Where can you see Édouard Manet in Paris?

At the Musée d'Orsay: Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Olympia, The Fifer and The Balcony. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

What is Édouard Manet's most famous work in Paris?

Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, of 1863, at the Musée d'Orsay. The Luncheon on the Grass: a nude woman, two dressed men and a picnic, in a wood. Refused by the Salon and shown at the Salon des Refusés, where the crowd came to laugh.

When and where was Édouard Manet born?

On 23 January 1832, at Paris, France. Édouard Manet died on 30 April 1883, at Paris, France, aged about 51.

What is Édouard Manet known for?

Painted Olympia and Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe in the same year, 1863. The painter the Impressionists looked up to. Never exhibited with the Impressionists. Édouard Manet was a French painter, of Realism and Impressionism.

Painter, 1832 to 1883

Édouard Manet

In 1863 Manet painted a naked woman at a picnic with two men in frock coats, and then a naked woman on a bed staring straight at the viewer. Paris never quite recovered, and both pictures are at the Orsay.

Born: 1832, Paris, France
Died: 1883, Paris, France
Movement: Realism and Impressionism
In Paris: 4 works in 1 museum

Where to see Édouard Manet in Paris

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Musée d'Orsay4 works

Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe
1863
The Luncheon on the Grass: a nude woman, two dressed men and a picnic, in a wood. Refused by the Salon and shown at the Salon des Refusés, where the crowd came to laugh.
Olympia
1863
A courtesan on her bed, a maid bringing flowers from a client, a black cat. The shock was her look: she is appraising you.
The Fifer
1866
A boy of the Imperial Guard playing the fife against a blank grey ground, flat as a playing card. The Salon refused it, and Zola defended it.
The Balcony
1868 to 1869
Three figures behind a green railing, each looking a different way. The woman seated in front is the painter Berthe Morisot.

The life of Édouard Manet

Manet was born in Paris in 1832, the son of a senior civil servant, and wanted nothing more than official success. He never got it. The jury of the Salon refused the Déjeuner sur l'herbe in 1863, and when Olympia was accepted two years later it had to be hung out of reach of the public's umbrellas.

The younger painters who became the Impressionists treated him as their leader, though he never showed with them. He painted Paris as it was: its cafés, its racecourses, its bars. He died in 1883, at fifty-one.

What to know

Painted Olympia and Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe in the same year, 1863
The painter the Impressionists looked up to
Never exhibited with the Impressionists

Born: 23 January 1832, Paris, France
Died: 30 April 1883, Paris, France

Édouard Manet: common questions

Where can you see Édouard Manet in Paris?: At the Musée d'Orsay: Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Olympia, The Fifer and The Balcony. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Édouard Manet's most famous work in Paris?: Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, of 1863, at the Musée d'Orsay. The Luncheon on the Grass: a nude woman, two dressed men and a picnic, in a wood. Refused by the Salon and shown at the Salon des Refusés, where the crowd came to laugh.
When and where was Édouard Manet born?: On 23 January 1832, at Paris, France. Édouard Manet died on 30 April 1883, at Paris, France, aged about 51.
What is Édouard Manet known for?: Painted Olympia and Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe in the same year, 1863. The painter the Impressionists looked up to. Never exhibited with the Impressionists. Édouard Manet was a French painter, of Realism and Impressionism.