The mood is set. Despite the overblown decor of the courtesanΓÇÖs boudoir, the scene offers every indication of bourgeois ridicule, a mixture of bombast and vulgarity. It was not by accident that in an earlier version of this work (A Modern Olympia or The Pasha, 1869ΓÇô1870) C┼╜zanne put a Courbet look-alike in the clientΓÇÖs place. That first ΓÇÿrealisticΓÇÖ painting, which used heavy brushwork with violent contrasts of colours and of light and shade, was followed by this sketchy but trenchant work. This is one of the paintings that C┼╜zanne deliberately chose ΓÇô together with two landscapes of Auvers ΓÇô to represent his work at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. By refusing to submit to a strictly naturalistic vision, the painter was clearly stating his own position within the Impressionist movement. Critics were aware of this, and Henri Polday summarized their unease in the conclusion to his review of the exhibition: ΓÇÿI would like to know if these gentlemen are laughing at M. C┼╜zanne or if he is laughing at them. The fact remains that after one has looked at this singular manΓÇÖs work, one regards M. Pissarro and M. Claude Monet as reactionaries.ΓÇÖ
Dr Gachet was the first owner of A Modern Olympia, which is part of a series of paintings with erotic themes on which C┼╜zanne worked between 1867 and 1880.
