Hailed by
young painters as their leader, Manet became the central figure
in the dispute between the academic and rebellious art factions
of his time. In 1864 the official Salon accepted two of his paintings,
and in 1865 he exhibited his Olympia (1863, Musée d'Orsay), a
nude based on a Venus by Titian, which aroused storms of protest
in academic circles because of its unorthodox realism.
Manet served as an officer in the French army from 1870 to 1871,
during the Franco-Prussian War. He did not gain recognition until
late in life, when his portraits became much sought after. In
1882 one of his finest pictures, The Bar at the Folies-Bergère
(Courtauld Institute and Galleries, London), was exhibited at
the Salon, and an old friend, who was then minister of fine arts,
obtained the Legion of Honor for the artist. Manet died in Paris
on April 30, 1883. He left, besides many watercolors and pastels,
420 oil paintings.
