The Body as a Sign of Class in Courbet s The Stone Breakers and Manet s Olympia

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1 NICOLE L. GRAEV The Body as a Sign of Class in Courbet s The Stone Breakers and Manet s Olympia Bodies are inevitably occupied by class. Addressing ways in which artistic representations of the body can function as signs of class, Linda Nochlin s essay Realism and T. J. Clark s essay Olympia s Choice, while focusing on two different artists, touch on many of the same ideas. These include the social implications of iconography and artistic style, and the relationship between the body and money. Two paintings that convey these ideas are Courbet s Realist The Stone Breakers and Manet s Pre-Impressionist Olympia. Neither work attempts to idealize its subject matter; by not elevating their subjects positions in life or concealing their identities, Courbet and Manet make class an evident and significant facet of their iconographies. But it is more than the representational mode of Realism that helps emphasize class and the nature of work in these two paintings; as both pieces are in some way related to traditional paintings, it is their non-traditional subject matters and novel messages about class that ultimately stand out most. As Nochlin asserts, Courbet s paintings were socially inflammatory not so much because of what they said they contain no overt message at all but because of what they did not say (46). Unlike some of his contemporaries, such as Jean-François Millet, who made working-class figures appear noble, Courbet did not elevate his figures but rendered them as unidealized, startlingly direct and matter-of-fact representations of lower-class subjects (46). Certainly, the image Courbet presents in The Stone Breakers is painfully realistic; there is nothing glorious in his depiction of two men laboring in a quarry, the one on the left appearing too young for the strenuous task and the one on the right too old. Shabbily dressed, the two figures cannot be mistaken for members of the upper class their shoes are decrepit and worn, and the figure on the left wears a ripped shirt. This truthful treatment of subject matter is, according to Nochlin, characteristic of Realism s refusal to idealize, elevate or in any way embellish (36). Moreover, The Stone Breakers also addresses the idea of the immobility of the working class. The juxtaposition of young and old working side by side at the same task suggests that working-class life is an 1

2 DISCOVERIES endless cycle, mercilessly repetitive and difficult to escape. Interestingly, what makes class such a prominent aspect of this image is Courbet s decision to incorporate into the painting certain elements to which its viewers were already accustomed. Most major paintings created prior to the emergence of Realism dealt with historical events depicted on a large scale; by painting The Stone Breakers on this recognizable large scale, despite the fact that its subject was not considered noble, Courbet made the painting similar enough to historical paintings that its differences stood out. Viewers could also recognize in The Stone Breakers a similarity to previous paintings in that it was, overall, aesthetically pleasing. Thus, what became most apparent in this painting was its subject matter and the message it conveyed about class. Like The Stone Breakers, Manet s portrayal of the prostitute Olympia was inflammatory because of what it did not say. Surely, there had been widely accepted renditions of prostitutes in previous art, but these paintings had concealed the prostitute under the guise of the courtisane by attributing to her traits generally associated with upper-class women. Olympia, on the other hand, is not mythologized, for she will not allow the viewer to pretend that she is anything but a prostitute. As prostitution is a form of work, Manet s choice of iconography succeeds in actively declaring that Olympia is of the working class. Like Courbet, Manet uses attire or, in this case, the lack of attire to convey class and profession: Manet s prostitute wears no clothes. The choker around her neck adds an erotic element to the painting, as it is tied in a knot that seems to beckon to be untied. The slipper-like shoes on Olympia s feet similarly give her an erotic appearance as they, too, can be easily shed. The fact that these articles are waiting to be removed emphasizes that Olympia is naked, or undressed, as opposed to nude. In his essay on Olympia, Clark quotes Camille Lemonnier, who distinguishes between the nude and the undressed by stating, The nude has something of the purity of little children who play... together without minding at all. The undressed, on the contrary, always reminds me of the woman who shows herself off for forty sous and specializes in artistic poses (129). Not only does Lemonnier suggest that someone like Olympia lacks the innocence of the nude, but he also associates the undressed figure with the exchange of money for sexually promiscuous acts. This association helps explain Clark s conclusion that the sign of class in Olympia was nakedness (146); as a naked figure, she 2

