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Manet’s Battle For and Against Tradition
The artist vs the establishment
Looking at art through the lens of history is often about recognising how artists negotiated traditions maintained by the establishment.
Édouard Manet, who was born in 1832, was around 40 years old when he made The Railway. Because of his desire to paint the modern city, he would become a great influence over a younger set of painters. As such, he is often thought of as the forefather of the Impressionist movement.
Yet Manet himself did not truly count himself among the revolutionary Impressionist painters. When Manet painted this image in 1873, as much as anything else he wanted recognition in the traditions of the French art establishment.
Throughout his career, Manet always worked to win acclaim at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts, with its much renowned annual exhibition known as the Salon.
The Salon exerted a huge influence over French art during the 19th century — since to be accepted meant a chance to be seen by art dealers, buyers, critics and the wider viewing public.
