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Edouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat
"Manet comes alive in [Brombert's] pages. . . . At times her biography reads like a substantial and detailed 19th-century novel. . . . Brombert's Edouard Manet gives us not only a portrait of a complex artist but, in its authority and its range, a portrait of an age as well."—James R. Mellow, New York Times Book Review
"One of the pleasures of reading her is to follow the way she weaves life, art and history into a smooth tapestry. The art emerges from the life, and in the broadest possible in terms of its creator's life and concerns and in terns of its historical and cultural setting."—Eric Gibson, The Washington Times Books
"Richly detailed and informative . . . [this biography] exposes the character of an artist who maintained a sharply defined duality between his public and private personas."—Edward J. Sozanski, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Brombert's reading of important canvasses . . . shine, as do her accounts of the changing social and political environment in which Manet worked. . . . Well researched, complexly conceived, and clearly written."— Kirkus Reviews
"Brilliant . . . [this book] grants us a far deeper understanding of why [Manet's] paintings outraged so many of his peers, and why these same masterpieces resonate so richly in our psyches a century later."— Booklist, starred review
"One of the pleasures of reading her is to follow the way she weaves life, art and history into a smooth tapestry. The art emerges from the life, and in the broadest possible in terms of its creator's life and concerns and in terns of its historical and cultural setting."—Eric Gibson, The Washington Times Books
"Richly detailed and informative . . . [this biography] exposes the character of an artist who maintained a sharply defined duality between his public and private personas."—Edward J. Sozanski, Philadelphia Inquirer
"Brombert's reading of important canvasses . . . shine, as do her accounts of the changing social and political environment in which Manet worked. . . . Well researched, complexly conceived, and clearly written."— Kirkus Reviews
"Brilliant . . . [this book] grants us a far deeper understanding of why [Manet's] paintings outraged so many of his peers, and why these same masterpieces resonate so richly in our psyches a century later."— Booklist, starred review
528 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1996
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June 29, 2012
A thoughtful analysis that arises from exceptionally detailed readings of the majority of Manet's works gets bogged down by two factors: the middling quality of the works reproduced in the book, which prevents the reader perceiving many of the observations from the text for himself, granted that the book was printed in 1997; and the constant impression of sentimentality, that is that Manet's familial relationships and emotional life are being stressed even more than is credible, just a little more, but always so.
I disagree deeply with certain implications in this biography but love it all the more for the conviction of its analysis.
In a detailed, thorough biography, Beth Archer Brombert convincingly places the art of Edouard Manet in historical context. His family, his friends, and his contemporaries come to life, at times in rapid-fire, staggeringly exquisite characterizations ("Friends and Models," Chapter 11). In tying Manet's life to his art in order to establish the meaning of both, Brombert pushes the analysis of certain relationships and works just a step too far, but such scratches in her compellingly comprehensive analysis tend to pollute the tone of the narrative locally rather than damaging the beauty of her understanding of Manet, the Frenchman and the universal artist. Despite a number of thought-provoking objections which can be expounded here, solid and fascinating analysis reigns throughout this well-written biography.
In relating Manet's interactions with E'mile Zola, his first prominent and most important supporter, Brombert, no less than four times, veers towards what might be considered character assassination of Zola. Her proof of his deceitfulness (pg. 410) is actually dependent on attitudes that have been questionably cultivated by the author herself previously.
Berthe Morisot, the closest friend and dearest love whom Manet could not marry because of the need to do right by his son and his first love, is the subject of a great many of the artist's works but an even greater percentage of this biography. Although Morisot directly affected many of Manet's earlier and middle works as a model and kindred artist, and even though she drew closer to Edouard through her marriage to his brother, Euge'ne, the author tends to get bogged down in rather boring historical circumstances of the Morisot family and, worse, step-by-step descriptions of Berthe's melancholy. It goes not too far beyond, but beyond, the point at which any of it has to do with Manet and his art.