3 appears as if she is showing herself off for monetary rewards, much like Lemonnier s undressed woman. Just as Courbet depicts people of the working class with revolutionary candor in The Stone Breakers, Manet presents an image of the reclining nude as it had never been presented before. As Clark explains in Olympia s Choice, traditional nudes, such as Titian s Venus of Urbino, were placed on the canvas near enough for seeing, far enough for propriety (133). Olympia, on the other hand, looks as if her body is laid out for inspection at the morgue (133). What adds to her nakedness is the fact that her pose is not the subtly sensuous one of traditional nudes; it is undoubtedly more rigid and blatantly provocative. Thus, Manet, in addition to not idealizing Olympia as a courtisane, makes her place in French social structure exceptionally clear by refusing to render her in exactly the style of traditional nudes. However, just as Courbet tactfully includes recognizable traditional elements in The Stone Breakers, Manet depicts Olympia in such a manner that her dissimilarity to traditional nudes is highlighted. Indeed, the composition of Olympia is reminiscent of Titian s Venus of Urbino. Both works include a bed in the left foreground, a servant, and a domesticated animal; Manet, however, emphasizes the bed as a zone of sexual activity by pushing it further into the foreground and by painting the sheets in disarray. While the Venus of Urbino features a dog as a symbol of subservient fidelity, Olympia features a cat as a symbol of devious sensuality. Because Olympia bears a precise relation to traditional nudes, such differences as these become explicit and were cause for uproar when Olympia was first viewed. As class is determined to a large extent by economic position, work and money are irrevocably linked to the body. Nochlin asserts in her essay on Realism that to some, including Courbet s friend and supporter P.-J. Proudhon, The Stone Breakers might indeed have been an irony directed against our industrial civilization ( 46). Courbet s painting can be viewed as a criticism of the manner in which working class bodies, as an integral part of industry and production, are required to function. As Proudhon s statement points out, it is ironic that such primitive labor should continue in the industrial age. In The Stone Breakers, Courbet presents the relationship between the body, work, and money through his tactful arrangement of the canvas, which establishes a unique relationship between the figures of the two workers and the painting s viewer. The workers are essentially faceless. Their backs 3

4 DISCOVERIES are turned to the viewer in such a way that it is impossible to identify them as individuals; they become visual representations of the working class as a whole. In terms of The Stone Breakers being an attack against industrial civilization, this arrangement suggests that workers may be exploited by employers who see them not as human individuals but as commodities. As commodities, workers are deprived of those liberties and privileges which characterize fully human beings. The Stone Breakers reflects this double standard, portraying bedraggled workers as victims of capitalism, abused for the sole purpose of making money. Manet establishes a relationship between the figure in his painting and the painting s viewer that provokes the viewer to regard Olympia, like Courbet s stone breakers, as a commodity. His method of establishing this relationship, however, differs from Courbet s in that it does not involve concealing Olympia s identity and individuality to reveal her status. On the contrary, it focuses on using Olympia s facial expression and gaze to appeal to the viewer and make him feel as if he is included in a monetary exchange. Clark addresses this idea in his essay, describing how Olympia looks out at the viewer in a way which obliges him to imagine a whole fabric of sociality in which this look might make sense and include him a fabric of offers, places, payments, particular powers, and status which is still open to negotiation (133). Olympia s association with particular powers is a critical factor that distinguishes her position as a member of the working class from that of the men in The Stone Breakers. While their bodies are completely under the control of a capitalist economy that regards them as commodities, Olympia, as a prostitute, possesses a certain power. As Clark argues: [P]rostitution... was the place where the body became at last an exchange value, a perfect and complete commodity, and thus took on the power of such things in a world where they were all-powerful. The prostitute... rode roughshod over the client; she offered money s body to him, she named the price. (102) Essentially, Olympia s power lies in her body, which can only be bought with money; thus, while her body, like those of the stone breakers, is an instrument for capitalism, it is also empowered by capitalism. In a capitalist society, a commodity is something which can be used to elicit money because it is in some way desirable. As a prostitute, Olympia recognizes that her body is a desirable entity and 4

5 that it gives her the power to make money. In Olympia, the prostitute s realization of her unique power is made clear to the viewer through her assertive gaze. Olympia may be an exploited figure, but she knows how to utilize capitalism to her advantage, exploiting the very system that exploits her. As a Realist painting, Courbet s The Stone Breakers is part of a movement to democratize art, defying artistic conventions by conveying ordinary people in an everyday function. Similarly, Manet makes a conscious attempt to disregard the established works and opinions of others in creating Olympia, rendering a contemporary prostitute as she truly is. Thus, conveying class through images comes naturally with these artists desire to portray subject matter in a veracious, unaffected manner: bodies, being linked to and defined by work and money, inevitably function as signs of class if they are portrayed truthfully. However, as the history of art is continuous, both pieces exhibit obvious connections to works that preceded them. To prevent their paintings from being met with complete rejection, Manet and Courbet tactfully limit novel elements, electing to incorporate only those elements that help reveal their subjects class and the nature of their work. Works Cited Clark, T. J. The Painting of Modern Life. New Jersey: Princeton UP, Nochlin, Linda. Realism. Harmondsworth: Penguin,

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