Out today, another story of one of the most amazing women in French history. Victorine Meurent was born in Paris on February 18. 1844, and from an early age, she was drawn to art. In 1862, Edouard Manet walked into Thomas Couture’s studio and met a young girl. On this day, Victorine-Louis Meurent was in Couture’s studio when Manet arrived. She was just 16, had red hair, and was nicknamed La Crevette. She would become the muse for some of the biggest artists then. He would paint her for the first time in The Street Singer, with her piercing eyes that we would know so well in two of his most famous and controversial paintings. Victorine would sit for him 8 or 9 times.
Many may know her name because of one fantastic painting, Olympia. The painting rocked the Salon of 1863 with its suggestive subject of the courtesan lying naked on her bed while her servant brings her flowers from one of her admirers. Given the name Olympia, a name associated with prostitutes and the many small elements that hint at her wealth, many of which transferred over to the model herself. Victorine was nothing close to the woman in the painting; born to a well-established artistic family, she would become an artist and present her work at the Salon in 1870.
However, we know her Manet paintings so well. The other most famous painting may or may not even be her. In 1862, when Manet painted Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe, another painting that would shock the art world, he may have used her as the model, but it is more likely that he used his lover Suzanne Leenhoff. However, in the end, he would use the face of Victorine to conceal the woman he was in a secret relationship with.
She would sit for him for the last time in 1873 for The Railway before they parted ways. In her own art classes, she preferred the academic style, and Manet never liked being defined by any style.
Sadly, only two of her paintings remain at the museum in Colombes. Other than Berthe Morisot and Suzanne Valadon, Victorine is a beautiful face we know so well from Manet's brush. Listen to the entire story on the podcast; the link is in the bio.
Le Briquet, by Victorine Meurent