Detailed Analysis of Edouard Manet's Olympia Artwork, VSN1A/B/C

This essay offers a detailed analysis of Edouard Manet's Olympia, focusing on its significance as a modern artwork. The introduction positions Manet as a pioneer, highlighting the painting's controversial subject matter: a nude woman depicted as a 19th-century prostitute. The analysis explores the visual elements, including the woman's direct gaze, the contrasting use of light and shadow, and the strategic composition. It discusses the symbolism of elements like the gold bracelet, the black ribbon, and the flowers, emphasizing the painting's themes of sensuality and luxury. The brushwork, texture, and use of shapes are examined, revealing the artwork's fluid style and the tension created by its subject matter and presentation. The essay concludes by emphasizing Olympia's role as an informal portrait and a bold statement in the art world. The essay includes references from art education and visual studies publications.

Running Head: ART & ARCHITECTURE 1
Olympia Artwork
by Edouard Manet
VSN1A/B/C…
Name (Student ID)
Day/Month/Year

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Introduction
Edouard Manet is seen as a modernizer of French paintings and as a pioneer of modern
art. The painter and the Impressionist painters were a source of inspiration for each other. His
famous painting” Olympia” shows a nude woman reclining on a bed other (Encyclopedia of Art
Education, 2018). The painting was shocking as it was not a nude of some goddess but a 19th-
century prostitute and what made it more shocking was her direct confrontational gaze. The
professional nude model for Olympia was Victorine Meurent (Raine, 2013).
The nude woman wears nothing but a gold bracelet on her wrist and a black ribbon
around her neck. Her left foot is encased in gold colored heels. The white silken bedsheet and
the flower in her hair are symbols of sensuality and luxury. A black servant attends with a
bouquet of flowers while a black cat with its back arched and tail raised stands at the foot of the
bed. What draws the attention of the viewer is her direct and confident look towards the viewer
and the strategic position of her left hand. Olympia's naked display of her yellow-white skin on
the white sheets makes a sharp contrast with the dark background.
There are gentle and soft contrasts on the contours of the naked body. Delicate lines
accentuate the different curves of her body, whether it is the breasts or the curve of the stomach
or the legs. The brushwork is fluid and smooth. The texture is created with different
brushstrokes to depict the smooth glossiness of the sheets, the patterns of the background and the
smooth nude skin. The light tends to fall directly on the bed and highlights those ruffles and
crease in the pillows on the expanse of the sheet. The skin of the nude woman looks glaring
white, and there are jarring visual transitions from light to shadow. There is an asymmetry about
the artwork that is enhanced because of the way her head turns and the flowers in her hair. There
is a rhythm in the artwork s the viewer’s gaze follows the face of the woman, her body and then

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ends with the black cat. The volume of body, the space occupied by the bed, the expanse of
darkness shows the use of simple large shapes that add volume and weight to the artwork. There
is a destructive tension in the artwork, because of the subject matter and how it is presented.
Olympia is disturbingly ‘visible’ as it is illuminated within the claustrophobic void of blacks
(Smith & Jenks, 2006). Olympia is indeed an informal portrait of a woman who is not afraid of
her body.

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References
Encyclopedia Of Art Education (2018). Olympia (1863), visual-arts-cork.Retrieved from
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/olympia-manet.htm
Raine, C. (2013). Everything but the girl: the subtle sexuality of Edouard Manet. New Statesman,
(5143), 39.
Smith, J. A., & Jenks, C. (2006). Manet’s Olympia. Visual Studies, 21(2), 157–166.