Essay --

Edouard Manet, often considered one of the founders of modern art, certainly challenged the norm and incited thought through his paintings and sketches. His works challenged social norms and were critical of politics. As we look at his art today it is hard to see how his work is controversial. The images within his paintings that seem little more than after thought, would have shocked and appalled people of the mid 19th century. However, with a little more knowledge pertaining to the meaning of the imagery, and how it would be perceived at the time, it is a wonder that Manet died of natural causes rather than riot or execution. He deliberately used images from famous paintings and applied them in ways that would either draw parallels to the original work or contradict it completely. Manet also used techniques to involve his audience in the painting, essentially extending the work beyond the canvas. The Execution of Emperor Maximilian is no exception to any of these rules. It is crucial to understand the brief history of the event depicted in Manet’s painting The Execution of Emperor ...