Olympia depicts a nude woman ("Olympia") lying on a bed being brought flowers by a servant. Olympia was modelled by Victorine Meurent and Olympia's servant by the art model Laure. Olympia's confrontational gaze caused shock and astonishment when the painting was first exhibited because a number of details in the picture identified her as a prostitute.
Inspired by the Renaissance masterpiece Sleeping Venus, Manet drew this painting but replaced the goddness with an ordinary woman in the real world. In this painting, Olympia gazed at us in an indifferent and bold manner.
The color utilization in this painting is also impressive. Instead of the traditional subtle brown style, Manet used black and white to dominate the whole picture. The strong color contrast makes the figures and planarity stand out. Manet firstly put forward the basic concept of painting planarity, which led to the birth of Impressionism and Post-impressionism.
The Luncheon on the Grass
The Balcony
The grand canal of Venice
A Bar at the Folies-Bergere