Analytical and discursive

Emile Zola, a friend of Manet, saw him as one of the ‘masters of the future but a child of his own time.Indeed, Manet is now regarded by many as the father of modernism. He was a realist with his content, but developed the impressionist technique, both of which reacted against the traditions of the French Royal Academy. However, Manet did not ignore the Academy completely, as Reyburn comments, ‘Manet…was a sphinx-like figure, on the one hand outrageously confronting the salon and its audience, on the other craving its acceptance.’ Indeed, Manet saw the Salon as the ‘true field of battle’ where ‘one must measure oneself’.