Manet's first and chosen teacher, Thomas Couture, who is rendered fairly and sympathetically, suffers when Brombert claims that "it is not hard to see Couture in the role of surrogate father" (pg. 48). Nothing suggests that he was more than a figure against which to rebel -- someone earlier in the history of art, a confident teacher who cultivated a student's free intellect, despite or perhaps through several anecdotal incidents. To call him a "surrogate father" because a father might have played the same role, among many others, is distracting, not least from Edouard's turbulent relationship with his actual father at that time. Likewise, Brombert over-reaches by suggesting that Suzanne Leenhoff, childhood piano teacher turned wife, might be seen as a "second mother." Both of these detract from the understanding of Manet's personality and fail to apply to his art.
Worse than the mischaracterization of certain people in Manet's life are analyses of the art that bend out of alignment with the entire work. The author takes pains to show she is not comparing Manet to Christ on pg. 419 when she writes, "He had been mocked, insulted, reviled, rejected. Why would he not have been haunted by the image of a suffering Christ?". Manet's ingenious use of an historical form in painting and his lifelong, loyal best friend Antonin Proust as a model suffers because, in taking pains not to identify Manet with Christ, the author has done just that, striking a weird tone that does not contribute to her overall argument.
Most alarming of all is the almost judgmental tone the text takes towards Suzanne, Manet's wife, and Le'on, his son, for not being themselves great artists. This happens particularly in the chapter entitled "The Family, Beware the Family!". This comment, made after Manet's death and the dispersal of his works by Degas (friend and contemporary of Manet and his family), illuminates several things: the kind of irony beloved by Manet, Degas' personality, and the circumstances of various French artists at the time. Yet, having effectively demonstrated that Suzanne's and Le'on's continued and desired influence in Manet's work only served to reveal an inability to be very enthusiastic on all parts, Brombert seems to imply that Suzanne and Le'on, in the wake of Edouard's death, might have some kind of responsibility to art historians or future collectors more than to themselves. Even if it might be true, isn't it still arrogant to imply that a scholar more than a century later or even a friend at the time understand a man more intimately than his own wife and son? Problems with the argument aside, this chapter was a joy to read as it thoroughly spins the meaning of Degas' quote.
These pitfalls really are exceptions to sparkling analyses of Manet's great works. So heavy are many of the masterpieces that it is easier to examine some works of less centrality. Politically motivated paintings like "The Battle of the Kearsage and the Alabama," "The Execution of Emperor Maximilian," "The Barricade," and above all "Bon Bock" benefit from an honest and scholarly analysis of the way they invoke, and even exerted direct influence on, the politics and society of both France and the world. The works serve only the artist himself. That they also served his contemporaries and posterity is only a measure of his artistic success. Brombert enables the reader, even with very little previous knowledge of all these events, to appreciate Manet's accomplishment in appropriate context. Critically, her analysis reveals how Manet created powerful meaning in these works THROUGH innovations in perspective, composition, and color that were to mark the beginning of modernism.
Conspicuously absent from the thoroughgoing discussion of the majority of Manet's works is much response to his most famous one, the "Bar at the Folies-Berge're," which is acknowledged by some biographical information but little discussion of the work itself. This may have been a choice to avoid what has been done elsewhere ad nauseum, yet I, as an interested amateur, had hoped to find chapters of discussion on this work in particular. In fact, that is exactly what the jacket would have a prospective reader believe, that the contents are for amateur and expert alike. This omission, at any rate, is balanced by loving attention to many smaller works, such as the still life of almond shells (see below).
