When Manet sought to exhibit Luncheon on the Grass at the Salon in 1863, it was rejected. Subsequently, it was exhibited at the Salon des Refusés, which means “Exhibition of Rejects”.
As much as the Parisian art institutions rejected Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass, he similarly rejected the status quo of what was acceptable to paint and the rules to adhere by. This is what made Manet’s painting appear so risqué.
In the near foreground towards the left corner, there is a bundle of clothing appearing to have been discarded in a quick moment, including a basket lying on its side with various fruits and a loaf of bread.
As we move towards the middle foreground, there are three reclining figures on the grassy area, namely, a naked woman to the left, who appears to be sitting on a blue blanket, and two clothed men.
There is a woman bathing in a stream or river, wearing a diaphanous chemise gown. She is bending over with her right hand in the water and her head is slightly tilted to her right side.
Examples that suggest how Manet could have brought the inside world out include the skin tone of the naked woman, suggesting a sort of harsh lighting on her as would be expected in a studio with lights shining on the model.
Manet used stark grays and blacks to indicate the gradations of skin tone and where the shadows fell on it. We see this “stark” tonality on Manet’s female figure in his painting Olympia (1863).
There appears to be no sense of depth or space between the three central figures, and the woman in the background is depicted on almost a similar scale as the foreground figures.
Manet upended the ideas of how women were portrayed too, including his painting Olympia (1863), he depicted women with a sense of confidence and self-assurance.
When Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe was first exhibited in Paris it was viewed as scandalous and people were shocked and bewildered at the subject matter that was so different from what was expected.