Edouard Manet became one of the most notorious painters in Paris
when several of the controversial works he exhibited in the 1863
Salon des Refusés shocked the public with their bold treatment of
form, color, space, and sexually oriented themes. In the summer of
the following year, perhaps seeking relief from the harsh
criticism he had received, Manet left Paris for Boulogne-sur-Mer,
a city on the northern Atlantic coast of France, where he painted
marine subjects and still lifes of fish. He finished the still
lifes there, but did not complete the marine paintings, including
Steamboat Leaving Boulogne, until he returned to Paris.
These works represent a breakthrough for the artist; although his
bold, flat brushwork outraged his critics, it inspired his
Impressionist colleagues in the next decade.
Steamboat Leaving Boulogne can be considered the
most striking marine painting that Manet made during this period.
It has a high horizon line and is filled with a wall-like expanse
of water against which various ships are represented. Like his
peer artists such as Monet
and Van Gogh, Manet
was heavily influenced by Japanese art. The raised horizon,
flattened objects and space, and asymmetrical composition were
inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, which had become extremely
popular in France at the time. Anticipating the sketchlike
Impressionist style, Manet rendered the water in lively horizontal
strokes of blue and green paint that allowed the weave of the
canvas to bleed through in places. Such evidence of the canvas
emphasizes the flatness of the picture surface, while the scale of
the boats, slight narrowing of strokes toward the horizon, and
diagonal direction of the trailing foam and smoke suggest receding
space.
MOST POPULAR PAINTINGS
A Bar at the Folies-Bergere
Olympia
Luncheon on the Grass
The Fifer
The Railway
The Balcony
Music in the Tuileries Garden
Self Portrait with Palette