Although Manet's real achievements were in painting the human figure, a mark of an artist's ability mostly avoided by his friends the Impressionists, and less than stimulating in the hands of other artists of his day, Manet from time to time painted still lifes. Even these still lifes resound with Manet's art. A brilliant example of the author's unified reading of his work in terms of art history, personal history, French society, emotional empathy, the technique of painting, and color theory can be found on pg. 302. Here, Brombert ties a minor still life of some unripe almonds to the artist's apathy, his lack of any inspiration at all, as a result of a kind of depression. Since he was copying part of one of his previous works, an unusual practice for him but not uncommon at some point for most artists, he really is expressing dejection at his abuse over the previous years at the hands of officials and critics. Manet's "sad pensiveness" was only magnified by the painting's timing at the end of that very French extended summer vacation at the seashore, one which left him lonely and homesick each year, even in the midst of family and relaxation. None of this is lost in Brombert's analysis, and, not wanting to leave it up to speculation, the author ties it to technique and color: "the fuzzy gray-green husk may have presented an interesting technical challenge, but is has none of the sensuality of his flower paintings, with their tragic awareness of death; none of the opulence of his fish and seafood, or the succulence of his other fruits set on meticulously detailed tablecloths." Dazzlingly, Brombert places this painting squarely in line with Berthe Morisot's comparison of Manet's work to "'a wild, or even a not quite ripe fruit'," a quote about which she has written earlier in the biography. Besides opening a window on the rest of his still lifes, Brombert has proven that the smallest, least-inspired of his works deeply expresses the artist's heart, his philosophy, his life and times, from the relationship of color and light to that of people, families, and society.
In short, "Edouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat" bursts with invigorating analysis of the artist and his art. If it has any flaw, it is that the analysis is "too good" at times, requiring a healthy dose of critical thought. The author may nearly have a biography of Berthe Morisot already, and hopefully she will never write one of Zola, but she would be hard-pressed to improve what she has written here.
I disagree deeply with certain implications in this biography but love it all the more for the conviction of its analysis.
In a detailed, thorough biography, Beth Archer Brombert convincingly places the art of Edouard Manet in historical context. His family, his friends, and his contemporaries come to life, at times in rapid-fire, staggeringly exquisite characterizations ("Friends and Models," Chapter 11). In tying Manet's life to his art in order to establish the meaning of both, Brombert pushes the analysis of certain relationships and works just a step too far, but such scratches in her compellingly comprehensive analysis tend to pollute the tone of the narrative locally rather than damaging the beauty of her understanding of Manet, the Frenchman and the universal artist. Despite a number of thought-provoking objections which can be expounded here, solid and fascinating analysis reigns throughout this well-written biography.
In relating Manet's interactions with E'mile Zola, his first prominent and most important supporter, Brombert, no less than four times, veers towards what might be considered character assassination of Zola. Her proof of his deceitfulness (pg. 410) is actually dependent on attitudes that have been questionably cultivated by the author herself previously.
Berthe Morisot, the closest friend and dearest love whom Manet could not marry because of the need to do right by his son and his first love, is the subject of a great many of the artist's works but an even greater percentage of this biography. Although Morisot directly affected many of Manet's earlier and middle works as a model and kindred artist, and even though she drew closer to Edouard through her marriage to his brother, Euge'ne, the author tends to get bogged down in rather boring historical circumstances of the Morisot family and, worse, step-by-step descriptions of Berthe's melancholy. It goes not too far beyond, but beyond, the point at which any of it has to do with Manet and his art.
Manet's first and chosen teacher, Thomas Couture, who is rendered fairly and sympathetically, suffers when Brombert claims that "it is not hard to see Couture in the role of surrogate father" (pg. 48). Nothing suggests that he was more than a figure against which to rebel -- someone earlier in the history of art, a confident teacher who cultivated a student's free intellect, despite or perhaps through several anecdotal incidents. To call him a "surrogate father" because a father might have played the same role, among many others, is distracting, not least from Edouard's turbulent relationship with his actual father at that time. Likewise, Brombert over-reaches by suggesting that Suzanne Leenhoff, childhood piano teacher turned wife, might be seen as a "second mother." Both of these detract from the understanding of Manet's personality and fail to apply to his art.
