Suzanne Manet has a very unique personality and a strangely high level of character. She seems like she was very upset about all of her husband’s infidelities, but she hid it to the outside world. I don’t fully understand how Suzanne Manet maintained her sanity. Secretly she worried about whom else her husband cared for and how much each of his models meant to him. What kind of a life must she have lived? It is quite possible that she lived quite a naïve one until the later years. Maybe she saw what was going on between her husband and other women, but did not want to admit it. The way that she dealt with the select group of women following her husband’s death demonstrates her high level of character. While she could have been the bitter widow she still spoke with these women in a civil manner. I think that she secretly thought it was funny that the models held themselves in high esteem with Manet. It also appears that she tried to justify her position as his wife. She did this by saying that she was with Manet in his most intimate and scared moments which means she was closest to him. This led me to believe that she was slightly insecure about where he held her in his heart. However, the fact that she even went so far as to consider Victorine’s request for money means that she still cared deeply for her husband and hoped to honor his wishes.
One of my favorite parts of the story was when Victorine requested a share of money from the sale of the painting she modeled for. Suzanne Manet actually considered the request and visited Victorine. However, as she considered this she also felt that if Victorine considered herself in high esteem with Manet that she should have to suffer through the details of his death. This shows two things about Suzanne’s character. First, that she was an upstanding woman. She was civil with Victorine in a way that I wouldn’t expect her to be. Second, that she felt somewhat jealous of Victorine which seems entirely natural considering the circumstances. Another passage that interested me was when Suzanne got the letter to Isabelle that Helene was supposed to send. This part of the story really shows that Suzanne was deeply hurt, but was not about to make it known to the world. Instead she revels in the fact that she is his wife, not Isabelle and therefore she has the upper hand.
The way that Vreeland portrays Suzanne Manet leads me to think that she was just reacting to events in her life. However, she does react in a very calm way which demonstrates that she was a thinker as opposed to someone who instantly took action. Based on how Vreeland presents Suzanne, I think she was a person who aimed to please others, but after Manet’s death and all of his infidelities she would change in a way where she would first aim to please herself.
I think the writing of Olympia’s Look was much better and more interesting than that of The Yellow Jacket. However, this story seemed to jump around with the thought process which made it slightly difficult to follow. At the same time I found the writing to be intriguing and thought provoking. I am curious as to how Suzanne really treated the women when she encountered them because in specific parts of the story she was very straight forward and ruthless which seems like it would have been frowned on during her time.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Annotated Bibliography
"Alice Neel". UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography. FindArticles.com. 01 Feb 2009.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5229/is_2003/ai_n19152543
Like most artists, Alice Neel had several unique life experiences under her belt. She had a daughter that died of diphtheria, a husband that left her, a roommate that ruined her works, and parents that did not want their daughter to become an artist. Just like viewers bring their life experiences into their interpretations, artists put theirs into their paintings. One could say that Alice Neel definitely brought a lot to the canvas. It is said that she painted what she saw. This makes so much sense when you look at “The Last Sickness”. It looks like the subject is sick and frustrated which must be what Neel saw. Of course, Neel was influenced by the world around her as well. The political situation of WWII led her to paint “Nazis Murder Jews”. And her daughter’s death also inspired some portraits. I was surprised to find that for most of Neel’s career she was not popular. When she died Neel actually still owned most of her work. A strong explanation for this is that she mostly painted the common person most of whom could not afford to buy her paintings. However, this did not bother Neel because she seemed to use painting as an outlet and at one point she called it an obsession even though it was her profession.
