Relationship of Degas and Manet

Relationship of Degas and Manet in Impressionism

Degas and Manet  were separated from the Impressionists by artistic aims, social class and perhaps by their age. Two years separated Degas and Manet as they had far more early opportunities than Monet and his group,this helped with their artistic ideas and also with the themes of their pictures. In Degas work the genre studies of modern life, the opera and the orchestra were of interest to him.

Degas Work studies of everyday life: Nursemaid in the Luxembourg Gardens - 1871- 1872

Degas Work studies of Opera and the Orchestra: Opera Diablo - 1876

 As young men they became aware of the new 'realist' movement. Manets relationship with Baudelaire was strong around the time he was writing Peinture de la Vie Moderne, Manet was working on Musique aux Tuileries.The mature paintings of Manet and Degas have far more greater unity and economy than the more sprawling compositions of Courbet and Barbizon painters. 

Manets Work: Musique aux Tuileries - 1862

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Degas and Manet rapid lines and uncluttered pictures are the counterpart of his own wit. Their economy and directions were adopted by the Impressionists who ceased to include small details in their pictures just as they ceased to labour for a high finish.

Degas and Manet does not in the least imply that choice of subject was a matter of difference to them.

The highly original and personal themes selected by these painters are more varied than those of the Impressionists. There originality and range can be seen in Manets novel type of modern historical pictures such as The Kerseage and Alabama, this is depicting a naval battle in the American Civil War. Also in Degas genre scenes from everyday life such as The pedicure and the Cotton Exchange.

Manet's Work: The Kerseage and Alabama - 1864

Degas Work: The Pedicure - 1873

Degas Work: The Cotton Exchange - 1873

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There were other aspects in which Degas and Manet differed from the Impressionists. They did not have the same early contact with open air landscape painting.They were both old enough to dislike the an art of social realism. Manet was influence by Courbets art and an example of this would have been Manet's work Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe. 

Manet's Work: Dejeuner sur l'Herbe - 1863

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As soon as Manet began to exhibit they felt the need to distinguish his art work as sharply as possible as from the works of Courbet. Courbet and his friends were somewhat jealous of Manet for replacing Courbet. Manet and Degas were further alienated from Courbet's circle by their pessimism and political disillusionment.

Degas seems to be political hidebound, he was a bankers son who scorned the rabble and land tradition.If he was painting a model he would even ask her about her race and if she was Jewish he would dismiss her.

Manet who was a left wing republican and a consistent enemy of the empire. The political allegiance affected the themes of his paintings. Some of his paintings that had these themes in it were the Execution of Maximilian. He represented the firing squad in French, not Mexican, he uses the uniforms as a way of criticizing French policy.

Manet's Work: The Execution of Maximilian - 1867

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Manet was more addicted to the Salon than Degas.Degas was by no means a Bohemian and for years loved parties and was less conformist than Manet.Manet was often hard to remark he was already painting his contempories while Degas was still busy painting ladies like in his painting Semiramis.Although there was occasional arguments between both artists they always had the utmost respect for each others genius.There was many differences in their attitude towards painting.

Degas Work: Semiramis - 1861

Manet was far more painterly than Degas, he used a rich, loose brushstroke and gloried in a style that was rapid and spontaneous.Degas and Manet were both interested in new techniques which was called "la peinture claire", this was the laying of light in flat areas of paint and adding the dark passages before the others had time to dry. Degas did not work all over the canvas at one time, he liked to use pure, flat colours without shadows and he painted the light behind objects which flattened the object which meant there was no need for modelling. Degas sometimes said that painters were too fond of using an over loaded brush, when degas used paint it was often thin or refined with essence.

Degas and Manet resembled each other in being illustrators of Parisian life in their home.Manet was interested in rendering elegance and charm, whereas Degas explored the beauty of the "jolie laide"this was capturing general things like someone yawning or scratching there back. An example of this is  The Dance Class where the girl in the left foreground is scratching her back.

Degas Work : The Dance Class - 1874

In the 1870's Manet was regarded as a leader to Renoir, Monet and Sisley replacing Courbet. His reputation may have suffered from Degas supporters in France and in England. Degas friends undervalued Manet, whereas the Impressionists and Degas didn't think that at all.Monet and Renoir owed a great deal to Manet's free,vigorous brushstrokes, his blond colours and the the overall unity of his compositions. His elimination of half tones and the use of tones progressing from dark to light gave the Impressionists the right to paint in whatever colours or tonalities they wanted. Manet was never primarily a painter of landscapes or reflected light, he never abandoned local colours or black. Most of his works was executed in the studio  from drawings that were made in front of the subject itself.

The failure of his one-man exhibition in 1867 and his constant rejections by the Salon had shaken his nerves.He longed for appreciation, his loss of confidence was particularly unfortunate at this time, for he had  recently achieved artistic maturity in such works as Lunch in the Studio. But he was encouraged and influenced by the Impressionists which saved him from this sterility.

Manet's Work: Lunch in the Studio - 1868