Olympia

When it debuted at the 1865 Paris Salon, Manet’s Olympia scandalized audiences with its direct gaze, modern setting, and unidealized nakedness. Depicting a nude white woman lying on a bed and attended by a Black maid, the painting reworked the traditional theme of Titian’s Venus of Urbino. It also deviated aesthetically from the artistic conventions with its broad, quick brushstrokes and shallow depth. By confronting viewers with contemporary reality, Olympia established Manet as a foundational force in Impressionism and modern art.

After Manet’s death in 1883, his widow, Suzanne Manet, kept the painting. In 1890, it was acquired by the French State through a public subscription campaign organized by Claude Monet. The work was later displayed in the Louvre in 1907, transferred to the Musée du Jeu de Paume in 1947, and entered the permanent collection of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris in 1986, where it remains today.