This work of Manet, so much discussed and produced under such tormenting
conditions, owes its importance beyond all to its power and frankness.
Ten years of developing the first manner, tragically limited by the war
of 1870; thirteen years of developing the second evolution, parallel
with the efforts of the Impressionists. The period from 1860 to 1870 is
logically connected with Hals and Goya; from 1870 to 1883 the artist's
modernity is complicated by the study of light. His personality appears
there even more original, but one may well give the palm to those works
of Manet which are painted in his classic and low-toned manner. He had
all the pictorial gifts which make the glory of the masters: full, true,
broad composition, colouring of irresistible power, blacks and greys
which cannot be found elsewhere since Velasquez and Goya, and a profound
knowledge of values. He has tried his hand at everything: portraits,
landscapes, seascapes, scenes of modern life, still-life and nudes have
each in their turn served his ardent desire of creation. His was a much
finer comprehension of contemporary life than seems to be admitted by
Realism: one has only to compare him with Courbet, to see how far more
nervous and intelligent he was, without loss to the qualities of truth
and robustness. His pictures will always remain documents of the
greatest importance on the society, the manners and customs of the
second Empire. He did not possess the gift of psychology. His _Christ
aux Anges_ and _Jésus insulté_ are obviously only pieces of painting
without idealism. He was, like the great Dutch virtuosos, and like
certain Italians, more eye than soul. Yet his _Maximilian_, the drawings
to Poe's _Raven_, and certain sketches show that he might have realised
some curious, psychological works, had he not been so completely
absorbed by the immediate reality and by the desire for beautiful paint.
A beautiful painter--this is what he was before everything else, this is
his fairest fame, and it is almost inconceivable that the juries of the
Salons failed to understand him. They waxed indignant over his subjects