Manet, Édouard (1832-1883)
Sur la plage de Boulogne (On the Beach, Boulogne-sur-Mer)
1868
Oil on canvas, 32.39 × 66.04 cm
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
As early as 1863, Manet’s submissions to the Salon were either rejected by the jury or ruthlessly condemned by critics and members of the public who decried the unconventional style and disregard for perspective in his paintings, or simply, their subject matter. Manet’s sincere commitment to his art endured even as his avant-garde works remained a target for this kind of criticism throughout the decade. Despite his refusal to exhibit with the Impressionist painters, they continued to influence one another and shared an interest in modern subjects, painting outdoors, radically bright palettes, and unusual cropping. Manet used an elongated canvas to create his only painting of the beach at Boulogne-sur-Mer on France’s northern coast, where he vacationed at least twice. Although the finished work is based on several outdoor sketches he made during his 1868 vacation, the green, blue, and white tones in this panoramic view predominate over a strictly naturalistic depiction of the seascape. The fashionable tourists, the swimming machine used to transport modest bathers between the water and the beach, and the boats that sail in the background are each rendered without apparent concern for realistic scale or perspective. Instead, Manet seems preoccupied with lending each of these figures a distinct sense of movement within the composition. (VMFA)
Compare:
Degas, Edgar (1834-1917)
Scène de plage
c.1869–1870
National Gallery, London