Manet Comes to Milan’s Palazzo Reale

Palazzo Reale, the most important exhibition venue and cultural center in Milan, is currently honoring Édouard Manet and the other masters of impressionism and post-impressionism such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne. All of the works on display in “Manet and Modern Paris” are on loan from the Musée d’Orsay and include 17 masterpieces by Manet, the artist who is considered to be the father of impressionism. 

A photo of the innovative artist

Manet is for us what Cimabue and Giotto were for the Italians of the Renaissance

"The Luncheon on the Grass," Manet's early masterpiece

The Father of Impressionism

Manet is a French painter who revolutionized the art world during the 19th century with his innovative style characterized by loose brush strokes, simplification of details, and the suppression of transitional tones. He was one of the first artists to paint modern life recording scenes of bars, theaters, parks, and avenues as well as poverty, prostitution, and misery. Manet was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism and continues to serve as a major influence for future painters, even hundreds of years after his death in 1883. This particular exhibition will concentrate on Manet’s observations of Paris and his deep connection with the city he spent his entire life in.  

Manet’s Contemporaries

“Manet and Modern Paris” also includes paintings, drawings, watercolors, sculptures, and prints created by other influential artists that lived during the same time period such as Giovanni Boldini, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Henri Fantin-Latour, Berthe Morisot, Paul Signac, and James Tissot. Manet is an artist that heavily inspired his contemporaries, so much so that the brilliant Renoir once said, “Manet is for us what Cimabue and Giotto were for the Italians of the Renaissance.” Danish-French Impressionist Camille Pissarro has said, “he is much more skillful than all of us, he transformed black into light.” 

The “Manet and Modern Paris” exhibition at Palazzo Reale will take place from March 8th until July 2nd. Delve into the art world and get lost in the breathtaking paintings of the most famous artists of all time. For more information, visit: http://www.palazzorealemilano.it