This depiction of Manet's favorite model, Victorine Meurent, as a nude on a picnic with two clothed men was considered scandalous. It exemplifies Manet's tendency to shock, provoke, and raise more questions than he answers.Edouard Manet painted Breakfast in the Open Air for the annual exhibition of the Académie Royale in Paris in 1863. But his painting was not allowed to be shown officially. The principal figure, Victorine Meurent, was Manet's favorite model. 7,000 people viewed the painting on the first day of the show. Most were either shocked or amused by the shamelessness of the picture.Nowadays, Edouard Manet is acknowledged worldwide as the most important reviver of painting. An inarguable high point in art history, he triggered a decisive turn towards modernism.Looked at and interpreted in a radically new way, this movie takes a different approach: a painting is shown the artist is briefly presented and then the painting is examined from various angles which go beyond the two-dimensional work of art on canvas. It gives the viewer a chance to take a look from within and experience what the models might have seen and the perspectives the artist might not have chosen to commit to canvas. By this change of point of view we believe the understanding of the work of art presented is greatly enhanced.http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2001-03.html
