer is shown. In Skating Manet shows a well dressed woman in the foreground, with people simply having fun skating in the background. Sometimes, where the mood of the people can be indifferent as in The Plum Brandy, where a woman stares into space, looking like she is thinking about something else, the picture suggest pleasure nevertheless. The beauty of the scene is still there, regardless of her mood, with her lovely costume, in an interesting location. He also shows an immediacy and simple beauty in paintings where people gather in public such as in View of the International Exhibition where people of various types stroll around in a leisurely fashion. In The Railway Manet paints a scene of a woman and a girl in fashionable dress with an adorable little puppy asleep in the woman's lap. The painting says something about the timeless quality of fashion sometimes.

The best thing about Manet's work is the immediacy and the honesty. While some artists strive for realism, Manet's work is realistic, but yet it is more about a simple enjoyment of life. Many of the works have been hurriedly painted, yet the atmosphere of them remains. A Bar at the Folies Bergere most perfectly shows his sense of composition, balance and delightful outlook on life. He shows here that some things are important, such as the look of the bottles and still life at the front, while on the other hand the girl's reflection in the mirror is positioned in such a way where it makes sense from an artistic standpoint, although it is not technically scientifically correct. If he had painted the shadow in the place where it ought to be, behind the woman, than we would not have seen it and it would have been a less interesting painting. Manet here shows that some factual details can be subjugated to the more important way to show beauty and interest, which is more important that photo realistic scientific fact. Emotion before reason is the way in which he possibly would have seen, which makes for a beautiful and fascinating work.

Manet found the nightlife and the social life of the people of Paris important to him and his work. He enjoyed the opera, cafes, restaurants, music, the company of friends, and portrayed this world in his paintings. His paintings show the modern life of the people of Paris. Besides the beautiful sight of his work, other senses such as sound are evident in his paintings. The happiness of the people and the type of fun activity shown suggests pleasure. Finding beauty in such simple pleasures is the most appealing aspect of his work.