\b0 Born in Paris in 1832, Edouard Manet was a member of the upper middle class and had to overcome the
opposition of his family when he decided to become a painter. He looked for ôthe simple and the clear,ö spurning unnecessary nuances and opposing academicism. He formed a friendship with Baudelaire. His \i Music at Les Tuileries\i0 (1861) may perhaps be
regarded, for the daring and richness of its composition, as the first work of modern art. Monet's paintings created a scandal (\i Olympia\i0 , 1863) but young artists like \b \ATXul1024 \cf4 \ATXht329 Monet\b0 \ATXul0 \cf0 \ATXht0 and \b \ATXul1024 \cf4 \ATXht344 Renoir\b0 \ATXul0 \cf0 \ATXht0 acclaimed him as one of their own as he developed his ability to convey atmosphere and ambience and perfected his mastery of the portrait. Retiring to his property in Rueil, he died there in 1883.\par
