Last week marked the 176th anniversary of the birth of the great Edouard Manet. A realist in his early years, and later a close friend of (and inspiration to) the Impressionists, and something of an impressionist in his own right, however much he may have eschewed such artificial categories, Manet was one of the most brilliant and accomplished painters of the 19th century, and his work remains widely celebrated — and justifiably so. He and his work — and above all the masterpieces Olympia (1863) and Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe (1863) — were enormously influential, and he was a key forerunner both of Impressionism and of modernism generally.

Over at my own blog, I frequently take time out from politics to delve into art history, one of my genuine loves — examining a specific painter or even, in some cases, a specific painting. If you’re interested in reading a post on Manet, with links to articles and to some of his greatest works, click here.