The Dead Toreador
Regarded as the father of modernism, Edouard Manet’s somber but simple piece of art depicting the grimmer side of the corrida de toros. His paintings were characterized by loose brush strokes and simplification of details. Constantly relying on the differences between lights and darks of his subject to bring out detail and a unique tonal expression. His paintings and etchings would later become subjects of study by later artists who then went on to become the pioneers of impressionism.
This painting of a dead matador is sombre in both feel and depiction. It seems to the viewer that manet holds death in no light regard and provides his subject a very picturesque death. With one hand on his chest and the other clenching his capote de brega, it is a glorious death which the matador had long known; known since he had started his dangerous profession.
My eyes find it extremely pleasing looking at the way manet painted this piece, the strokes guide me naturally across the canvas and the contrasting light and dark tones of the subject and the environment give the matador an angelic feel. He feels like a martyr, a hero, who has died for the sake of his art, his profession and his people’s legacy.