1832 – Born in Paris 23
January, son of Auguste Manet (senior civil servant at Ministry of Justice) and
Eugénie-Désirée Fournier diplomat’s daughter.
1833 – Birth of his brother
Eugène.
1835 - Birth of his brother Gustave.
1844-48 – Studies at
college Rollin. Meets future biographer Antonin Proust.
1849 – Meets Suzanne
Leenhoff (1830-1906) young Dutch piano teacher to Manet brothers.
1850 – Studies under Thomas
Couture (until 1856) and copies at the Louvre.
1851 – Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte president of second Republic becomes Emperor after coup d’état. Manet
joins street protests.
1852 – Birth of Léon-Edouard,
Suzanne’s illegitimate son. Trip to Holland.
1853 – Travels to Cassel,
Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Venice, Florence (where he copies the Venus
of Urbino by Titian) and Rome.
1855 – Visits Delacroix and
asks permission to copy the Boat of Dante.
1856 – Shares his first
studio with aristocratic animal painter the Comte de Balleroy.
1857 – Meets Fantin-Latour
at the Louvre and visits Italy again.
1859 – The Absinthe
Drinker is rejected by the Salon despite Delacroix’s favorable opinion.
Meets Degas at the Louvre.
1860 – Moves into apartment
in Batignolles district with Suzanne and Leo and a new studio on rue de Douai.
1861 – The Guitar Player
receives honorable mention at Salon.
The painters Fantin,
Legros, Carolus-Duran, Bracquemond and the writers Baudelaire,
Champfleury and Duranty express their admiration for the painting. New studio
rue Guyot until 1870.
1862 – Exhibits at
Martinet gallery, meets professional model Victorine Meurent. His
father dies.
1863 – Meets American
painter James McNeil Whistler. Opening of Salon
des Refusés – exhibits Déjeuner sur l’herbe. Assists
at Delacroix’s funeral with Baudelaire. Marries Suzanne in Holland in October.
1864 – Poses for Hommage to Delacroix by Fantin-Latour
shown at Salon. Naval battle of Kearsage and Alabama at Cherbourg. Goncourt brothers visit him and use him
as character in Manette Salomon.
1865 - Shows Olympia at Salon.
Very depressed by vehement critics, leaves for Spain.
1866 – Fifer refused
by Salon. Meets Cézanne. Zola fired from l’Evenement for defending Manet
in his review of Salon. His work
confused with that of Monet by public. Astruc introduces him to Monet. Café
Guerbois at Batignolles becomes headquarters of modern painters and writers. Moves
his family in with his mother at 49, rue Saint-Petersbourg.
1867 – Organizes exhibition
of 50 of his pictures in specially built hall during Paris World fair. Execution
of Emperor Maximilian in Mexico. Assists at Baudelaire’s funeral.
1868 – Exhibits Zola’s
portrait at Salon. Spends summer in Boulogne. Brief trip to London. Fantin
introduces him to Berthe Morisot at the Louvre. Meets Gambetta.
1869 – Execution of Maximilian rejected by Salon, exhibits the Balcony.
Eva Gonzalez becomes his pupil.
1870 – Duel with critic
Duranty. Poses for Bazille’s Studio and is central figure of Fantin’s Studio
in Batignolles at Salon. Break out of Franco-Prussian war in September.
During Paris siege joins artillery regiment with Degas.
1871 – Joins family in
Bordeaux during Commune.
1872 – Sells 29
paintings to Durand-Ruel for 51000 francs. Moves studio to 4, rue
Saint-Petersbourg.
1873 – Bon Bock very
successful at Salon. Beginning of friendship with Mallarmé.
1874 – Two paintings
rejected at Salon. Refuses to show in first Impressionist exhibition. Spends
summer near Monet at Gennevilliers, paints in Argenteuil. Illustrate’s mallarmés translation of
Poe’s Raven. Berthe Morisot
marries his brother Eugène.
1875 - Argenteuil scandalizes Salon.
1876 – Exhibits rejected
paintings to public in his studio, on this occasion meets actress Méry Laurent.
Visits Hochédé (great Monet collector) in his country house in Montgeron. Sales affected by general depression.
1878 – Helps Monets
financially. Low prices for his
works on Hochédé sales. Moves studio to rue d’Amsterdam. Begins having trouble with his leg.
1879 – Two paintings
accepted at Salon. Hydrotherapy in summer at Bellevue. Begins portrait of
Clemenceau. Singer Mlle Ambre exhibits Execution of Maximilian in New
York with little success.
1880 – Execution of
Maximilian exhibited in Boston, Chicago show is cancelled. Solo show in offices of review La Vie
Moderne in April. Greater Salon acceptance, jury considers medal. Cure at
Bellevue in summer.
1881 – Two paintings
accepted at Salon. Receives second
class medal. His friend Antonin
Proust made
Minister of Fine Arts in
Gambetta government – proposes Manet for legion of Honour, nominated 30 Dec.
Seriously ill.
1882 – Exhibits Bar aux Folies Bergère at Salon.
Increasingly ill. Summer at Rueil.
1883 – Bedridden. Amputation of left leg fails to save
him. Dies April 30.
1884 – Large memorial
exhibition organized at Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Catalogue introduction by Zola.
Sale of Studio
contents (93 paintings, 30 pastels, 14 watercolors, 23 drawings) brings an
“honorable” price of 115 000 francs.
