Olympia After Manet, 1992, Color Xerography On Panel and Silk Velvet Covered Inset

"Shocking" was the word used to describe Edouard Manet's masterpiece when it was first unveiled in Paris in 1865. Although the nude body has been visual art's most enduring and universal subject, it has often spurred conflict. Olympia is a painting of a reclining nude woman, attended by a maid and a black cat, gazing mysteriously at the viewer. The objections to Olympia had more to do with the realism of the subject matter than the fact that the model was nude. While Olympia's pose had classic precedents, the subject of the painting represented a prostitute. In the painting, the maid offers the courtesan a bouquet of flowers, presumably a gift from a client, not the sort of scene previously depicted in the art of the era. Viewers weren't sure of Manet's motives. Artist Dough Edge cut out a thought-Bubble to insert what we think the maid is thinking at that exact moment.