Monet vs. Manet: These Are the Differences

Édouard Manet: The Individualist

Édouard Manet (1832 – 1883) was one of the most important avant-garde artists of the 19th century. He is regarded as a moderniser of painting and influenced numerous artists of his time. Manet maintained close contact with the Impressionist circle but never exhibited alongside them and fundamentally refused to associate himself with any particular artistic movement. His work can best be described as a link between Realism and Impressionism.

Édouard Manet had broken with the academic traditions of painting early on. From around 1860, he developed his individual style. Although he remained essentially committed to Realism for a long time, he pursued his own approach to subject matter, composition and painting technique. Instead of dramatic history paintings, heroic portraits or epic realistic landscapes, he mainly painted everyday scenes and portraits of ordinary people.

Contrasts between light and dark and unusual perspectives were characteristic of his painting. He also omitted smaller details, which is why his painting style was often described as "sketch-like". For many of his contemporaries, Manet's choice of subjects combined with his "unfinished" painting style was too progressive. Several of his works caused scandals because of their unconventional and revealing subjects, including "Luncheon on the Grass" (1863) and "Olympia" (1863).

He also caused controversy by depicting people realistically and in an almost documentary manner. He completely dispensed with any form of flattering or idealised representation. This uncompromising interpretation of portrait painting was already considered socially critical and represented a provocation for many art critics and some viewers.

Claude Monet – Leading Figure of Impressionism

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) is undoubtedly the most prominent representative of French Impressionism today. He was not only a pioneer of this painting style but also a key figure of the epoch.

Monet had turned away from the traditional painting of his time early on. Academic teaching was still dominated by a painting style featuring numerous realistic details and predominantly historical and religious subjects. Monet, however, was far more interested in capturing his impression of the atmosphere of the moment in his pictures. He mainly devoted himself to landscapes. Rather than focusing on the precise depiction of subjects, he concentrated on portraying the effects of light. To achieve this, he mainly painted with short brushstrokes and dabs of colour, deliberately dissolving the contours and details of objects to a considerable extent.

To depict his subjects as faithfully as possible, he painted many of his works outdoors ("plein-air painting"). Monet created numerous works that are now regarded as representative of Impressionism. Among his best-known works are the water lilies and other pictures of his garden in Giverny, including the Japanese bridge.

Claude Monet also played a significant role in making the works of progressive artists accessible to a wider audience for the first time. Together with several colleagues, he organised an exhibition in 1874 featuring works by Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas, among others. His painting "Impression, Soleil levant" was also exhibited there and would give the movement its name.

Monet or Manet – Who Is the Father of Impressionism?

The question of who founded Impressionism or who is its "father" cannot be answered unequivocally. In fact, both Claude Monet and Édouard Manet played a significant part in the development of Impressionism into one of the most important styles in art history. However, each made his contribution to Impressionism in a different way.

Édouard Manet's great achievement was that he was one of the first to fundamentally turn away from the principles of traditional painting of his time. With this bold step, he created a spirit of renewal among contemporary painters. He also developed a painting style whose characteristics would later reappear in Impressionism. For example, he used a bright and lively colour palette. He also did not render every detail with the utmost precision, instead composing certain passages of his pictures using only short, vigorous and free brushstrokes. With his unconventional style, Édouard Manet laid important foundations that inspired many painters.

Claude Monet also built on Manet's pioneering work. His achievement, in turn, was to develop Manet's ideas further. He perfected many of the characteristics typically associated with Impressionism today. For example, he dissolved the contours of his subjects even further than his role model Manet. In some cases, he reduced the subjects to mere outlines. With his innovative technique consisting predominantly of short brushstrokes, he was able to create a diffuse visual impression that continues to make Impressionism so fascinating today. Both Monet and Manet were therefore of great importance in the emergence of this style. Ultimately, however, the success of Impressionism is also attributable to their collaboration and the work of many other 19th-century painters such as Renoir, Degas, Sisley, Pissarro and Cézanne.

The Monet–Manet Difference

Claude Monet and Édouard Manet differ in their surnames by just one vowel – so it is easy to confuse them. Artistically, however, the two painters had relatively little in common. Their subjects, stylistic devices, choice of colours and the places where they painted were sometimes very different.

Different Priorities in Their Choice of Subjects

Édouard Manet and Claude Monet had very different priorities when choosing the subjects of their pictures. Manet usually depicted contemporary life in his works. He was particularly interested in people and their everyday lives:

• Manet did not focus on prominent personalities but created pictorial studies of completely ordinary people. These included barmaids, musicians, actors, children, workers and dancers, among others.
• He frequently portrayed individuals, but also depicted groups of people or scenes in cafés.
• Manet also offered glimpses into people's private lives and captured highly intimate moments, including in his numerous female nudes.
• Alongside the people of his time, Manet also painted landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes and architecture. His work also includes several still lifes featuring flowers or fruit.

Claude Monet, on the other hand, primarily found his subjects in nature:

• He mainly painted landscapes, seascapes, gardens and the world of trees and flowers. Among his most famous subjects are views of his garden in Giverny and his series of water lilies.
• In addition to landscapes, he also painted cityscapes and architectural views, such as the harbour of Le Havre ("Impression, Soleil levant"), the island monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore ("Saint-Georges majeur au crépuscule") and Parisian street scenes ("Boulevard des Capucines").
• One striking feature of Monet's entire body of work is that he often placed inconspicuous and seemingly unspectacular scenes and objects at the centre of his pictures. These include haystacks, individual trees and small bridges.
• Unlike Manet, people play only a subordinate role in the majority of Monet's paintings. He frequently painted people on a very small scale, as staffage figures complementing a landscape. The exceptions are a small number of portraits he painted of family members and himself, among others.

