Being Eugène Manet: reframing creative life in the third republic

<p dir="ltr">This article examines depictions of Eugène Manet (1833–92) in paintings by Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, and Berthe Morisot produced between the 1870s and 1890s. I will argue that the portrayal of Eugène in these works communicates the social and personal benefits of using time for non-pecuniary purposes. Countering the association of nineteenth-century, bourgeois masculinity with urban flânerie or the worlds of capital and politics, works featuring Eugène emphasize moments of family care, ease, and relaxation in nature. I propose that these paintings reframe creative life in two ways. First, the processes of their production highlight Eugène’s commitment to supporting other individuals’ artistic practices from a position outside the labour market. In his unpaid roles as model and ‘assistant’, Eugène gave his time freely to friends and family members who were professionally active in the artworld. Secondly, the paintings communicate an image of personal freedom in which a meaningful lifestyle is envisaged outside the typical dichotomy of work and commodified leisure. Taken together, these aspects of the paintings made a subtle, but important contribution to French Republican politics of the nineteenth century</p>