Manet, Morisot, and the language of the eyes - 48 hills

"Advice for visitors to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco's "Manet & Morisot" exhibition at the Legion of Honor (runs through March 1): Do not read a single word. Ignore every introductory panel, artwork label, and sectional essay attempting to explain who made what, when, where, and why. This preemptive suggestion-coming from a writer!-may be counterintuitive, but might prove valuable, especially for first-time visitors viewing the exhibit."

"Instead of or at the very least before reading, invest time and visual attention to the art of Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Berthe Morisot (1841-1895). A person might only benefit by pre-knowing these two remarkable, avant-garde 19th-century painters became colleagues and were influenced by shared experiences. Manet and Morisot held each other in equal regard and underwent similar struggles as each resisted the conventions of the era's Impressionist art."

"Before delving into the particulars of Manet's advantaged standing as a man and his thickly painted canvases, or the less-privileged Morisot's more liberated brushwork in nuanced portraits and often, exhilarating landscapes painted outdoors, the visitor is advised to wander without words-or dates. Form a relationship with the visual world within which they revolved like two beacons of light, each illuminating the other."

Approach the Manet and Morisot exhibition by looking first and reading later to prioritize direct visual experience. Spend time observing Édouard Manet's and Berthe Morisot's paintings to understand how their work informs and illuminates one another. Recognize that both painters were avant-garde colleagues who influenced each other and faced similar aesthetic struggles against Impressionist conventions. Note differences in reception and circumstance: Manet benefited from male advantage and dense, thick paint, while Morisot navigated fewer privileges, developed freer brushwork, painted outdoors, and negotiated gender-differentiated realities in Paris society.

Read at 48 hills