Art and Design Commons^™

Olympia, Reinventing The Nude, Holly Mcguire

Student Scholarship

Manet’s modernist depiction of the female nude as seen in Olympia sent shockwaves throughout the art world and forever changed the way we view nudes. Camille Lemonnier described the nude as such in 1870 “ The nude was modesty only if it is not a transitory state. It hides nothing because there is nothing to hide. The moment it hides something it becomes prurient, for in reality it shows it all the better. In order to stay virgin the nude in art must be impersonal and must not particularize; art has no need of a beauty spot upon the neck …