Laure of Olympia and More: 

Manet, Black Paris and the Making of an Exhibition

followed by a reception

April 10, 2018 – W.C. Bradley Co. Museum – 6 PM

Dr. Murrell will discuss the research that led to the exhibition’s portrayal of Manet and the Impressionists in the context of their little-known contacts with black French writers, artists and models, and with a small but expanding community of free black Parisians in the aftermath of the 1848 French abolition of slavery. The fraught racial aspect of this artistic milieu is captured in Manet’s three paintings of the black model Laure, who posed as the maid in Olympia; the paintings of flower-bearing black women by Manet’s acolyte Frédéric Bazille in tribute to Manet; a gallery of portraits of 19^th century black Parisians by photographers Nadar and Carjat; as well as paintings by Degas, Cezanne and other leading 19th century artists of the period.