Painter French major of the late nineteenth century, Edouard Manet is considered the initiator of modern painting that frees academicism. Painting first genre scenes, Manet's paintings make scandal. He rejected official exhibitions, and then plays a leading role in "elegant bohemian". There are frequent artists who admire him as Edgar Degas, and men of letters as the poet Charles Baudelaire and the novelist Emile Zola he painted a portrait remained famous. It will also conduct portraits of his friends like the poet Stephane Mallarme or Georges Clemenceau. It is then increasingly recognized and received the Legion of Honor on 1 January 1882. He died in 1883 at age 51, leaving more than four hundred paintings behind.