La Grande Odalisque and Olympia: Comparison/Contrast

Two exquisite paintings with a female reclining nude as the focal point are La Grande Odalisque by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres and Olympia by Édouard Manet. The female nude has been a crucial subject for art throughout history.  The angular curves and the sensuality that can be created with just a form has intrigued artist in the past, present, and future.  While the similarities of these two painting are more evident, there are still contrast between the pieces.

Ingres was from France and he painted during the Neoclassical Period, while Manet, who was also from France, painted during the Realism and Impressionistic Periods.  Their live overlapped each other for only thirty years, but their styles belonged to different periods.  Ingres lived through the French Revolution and was very much affected by it although Manet was born after it was over.

Seeing such a drastic change in the world in which he lived caused Ingres to pay very close attention to the details of the past.  He wanted to preserve it perfectly and he also looked to the techniques of the masters before him.  Manet was not so much concerned for the past, but his eyes were on the present.  His subjects represent the French societal and cultural setting of the time period in which he lived.

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La Grande Odalisque by Ingres is an oil painting of a lone nude female reclining on her bed.  Her body faces away from the viewer, while the woman looks back over her shoulder.  There is only a glimpse of her breast under one of her arms and the rounded sides of her buttocks are visible.

Olympia by Manet has two females in the oil painting.  One is a black servant woman and the reclining female nude.  Manet depicted his nude facing the viewer.  Her breasts are completely exposed and her genitals are covered by her hand. There is a tropical feel in Manet’s painting   Even though she has covered part of herself, this female seems more open with her nudity and the female in Ingres’ painting is more subtle and alluring with her body.

Ingres uses muted shades of green jewel tones to create an elegant effect.  Manet also incorporates the color green, but he emphasizes the stark white which allows the female to stand out.  The white also gives a harshness to the painting.  It is as if someone turned on a bright overhead light in the middle of a sensual moment.  The model in Ingres’ painting tends to blend with her surroundings.

Both females hold something with her hand, but Ingres’ female’s fan is one of peacock feathers which blends in with the rich tones of the background.  At the barefoot of Ingres’ nude, there is a pipe and green stool, while there is a black cat at the high healed feet of Manet’s.  Manet’s figure wears an orchid in her hair as well as the shoes.  She finds no modesty with the observation of her servant’s stare and is completely open with her sexuality.

The female nude is the predominate subject of both paintings but the differences reflect their artist and there artistic periods.  While they are both alluring, they are also starkly contrasted.  Manet and Ingres were definitely masters of their times, and the La Grande Odalisque and Olympia are examples of both of their best work.  Both of these works are alluring and sensual paintings that will mystify viewers as long as the two works exist.

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