The Luncheon on the Grass

The Luncheon on the Grass , originally titled The Bath (Le Bain), is an oil on canvas painting by Édouard Manet. Painted between 1862 and 1863 it measures 208 by 264.5 centimetres (81.9 x 104.5 in). The juxtaposition of a female nude with fully dressed men sparked controversy when the work was first exhibited at the Salon des Refusés in 1863. The piece is now in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris. In 1863, Manet shocked the French public by exhibiting his Déjeuner sur l'Herbe ("Luncheon on the Grass"). It is not a realist painting in the social or political sense of Daumier, but it is a statement in favor of the artist's individual freedom. The shock value of a nude woman casually lunching with two fully dressed men, which was an affront to the propriety of the time, was accentuated by the familiarity of the figures. The nude, Manet's model Victorine Meurent, whose body is starkly lit, stares directly at the viewer. The two men are Manet's brother Gustave and his future brother in law,...