Nadel, Alyssa. “Alice Neel”. 01 Feb 2009
http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Neel__Alice.html
Born to Alice Concross Hartley and George Washington Neel, Alice Neel had her work cut out for her. Her parents were of the conservative mindset. Her mother was under the impression that Neel was just a woman, so her life was predetermined for her. Alice Neel thoroughly proved her mother wrong. Neel seemed to be consistently conforming to her own image. As she created her artwork, it did not fit in with the art of the times. In her paintings Neel had a habit of portraying intense and honest emotion. Several of her works are of nude “sitters”; she even did her self portrait nude at the age of eighty. Because of her honest portrayal the viewer can easily take the emotions detected in the paintings literally. It seems as if Neel is one of the many artists that gain popularity after their death. While she did exhibit her work during her career, today her work is shown all across the U.S. and throughout the globe.
“The Art of Alice Neel”. 06 Sept 2008. 01 Feb 2009.
http://tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa668.htm
Yet again, it is known that Alice Neel had an adventurous life. When her husband left he took her daughter and she was never to see Isabetta again. Because of these events it is no wonder that Neel attempted suicide after experiencing a nervous breakdown. This leads me to conclude that because of Alice Neel’s numerous experiences throughout life she became very empathetic. With such a great sense of empathy Neel is readily able to convey the subject’s emotions straight from the canvas to the eyes of the viewer. Her mother appears to not have been the most supportive of Neel’s career. With that being said it seems that Alice Neel was really able to put herself in her mother’s position as she painted “The Last Sickness”. In this painting Neel is able to capture the “fear and discomfort” that her mother feels towards the end of her life.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5229/is_2003/ai_n19152543
Like most artists, Alice Neel had several unique life experiences under her belt. She had a daughter that died of diphtheria, a husband that left her, a roommate that ruined her works, and parents that did not want their daughter to become an artist. Just like viewers bring their life experiences into their interpretations, artists put theirs into their paintings. One could say that Alice Neel definitely brought a lot to the canvas. It is said that she painted what she saw. This makes so much sense when you look at “The Last Sickness”. It looks like the subject is sick and frustrated which must be what Neel saw. Of course, Neel was influenced by the world around her as well. The political situation of WWII led her to paint “Nazis Murder Jews”. And her daughter’s death also inspired some portraits. I was surprised to find that for most of Neel’s career she was not popular. When she died Neel actually still owned most of her work. A strong explanation for this is that she mostly painted the common person most of whom could not afford to buy her paintings. However, this did not bother Neel because she seemed to use painting as an outlet and at one point she called it an obsession even though it was her profession.
Nadel, Alyssa. “Alice Neel”. 01 Feb 2009
http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Neel__Alice.html
Born to Alice Concross Hartley and George Washington Neel, Alice Neel had her work cut out for her. Her parents were of the conservative mindset. Her mother was under the impression that Neel was just a woman, so her life was predetermined for her. Alice Neel thoroughly proved her mother wrong. Neel seemed to be consistently conforming to her own image. As she created her artwork, it did not fit in with the art of the times. In her paintings Neel had a habit of portraying intense and honest emotion. Several of her works are of nude “sitters”; she even did her self portrait nude at the age of eighty. Because of her honest portrayal the viewer can easily take the emotions detected in the paintings literally. It seems as if Neel is one of the many artists that gain popularity after their death. While she did exhibit her work during her career, today her work is shown all across the U.S. and throughout the globe.
“The Art of Alice Neel”. 06 Sept 2008. 01 Feb 2009.
http://tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa668.htm
Yet again, it is known that Alice Neel had an adventurous life. When her husband left he took her daughter and she was never to see Isabetta again. Because of these events it is no wonder that Neel attempted suicide after experiencing a nervous breakdown. This leads me to conclude that because of Alice Neel’s numerous experiences throughout life she became very empathetic. With such a great sense of empathy Neel is readily able to convey the subject’s emotions straight from the canvas to the eyes of the viewer. Her mother appears to not have been the most supportive of Neel’s career. With that being said it seems that Alice Neel was really able to put herself in her mother’s position as she painted “The Last Sickness”. In this painting Neel is able to capture the “fear and discomfort” that her mother feels towards the end of her life.
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