It's the birthday of the painter Edouard Manet, born in Paris (1832). He is best known as a bridge between realism and impressionism.
Manet's father was a magistrate, and he wanted his son to pursue a career in law also. Manet saw things differently, in part because his uncle often had taken the young Manet to the Louvre, where he would urge his nephew to pursue painting seriously. When Manet failed his naval examinations in 1850, he began to study under the academic painter Thomas Couture, and then he traveled Europe where he was influenced by the painters Frans Hals and Diego Velásquez.
Manet's paintings were considered controversial in his own time. Even his masterpiece Olympia was criticized because it featured a prostitute in a suggestive position. His technical innovations were viewed as heresy by some academics. But today his paintings appear in art museums across the world, and have sold for as much as $26 million.
And he said, "There is only one true thing: instantly paint what you see. When you've got it, you've got it. When you haven't, you begin again. All the rest is humbug." - The Writer's Almanac