Olympia, Take 4 – Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township, Trenton, New Jersey

"Confrontational Vulnerability" is a monumental painted styrofoam group, cast by Seward Johnson in 2011. It was inspired by Édouard Manet’s 1863 masterpiece, Olympia, first exhibited at the 1865 Paris Salon, which shows a nude woman ("Olympia") reclining on a bed, being brought flowers by a black servant. Also on the bed is a black cat, arching its back and seeming to hiss defensively at the viewer.



Olympia was modeled by Victorine Meurent (who was to become an accomplished painter in her own right). The French government acquired the painting in 1890 after a public subscription organized by Claude Monet. The painting is now on display at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Why were visitors to the Paris gallery, already quite familiar with art featuring the naked body, so outraged by the painting that the gallery was forced to hire two policemen to protect the canvas? The objections to Olympia had more to do with the realism of the subject matter than the fact that the model was nude. Indeed, what shocked contemporary audiences was not Olympia’s nudity, nor the presence of her fully clothed maid, but her confrontational gaze. She stares out from the canvas at us, confronting us with an unwavering glance. This in itself was a cause for outrage because this woman dares to stare out, meeting the eye. It was scandalous for a woman in general, let alone a courtesan, to be so brazen as to stare directly at anyone.

Moreover, many of the details of the picture identify her as a demi-mondaine or prostitute. These include the flower in her hair, her bracelet, pearl earrings and the oriental shawl on which she lies, symbols of wealth and sensuality. The black ribbon around her neck, in stark contrast with her pale flesh, and her cast-off slipper underline the voluptuous atmosphere. In the painting, the maid offers the courtesan a bouquet of flowers, presumably a gift from a client. She looks almost bored at the prospect of another gift, suggesting that this is not a first time occurrence or something to be overly excited about. Moreover, "Olympia" was a name associated with prostitutes in 1860s Paris. Although middle and upper-class men did frequent courtesans they did not want to be confronted with one in an art gallery. Viewers weren’t sure of Manet’s motives. Was he trying to produce a serious work of art? Was Olympia an attempt to parody other paintings? Or, worst of all, was he mocking them?

In Seward Johnson’s treatment, Olympia’s room – which Manet leaves essentially to the viewer’s imagination – is depicted as a lush, upper middle class drawing room of the Second Empire. Moreover, by allowing the viewer into the frame, the sculptor invites us to focus on each of the characters depicted in the original painting: Olympia, her servant and the cat, which is arching its back and seems to be hissing at the viewer). The meaning of the painting seems to change depending on which subject is in the focal point. In my last photo of the series, I peeked from over her shoulder to look at what Olympia herself might have been seeing.