Surprised nymph
ca. 1861
Manet painted this moody, unfinished-looking scene around 1861, showing a nude woman sitting by a stream while a hunter stumbles upon her. The loose, sketchy brushstrokes were a radical departure from the polished academic art of the time, hinting at the Impressionist movement he would soon help spark. Notice how the figures' faces are barely defined? It gives the whole piece a dreamlike, almost ghostly quality, as if the memory of the encounter is fading away. This early work foreshadows his famous 'Luncheon on the Grass,' which caused a massive scandal just a year later.
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