MANET, "DEAD MATADOR", 1864-1865

Man oh man, a quick Wikipedia search has just revealed to me this Manet painting, which I'd never seen before. I don't quite know what to make of it yet but I think it's so visually striking. Wowee Zowee!

MANET, "YOUNG FLAUTIST, OR THE FIFER", 1866

I don't know a thing about Manet but I think he's brilliant simply on the basis of this one painting. Fell head over heels for it the moment I saw it at the Musée d'Orsay this past summer. I just love that even though he's using these impressionist techniques of kind of soft, blurred brush strokes, without any distinct, defined lines, there's still a sharpness to the painting as a result of the interplay of contrasting colors, shadow and light. It's the kind of paradox you find in the sound of a flute itself -- a sharp, shrill high note that all the while manages to be ambient and resonate and reverberate in the space around it.