Manet and the family romance

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Bibliographic Information

Manet and the family romance

Nancy Locke

Princeton University Press, 2002, c2001

  • : pbk

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"Second printing, and first paperback printing, 2002"--T.p. verso

Includes bibliographical references (p. [205]-218) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

douard Manet's paintings have long been recognized for being visually compelling and uniquely recalcitrant. While critics have noted the presence of family members and intimates in paintings such as Le Djeuner sur l'herbe, Nancy Locke takes an unprecedented look at the significance of the artist's family relationships for his art. Locke argues that a kind of mythology of the family, or Freudian family romance, frequently structures Manet's compositional decisions and choice of models. By looking at the representation of the family as a volatile mechanism for the development of sexuality and of repression, conflict, and desire, Locke brings powerful new interpretations to some of Manet's most complex works. Locke considers, for example, the impact of a father-son drama rooted in a closely guarded family secret: the adultery of Manet pre and the status of Lon Leenhoff. Her nuanced exploration of the implications of this story--that Manet in fact married his father's mistress--makes us look afresh at even well-known paintings such as Olympia. This book sheds new light on Manet's infamous interest in gypsies, street musicians, and itinerants as Locke analyzes the activities of Manet's father as a civil judge. She also reexamines the close friendship between Manet and the Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot, who married Manet's brother. Morisot becomes the subject of a series of meditations on the elusiveness of the self, the transience of identity, and conflicting concerns with appearances and respectability. Manet and the Family Romance offers an entirely new set of arguments about the cultural forces that shaped these alluring paintings.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii INTRODUCTION 1 1. THE COUCH OF ORESTES 13 2. FAMILY ROMANCES 41 3. THE SPACE OF OLYMPIA 88 4. MANET P?RE ER FILS 114 5. THE PROMISES OF A FACE 147 CONCLUSION 172 NOTES 180 BIBLIOGRAPHY 205 INDEX 219 PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS 224

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