Édouard Manet (1832-1883), sometimes called the father of modernism, challenged the dominant classicism of 19-century Academic art and helped contribute to the development of Impressionism. Manet was born in Paris. His father was a judge, and his mother was the goddaughter of the Swedish crown prince. They expected their son to pursue a prestigious profession. But Manet wanted to be an artist.
Instead of painting famous scenes from history, religion, or mythology, Manet strove to portray the people he saw around him in their everyday settings. He shocked people with his flatly modeled figures and unflattering light. He liked to paint outdoors and used loose, sketchy brushstrokes to render his subjects. The younger generation of Impressionists, such as Monet and Renoir, admired his work.
In Boating, painted at the Seine River near Paris, Manet handles the pictorial space in a radical way by omitting a horizon line. This removes the sense of receding space typically found in Western paintings. As in Japanese prints, which Europeans were fascinated with at the time, Manet crops the composition tightly and flattens the space.
Manet adds broad areas of flattened color to the surface of the painting. The water, the sail, the boat, and even the man’s monochrome clothing divide the painting’s surface into interlocking decorative planes. The wooden boom holding the sail on the right is at an unusual angle, creating a subtle distortion. The woman’s arm seems to be too far from the edge of the boat. The composition is filled with strong diagonals that destabilize the image. The uneven distribution of light and the oddly rising wooden board at the bottom of the painting further disrupt expected relationships.
Manet dissolves the edges of the woman’s figure into her surroundings by using loose brushstrokes at the edges. Rather than having a strong contour, the transitions between her body and her surroundings meld together, almost like the ripples in the water.
Manet’s cheerful palette and sketchy brushwork perfectly express the rippling water and carefree mood of the outing.
However, the artist adds a sense of unease through the unwieldy composition and distortions of line.