Caring, tolerant, and loyal are all words that describe Suzanne Manet in Susan Vreeland’s short story, Olympia’s Look. At first glance Suzanne may seem like a simply housewife whose sole purpose in life was to fulfill her husband’s wishes, but that is just not the case. As the story unfolds Suzanne learns that she is a much stronger woman than she realized and is finally able to find her inner voice. Suzanne’s shift from living a passive life to being in control was brought about by the same person who she loved with all her heart and ironically made her passive in the first place, Édouard. Suzanne was so madly in love with Édouard that she would do anything for him. This included pretending her son was her brother, living in secret with Édouard for many years because he would not tell his father, and ignoring his many indiscretions.
The first spark of life seen in Suzanne is when her nephew, Albert, comes to visit her after the funeral. Suzanne wants copies of her husband’s paintings and lets it slip that she had nicknamed all of them. Her defiant spirit that had long ago been silenced was begging for the chance to verbalize her opinions of her husband’s models. Suzanne was not the type of woman to walk around with a blind eye to the world and she knew perfectly well that he husband was having affairs with those prostitutes. But, in her heart she loved Édouard and believed that he loved her more than any of his mistresses.
Suzanne’s forceful side again shines through when she received the letter from Victorine requesting money. This passage was written in such a way that the reader can actually feel the tension mounting between the two women. Suzanne is not going to let Victorine live blissfully unaware as to Édouard’s cause of death. She wants Victorine to feel the same way she does but then realizes that she never will because Victorine never truly loved Édouard and was only involved in mere “collaborations” with him.
Suzanne appeared to have let her environment shape her life in the beginning when Édouard was alive but after his untimely death, she began to regain control. Even with something as simple as starting the fire, Suzanne opted to do it on her own instead of letting her maid do it for her. She also decided that she was going to make sure her husband’s mistresses knew the real reason he died and that they took part in his death from Syphilis.
Vreeland’s story, Olympia’s Look, was a much more enjoyable read when compared to her other short story, The Yellow Jacket. While both stories required the reader to have prior knowledge of the painter’s lives for total comprehension, Olympia’s Look was easier to follow and flowed well. Although most of the story seemed to be comprised of facts about Édouard and Suzanne Manet’s lives, it is still a fictitious story. Did Suzanne really intercept a love letter from Édouard or was that simply created to display her character? Also, did the Olympia really never sell in the auction or was that just added for extra drama?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Annotated Bibliography
Berger, M (2001, January). About the artist: Alice Neel biography. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from Michael Berger Gallery Web site: http://www.mbergerart.com/neel/about.htm
This web site was an excellent source for information about Alice Neel’s personal life as well as how most of the American public viewed her work. Alice Neel was married twice and had multiple children. Her first husband once destroyed three hundred of her paintings in a fit of rage. I also learned that Neel did not paint portraits of celebrities but instead of people she knew and cared about. She painted at home because she could not afford a studio and it was not until the 1970s that her work began to get the recognition it deserved. Neel was also very careful about the details in her paintings, she typically made the backgrounds simplistic and when she included something it was for a specific purpose. Also, Neel would exaggerate certain facial features, in particular the eyes, to reveal her own personal insights. She never used photographs and worked exclusively from memory.
Unknown, (2008). Biography. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from Alice Neel Web site: http://www.aliceneel.com/biography/
This web site contains the biography of Alice Neel with links to each decade of her life from her birth in 1900 to her death in 1984. I paid particular attention to the 1950s because her portrait, Last Sickness, was created in 1953. Although it does not specify that the portrait is of Neel’s mother, it can be assumed that she was at the very least an influence. In 1953 Neel’s mother moved in with her and her children and then the next year her mother passed away from complications from a broken hip. The web site also went into detail about Neel’s left-winged ideas and how she would paint black activists and supporters of the women’s rights movement. She had strong political views that she was not afraid to show in her portraits and paintings. This site also included a gallery of Neel’s paintings and multiple articles written about her.
Unknown, (2008, September 6). the Art of Alice Neel. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from Whitney Museum of American Art Web site: http://tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa668.htm
This web site includes detailed information about her family life along with facts about her artwork. It explained that she lived in Havana, Cuba with her first husband and their first daughter died a year after birth. Neel lost her second daughter in the divorce and she tried to commit suicide. She then moved to the Spanish Harlem and had two sons. Neel was employed to paint the homeless during the Great Depression and these events have helped her to develop a style of compassion and freedom. She was also a public speaker and began to get artist recognition in the 1970s. Neel painted portraitures of other artists including one of Andy Warhol. This article states that Last Sickness was a portrait of Neel’s mother during her final months. It portrays the fear and discomfort of her mother in a candid way. Neel considered herself both a “sympathetic or sometimes not so sympathetic translator” and a “collector of souls.”
This web site was an excellent source for information about Alice Neel’s personal life as well as how most of the American public viewed her work. Alice Neel was married twice and had multiple children. Her first husband once destroyed three hundred of her paintings in a fit of rage. I also learned that Neel did not paint portraits of celebrities but instead of people she knew and cared about. She painted at home because she could not afford a studio and it was not until the 1970s that her work began to get the recognition it deserved. Neel was also very careful about the details in her paintings, she typically made the backgrounds simplistic and when she included something it was for a specific purpose. Also, Neel would exaggerate certain facial features, in particular the eyes, to reveal her own personal insights. She never used photographs and worked exclusively from memory.
Unknown, (2008). Biography. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from Alice Neel Web site: http://www.aliceneel.com/biography/
This web site contains the biography of Alice Neel with links to each decade of her life from her birth in 1900 to her death in 1984. I paid particular attention to the 1950s because her portrait, Last Sickness, was created in 1953. Although it does not specify that the portrait is of Neel’s mother, it can be assumed that she was at the very least an influence. In 1953 Neel’s mother moved in with her and her children and then the next year her mother passed away from complications from a broken hip. The web site also went into detail about Neel’s left-winged ideas and how she would paint black activists and supporters of the women’s rights movement. She had strong political views that she was not afraid to show in her portraits and paintings. This site also included a gallery of Neel’s paintings and multiple articles written about her.
Unknown, (2008, September 6). the Art of Alice Neel. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from Whitney Museum of American Art Web site: http://tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa668.htm
This web site includes detailed information about her family life along with facts about her artwork. It explained that she lived in Havana, Cuba with her first husband and their first daughter died a year after birth. Neel lost her second daughter in the divorce and she tried to commit suicide. She then moved to the Spanish Harlem and had two sons. Neel was employed to paint the homeless during the Great Depression and these events have helped her to develop a style of compassion and freedom. She was also a public speaker and began to get artist recognition in the 1970s. Neel painted portraitures of other artists including one of Andy Warhol. This article states that Last Sickness was a portrait of Neel’s mother during her final months. It portrays the fear and discomfort of her mother in a candid way. Neel considered herself both a “sympathetic or sometimes not so sympathetic translator” and a “collector of souls.”
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