A selection of masterpieces which were rejected by the person(s) who commissioned them, or from major exhibitions. Illustrated contents with links.
Manet
In 1814, following the restoration of the Spanish monarchy, Goya painted four works showing the uprising of 1808. One of these is now a major work of the European canon.
Of all the rejects in this series, Manet’s had greatest impact on painting, and really did change the course of art.
From West and Frith’s early paintings of the beach at Ramsgate, through their increasing popularity in the 19th century, to Boudin, Monet and Renoir.
What could a jury possibly find bad or objectionable about Whistler’s finest painting? And after that mistake, how could a second jury get it so wrong too?
A new series in which painters pit their work against juries of Salons and exhibitions, who then reject paintings which history judges quite differently.
A selection of meals eaten outdoors, by the gods, in Boccaccio’s Decameron, Manet’s controversial luncheon, and by a boating party.
From David’s history paintings of the end of the eighteenth century, the genre went from strength to strength, with major works by Goya, Géricault, and even Manet.
In the 1870s, Manet and Monet introduced steam trains to the world of art. At the Salon, they were met with ridicule, but became an important theme in Impressionism.
Children playing, amateurs rehearsing, music outdoors, and Schubert himself at the piano: paintings by Manet, Degas, Thomas Eakins, Édouard Vuillard and others.