Worse than the mischaracterization of certain people in Manet's life are analyses of the art that bend out of alignment with the entire work. The author takes pains to show she is not comparing Manet to Christ on pg. 419 when she writes, "He had been mocked, insulted, reviled, rejected. Why would he not have been haunted by the image of a suffering Christ?". Manet's ingenious use of an historical form in painting and his lifelong, loyal best friend Antonin Proust as a model suffers because, in taking pains not to identify Manet with Christ, the author has done just that, striking a weird tone that does not contribute to her overall argument.
Most alarming of all is the almost judgmental tone the text takes towards Suzanne, Manet's wife, and Le'on, his son, for not being themselves great artists. This happens particularly in the chapter entitled "The Family, Beware the Family!". This comment, made after Manet's death and the dispersal of his works by Degas (friend and contemporary of Manet and his family), illuminates several things: the kind of irony beloved by Manet, Degas' personality, and the circumstances of various French artists at the time. Yet, having effectively demonstrated that Suzanne's and Le'on's continued and desired influence in Manet's work only served to reveal an inability to be very enthusiastic on all parts, Brombert seems to imply that Suzanne and Le'on, in the wake of Edouard's death, might have some kind of responsibility to art historians or future collectors more than to themselves. Even if it might be true, isn't it still arrogant to imply that a scholar more than a century later or even a friend at the time understand a man more intimately than his own wife and son? Problems with the argument aside, this chapter was a joy to read as it thoroughly spins the meaning of Degas' quote.
These pitfalls really are exceptions to sparkling analyses of Manet's great works. So heavy are many of the masterpieces that it is easier to examine some works of less centrality. Politically motivated paintings like "The Battle of the Kearsage and the Alabama," "The Execution of Emperor Maximilian," "The Barricade," and above all "Bon Bock" benefit from an honest and scholarly analysis of the way they invoke, and even exerted direct influence on, the politics and society of both France and the world. The works serve only the artist himself. That they also served his contemporaries and posterity is only a measure of his artistic success. Brombert enables the reader, even with very little previous knowledge of all these events, to appreciate Manet's accomplishment in appropriate context. Critically, her analysis reveals how Manet created powerful meaning in these works THROUGH innovations in perspective, composition, and color that were to mark the beginning of modernism.
Conspicuously absent from the thoroughgoing discussion of the majority of Manet's works is much response to his most famous one, the "Bar at the Folies-Berge're," which is acknowledged by some biographical information but little discussion of the work itself. This may have been a choice to avoid what has been done elsewhere ad nauseum, yet I, as an interested amateur, had hoped to find chapters of discussion on this work in particular. In fact, that is exactly what the jacket would have a prospective reader believe, that the contents are for amateur and expert alike. This omission, at any rate, is balanced by loving attention to many smaller works, such as the still life of almond shells (see below).
Although Manet's real achievements were in painting the human figure, a mark of an artist's ability mostly avoided by his friends the Impressionists, and less than stimulating in the hands of other artists of his day, Manet from time to time painted still lifes. Even these still lifes resound with Manet's art. A brilliant example of the author's unified reading of his work in terms of art history, personal history, French society, emotional empathy, the technique of painting, and color theory can be found on pg. 302. Here, Brombert ties a minor still life of some unripe almonds to the artist's apathy, his lack of any inspiration at all, as a result of a kind of depression. Since he was copying part of one of his previous works, an unusual practice for him but not uncommon at some point for most artists, he really is expressing dejection at his abuse over the previous years at the hands of officials and critics. Manet's "sad pensiveness" was only magnified by the painting's timing at the end of that very French extended summer vacation at the seashore, one which left him lonely and homesick each year, even in the midst of family and relaxation. None of this is lost in Brombert's analysis, and, not wanting to leave it up to speculation, the author ties it to technique and color: "the fuzzy gray-green husk may have presented an interesting technical challenge, but is has none of the sensuality of his flower paintings, with their tragic awareness of death; none of the opulence of his fish and seafood, or the succulence of his other fruits set on meticulously detailed tablecloths." Dazzlingly, Brombert places this painting squarely in line with Berthe Morisot's comparison of Manet's work to "'a wild, or even a not quite ripe fruit'," a quote about which she has written earlier in the biography. Besides opening a window on the rest of his still lifes, Brombert has proven that the smallest, least-inspired of his works deeply expresses the artist's heart, his philosophy, his life and times, from the relationship of color and light to that of people, families, and society.
