Manet, Émile Zola

Édouard Manet, Émile Zola, 1868, oil on canvas, 57 x 45 inches or 146.5 x 114 cm (Musée d'Orsay, Paris) This portrait was painted in appreciation for the support Zola gave to Manet in his 1866 essay in La Revue du XXe siècle and during Manet's independent exhibition held along side the Universal Exposition in 1867. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

[@oltedders]

Exceptional composition of a very handsome sitter.

[@Sasha0927]

Thank you, Dan Cohen and Joseph RJ Studlick.
I don't blame Olympia for looking at Zola, if I do say so myself. 😌
He's so detailed I wouldn't have noticed the lack of modeling if you hadn't said so, but that's true! I wonder why he wanted someone so sophisticated to be presented so shallowly..

[@yggdrasil9039]

Still a much under-rated writer, unbelievably much of Zola's work has still not been translated into English. Piano music source please?

[@danieladeutsch1708]

I love Zola! it is of course very dark sometimes, but oh, this man could write!

[@carlberg7503]

The analysis of the composition is brilliant, but I disagree on two important points. They claim that the "objects are more important than the figure." The figure of Zola dominates the painting. I keep going back to it; it is the focus of the painting. The objects are interesting in themselves and also for what they tell us about Zola. Harris also claims Zola's face is illegible. I infer from his face that an idea in the book he is reading has intrigued him. Pondering what he's read, he has lost contact with the material world around him. The face tells us a good deal about Zola. Zola's "Germinal" is one of the great novels of the nineteenth century, and in "J'Accuse" he defended Dreyfus against the anti-semitic lies of the French government.