Monday, August 11, 2008

The Great Manet-Monet Debate

Came across this while researching Monet and Manet for work:

Today I was exposing my third grade art class to the exquisite, Impressionist water lilies of Monet's late work. They were enthralled. I even wore my Monet necktie with water lilies on it (which impressed them somewhat less than the slides). Afterwards, I mentioned that another artist from approximately the same era who sometimes worked in an Impressionistic style was Eduoard Manet and that some people confused Monet's work with Manet's.

I was somewhat startled when a little girl in the back of the room commented that she didn't think Monet's work looked anything like Manet's. I was quite curious about her seemingly very astute observation, especially inasmuch as I'd not even shown them any paintings by Manet. I questioned her further, asking her where she'd ever seen any Manets. She replied, "In our refrigerator."

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