In short, "Edouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat" bursts with invigorating analysis of the artist and his art. If it has any flaw, it is that the analysis is "too good" at times, requiring a healthy dose of critical thought. The author may nearly have a biography of Berthe Morisot already, and hopefully she will never write one of Zola, but she would be hard-pressed to improve what she has written here.
June 8, 2014
It's hard for us today to realize how extraordinarily radical the Impressionists were back in the late 1800s. Today, anything goes. Back then, not so. Art was formulaic and usually based on historical and religious themes. The Impressionists broke that mold, and the one who started it all was Edouard Manet, who's recognized at the first modern painter. Unfortunately, he was despised, perhaps even hated, by most of his contemporaries. When you look at his paintings, it's hard to see what caused the negative reaction. The man was obviously a genius and probably one of the greatest painters of all time. So why was he so vilified? That's where Brombert's book comes in. She brilliantly lays the groundwork to understand why, and why Manet's paintings were so radical. She weaves together the many threads of Parisian society, artistic theory, Manet's life, the art works he produced and their intellectual background, and the many artists, writers, and musicians he knew and their interactions, which were not always smooth. Her book is an extraordinary accomplishment.
February 11, 2022
I really can't write a more thorough analysis of this book than Tyler True (see his review, please), though as someone less knowledgeable of Manet's life and the other biographies out there, I enjoyed this book a bit more. I do wish the book had included more of his works and IN COLOR. And more analysis of the works would have been terrific, though I appreciated how Beth Archer Brombert wove the stories of his paintings into the story of his life.
I was also glad to see that Brombert didn't overdo his relationship with Berthe Morisot, as at least one author has done (in a fictional recreation), but focused on his meaningful relationships with Proust and Zola, and attempted some analysis of his curious marriage.
I have always loved Manet's works, but never understood how misunderstood he was, nor how he suffered both physically and psychologically during his too-short life. In retrospect, he was a bridge from traditional painting to the Impressionists, but as Brombert points out, he often captured something electric between himself and his subjects, as with her portraits of Morisot and his final painting "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère," one of my all-time favorites.
I was also glad to see that Brombert didn't overdo his relationship with Berthe Morisot, as at least one author has done (in a fictional recreation), but focused on his meaningful relationships with Proust and Zola, and attempted some analysis of his curious marriage.
I have always loved Manet's works, but never understood how misunderstood he was, nor how he suffered both physically and psychologically during his too-short life. In retrospect, he was a bridge from traditional painting to the Impressionists, but as Brombert points out, he often captured something electric between himself and his subjects, as with her portraits of Morisot and his final painting "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère," one of my all-time favorites.
October 9, 2019
I started reading this book after visiting an exhibit of Manet's work at the Art Institute of Chicago. I was trying to fill in the gaps of Manet's private life that were left by the exhibit. This book filled those gaps really well. It was great at helping me understand the "why" of so much of the discord in his life. Placing his life and works in time with historical events was very eye-opening and enlightening. The author references personal letters and writings as well as other public records to tell the story within the story. It's a fascinating book.
As other reviewers have noted it's a shame that there isn't more representation of the works mentioned in the text. I spent quite a bit of time searching for works mentioned on my phone while reading.
As other reviewers have noted it's a shame that there isn't more representation of the works mentioned in the text. I spent quite a bit of time searching for works mentioned on my phone while reading.
