China Rhyming in Paris 3 – Manet’s Portrait of Emile Zola and Japonisme

Talking of the collection at the Musee d’Orsay China Rhymers might find Edouard Manet’s portrait of the writer Emile Zola of interest. Zola was a massive and early fan of Manet’s and, as a thank you, Manet painted this portrait of the author in 1868. Manet painted Zola in his study and included many of the artifacts and works of art in that room that meant a lot to the author. These interestingly included a Japanese print of a wrestler by Utagawa Kuniaki and it is featured prominently in the portrait. The Far East, which was revolutionising ideas on perspective and colour in European painting, played a central role in the advent of the new style of painting in Europe. A Japanese screen partially displayed on the left of the picture recalls this. the inkwell on Zola’s desk, obviously indicating his occupation, also appears to be Chinese or Asian of some sort, but might not be. Zola had apparently compared Manet’s style to Japanese woodcuts for his use of similar techniques and both Zola and Manet appreciated the Japanese art that was available for viewing in Paris.