Before Impressionism took hold, Édouard Manet was already painting the pulse of modern Paris. Born into a prosperous Parisian family, Manet prepared to join the navy before devoting himself to art under the painter Thomas Couture. Manet rejected the rigid standards of the French Academy and sought to capture the world around him with unflinching honesty and modern flair. His portraits and city scenes buzzed with the energy of Parisian life, from quiet interiors to the bustle of cafés and train s

We visited the Édouard Manet & Berthe Morisot exhibition at the Legion of Honor today and found it extremely interesting to see just how closely the two artists were aligned. The dialogue between them is undeniable — you can feel the shared modernity, the mutual respect, the exchange of ideas. And yet… the exhibition’s modern bias felt curated through a contemporary viewpoint that wouldn’t necessarily have been part of the culture of their time, and in doing so it told a partial truth. In realit