December 13, 2019
The Police wrote a song called “Too Much Information.” That’s how I felt after reading this exhaustive biography of Manet. Parts of it were very good, but I found myself skimming through other parts. The result is I know what Manet did in his life but who he was still remains a mystery. Wish the reproductions of his work had been in color. However, if you admire Manet’s work this biography is worth a look.
December 4, 2020
Useful and easy to read biography, and a great collection of translated primary sources about Manet and his circle. However, the author is a little too judgmental at points. Especially in regards to his wife Suzanne and Berthe Morisot. For example:
" Olympia is all gentle curves and slender lines, with her little high breasts, flat tummy (..) Suzanne appears to have plopped herself on the sofa- one can almost hear the creak of the springs- her feet pointed outward as if unable to cross one leg over the other (...) her body is as wide as her skirts (...) he domesticated his own Olympia by transforming her into an overweight housewife."
Is this description really necessary ?
The author also wishes to prove that Berthe Morisot's marriage to Manet's brother was an unhappy one (among other assumptions about the Manet/Morisot relationship) that is merely speculation.
I get that these are interesting, compelling lives but this book sometimes reads like a celebrity tell-all rather than an academic work.
" Olympia is all gentle curves and slender lines, with her little high breasts, flat tummy (..) Suzanne appears to have plopped herself on the sofa- one can almost hear the creak of the springs- her feet pointed outward as if unable to cross one leg over the other (...) her body is as wide as her skirts (...) he domesticated his own Olympia by transforming her into an overweight housewife."
Is this description really necessary ?
The author also wishes to prove that Berthe Morisot's marriage to Manet's brother was an unhappy one (among other assumptions about the Manet/Morisot relationship) that is merely speculation.
I get that these are interesting, compelling lives but this book sometimes reads like a celebrity tell-all rather than an academic work.
November 2, 2025
A superb book of an interesting artist. Whose work I more appreciated from reading this biography. It helps that Manet lived in exciting times of the rose and fall of the Paris Commune. Makes me want to visit galleries to look upon his art with new eyes.
October 7, 2022
I love biographies of artists and writers. Fascinating to read that he was disgusted with Cezanne for his filthy hygiene. Ha~!
March 8, 2010
Reviewing this book is problematic. It is well written, and Brombert’s research seems grounded, but I had a lot of trouble finishing it. Brombert deftly blends fine details about Parisian history, culture and politics, but it’s almost too much to take in. The high points of this tome were the discussions of Manet’s works themselves. She clearly outlines his historical sources and symbolism, for example explaining that Gare Saint-Lazare (1873) is a continuation of Velasquez’s exploration of mirrored space, Las Meninas . In Gare Saint-Lazare, Manet mirrors “the complexities of the mind.” Painted around the time the artist turned 40, its theme is the passing of time and transit nature of life: smoke symbolizing the passing of time; the puppy symbolizing infancy; the child representing childhood; and Victorine, the famous courtesan and model of Olympia now captured about to turn thirty, representing adulthood. I would recommend this book to someone wanting to gain a breadth of knowledge on this artist, but I found Ross King’s The Judgment of Paris to be a much more enjoyable read.
July 22, 2014
Beth Archer Brombert, in her biography “Edouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat,” overcomes two common drawbacks (for me) of Art books to produce an appealing and appreciative characterization of Manet the artist and Manet the man. The drawbacks are there – poorly reproduced and positioned plates of referenced art works and droning, nearly baseless psychological interpretations of the artist's work which have the ring of patients responding to Rorschach inkblots - but Brombert renders them relatively innocuous thanks to her thorough research and nice balance of artistic exposition and biographical pertinence to convey a portrait of Manet as determined, dignified, engaging, talented, and, most of all, sincere.
September 6, 2015
A well-researched description of Parisian society in the mid-1850s with Manet as a central figure. With plenty of money from his parents, Manet was always able to dress well, and to afford large studios and multiple mistresses. Although very talented, painting was also his way to break away from his father's plans for him to be a lawyer. He died of syphilis at age 51.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews