See Édouard Manet (French, 1832-1883)
While working on and researching for my Brush with Peril Graphic Novel, I read that Manet had a favorite model, whom he used for many of his most famous paintings from the 1860’s to early 1870’s (when the two lost favor with each other). While re-visiting Page 020 of my comic, this fact came to mind and inspired me to insert more references of Manet’s work of her.
[Nice article, including samples of art by her and by others portraying her, at Art: Herstory]
Her name was Victorine Meurent, and she was pretty, tiny, had fiery red hair and a confident gaze. If I understand correctly (because there are conflicting stories online), she began modeling for Manet in 1862 at the age of 16. She is represented in nine of his canvases, as well as the works of other artsts (there are at least thirty known works including Manet’s for which she was the model).
Less known: she was also an artist, and attended art school at the Académie. Apparently she and Manet had a rift because she wanted to create her own art, and/or because her style was more academic, which Manet opposed. Her recently-discovered self-portrait had been exhibited in the 1876 salon alongside Monet, in a year that Manet’s painting was rejected! And six other of her works were accepted as well – no small feat.
All her work was believed to have been destroyed or lost, but in 2004 a piece was recovered, and a few other of her paintings have since surfaced.
In fiction, Victorine Meurent was a character in the semi-fictional autobiography, Memoirs of My Dead Life (1906) by George Moore, a character in the film Intimate Lives: The Women of Manet, aka Manet in Love (1998), the protagonist in Mademoiselle Victorine: a Novel (2007) by Debra Finerman and A Woman With No Clothes On (2008) by V. R. Main, a character in the novel, Sacré Bleu (2012) by Christopher Moore, her relationship with Manet was depicted in the novel Paris Red (2015) by Maureen Gibbon, and her journey to becoming a painter was portrayed in Victorine by Drema Drudge (2019).
Here are some interesting articles I found about her online:
wikipedia.org (It appears this article got some facts wrong, according to other articles)
artsandculture.google.com
artherstory.net
theartgorgeous.com
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