Monet and Manet Pursued Different Approaches to Painting

In addition to their choice of subjects, Monet and Manet differed above all in their artistic approach. Claude Monet wanted his paintings to come as close as possible not to reality but to the subjective impression of the moment:

• Monet no longer painted subjects solely for their own sake. Rather, he also regarded them as reflective surfaces that helped him convey the atmosphere and, in particular, the light.
• Monet maintained that not every detail needed to be painted to convey the impression of a moment. He largely dispensed with clearly defined contours and most of the details of objects. He allowed many subtleties to merge into colour gradients and broad brushstrokes, deliberately creating a somewhat blurred visual impression. This painting technique enabled him to concentrate entirely on the interplay of light and colour.
• Monet applied his approach particularly consistently in his series of pictures depicting the same subjects repeatedly. For example, he painted the Japanese bridge in his garden or the water lilies several times, but at different times of day and in different seasons. In doing so, he usually changed only the lighting conditions.

Édouard Manet, on the other hand, remained more clearly committed to Realism:

• Manet generally painted people with clearly defined facial features and body contours. For most other significant subjects, he also followed realistic details and proportions.
• He departed from detailed and precise painting only to a certain extent. It was mainly in larger areas such as trees, bushes, bodies of water, the sky or the surfaces of garments that he worked with short brushstrokes and dabs of colour.
• Manet also frequently used pronounced contrasts between light and very dark passages in his pictures to emphasise particular subjects.

The Two Painters Used the Colour Black Very Differently

The difference between Manet and Monet was also evident in their choice of colours. While Manet mainly worked with a muted colour palette, Monet used colourful and luminous colours. Above all, however, black had a very different significance in the work of the two painters. For Manet, it was one of the important elements of pictorial composition. He used it to paint the contours of his subjects, but also applied it over large areas for individual elements such as clothing or picture backgrounds. He usually also used it to create strong contrasts between light and dark in his pictures.

Claude Monet, on the other hand, had almost completely banished black from his palette. For dark passages in his paintings, he mainly used blue, green, brown or violet. At most, he used black for small dots and strokes. However, it was never intended to dominate a picture.

Monet and Manet Preferred Different Places to Paint

Another significant difference between Monet and Manet lay in their working methods. Claude Monet wanted to capture the atmosphere of the moment as faithfully as possible in his paintings. To achieve this, he worked outdoors, where he could transfer his impressions directly onto the canvas. This spontaneous "plein-air painting" would become an essential characteristic of the Impressionists.

Édouard Manet, on the other hand, carried out most of his work on his paintings in the studio. He gathered ideas for his paintings while wandering through Paris. Occasionally, he also made sketches during these excursions. However, the actual painting process took place in the studio, where he developed his impressions on canvas. It was only from the 1870s onwards that he followed the example of the Impressionists and began setting up his easel outdoors.

Monet vs Manet – How Mistrust Suspicion Turned into Friendship

Claude Monet and Édouard Manet are now regarded as two of the most important painters of the 19th century. The two artists were also friends, although their relationship got off to a somewhat rocky start.

The two are said to have first become aware of each other in 1865 at the Paris Salon. Both painters had works on display there. As the pictures were arranged in alphabetical order, Monet and Manet hung directly next to each other. Their very similar surnames reportedly led to confusion between their works. Apparently, some of Monet's works were mistakenly attributed to Manet. This, in turn, irritated the older artist. He is said to have complained that a painter unknown to him was apparently trying to exploit his fame.

However, this initial misunderstanding would develop into a close friendship and artistic collegiality over the following years. Each respected the other's talent. They inspired one another and also worked together in Argenteuil in 1874. Édouard Manet is even said to have called Monet the "Raphael of Water". Manet is also said to have discovered plein-air painting through Claude Monet. Finally, there are accounts of Manet providing his friend with financial support.

Various paintings testify to their mutual appreciation, including "The Boat" from 1883. Here, Édouard Manet painted Claude Monet as he, in turn, portrayed a lady on a small boat that served as his open-air studio. In another painting from the same year, Monet allowed Manet a very private glimpse into his life. In "The Monet Family in Their Garden" from 1874, Manet depicted the family life of the Monet couple with their son. This painting in particular testifies to the familiarity that existed between Monet and Manet.

Conclusion: Monet and Manet – Not to Be Confused

Although both painters came from France and their names sound quite similar – from an artistic perspective, they were both highly independent. In his landscape paintings, Monet focused on the effects of light. Manet, on the other hand, primarily portrayed people in their everyday lives in a highly realistic manner.

What united the two artists, however, was their determination to explore new approaches to pictorial composition. In doing so, they made a significant contribution to the modernisation of painting in Europe. Numerous artists drew inspiration from their pioneering spirit in the following decades. It is difficult to say which of the two was more important. Claude Monet may be the more prominent artist today, but the somewhat lesser-known Manet also made an important contribution to Impressionism. Ultimately, art history benefited from the fact that the two painters were so different and that, through their individual approaches, they questioned and further developed painting.