Manet

by Georges Bataille, Austryn Wainhouse (Translator), James Emmons (Translator)

Biographical and Critical Study by Georges Bataille

Genres: Art, France

138 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

French essayist, philosophical theorist, and novelist, often called the "metaphysician of evil." Bataille was interested in sex, death, degradation, and the power and potential of the obscene. He rejected traditional literature and considered that the ultimate aim of all intellectual, artistic, or religious activity should be the annihilation of the rational individual in a violent, transcendental act of communion. Roland Barthes, Julia Kristeva, and Philippe Sollers have all written enthusiastically about his work.

Reviews

[Thomas Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable work by Bataille. He leans heavily on Malraux's study of Goya, citing the triumph of form over content as the inaugural gesture of modernism. But Bataille makes an important adjustment to Malraux's analysis. In Manet, we see far more than aesthetic indifference, be it in the "Olympia" painting or "Execution of Maximilian." Manet attacks his subject matter; aesthetic negation does not imply indifference, but pure violence. All the modernist tropes are here and Bataille is as entertaining as ever.

[Nadia Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be quite interesting, however, there was not anything too surprising or unexpected. Bataille covers a range of subject matter from The Olympia scandal to the overall effects of the bourgeoisie on painters of the time. Nevertheless, the book told me what I needed for my research. Therefore, I cannot complain.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A profound study of the painter, that examines his work and sums up innovations he made. This book has a superb chronology section.

[Egor xS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Épater la bourgeoisie

[Marcella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prefiro a palestra proferida pelo Foucault, na Tunísia, sobre Manet

[Dirk Van Eyck · Rating 2 out of 5]

pas super pertinent

[Aaron Schuschu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I vibe with Manet and his matter of factly- ness being mistaken for shyness/ the reserved attitude that’s a consequence of being moral.

[Uriah Marc Todoroff]

Bataille's treatment of Manet's early career is not that interesting; it's when he gets to Olympia and Dejeneur sur l'herbe that his particular qualifications become suited to the subject. Even though he runs through the very typical analysis of the reception of Olympia, quoting all the critics soyfacing at the Salon, he does include a lengthy quotation from one critic, a few years later, reflecting on the nature of zeitgeist and fashion in art that I thought was quite interesting. A uniquely self-conscious reflection on the part of that artist.

I had the thought a number of times while reading this monograph that it is essentially undergrad-tier writing. Bataille hits a lot of standard beats in the story of Manet, only really offering something new or original in his analysis of the bourgeois conventions Manet puts on blast. I am quite certain that Bataille's influence on art history if minimal, so it is unlikely that the narrative which is so familiar to me was significantly influenced by this slim volume. More likely is that Bataille was influenced by the dominant narrative, and contributed to it.

This volume does have a large amount of nice, full-colour reproductions, which is nice. I read the pdf downloaded from Monoskop, which is a pretty good resolution. I am looking forward to reading Bataille's volume on prehistoric art, as I feel like he is likely better suited to that area of speculation. I am mostly interested in Bataille in order to locate the precise source and political nature of the schism between him and Breton.