Edouard Manet

Edouard Manet wanted to be an artist but his father wanted him to be a lawyer. As a compromise, he went to sea at 16 as a cadet in the French Navy, but spent much of his time drawing. His father finally gave in and let him study art. For fun in class, he liked to draw things perfectly, but upside down. At 31, he married a young Dutch pianist, Suzanne Leenhoff. For 24 years, Manet shocked the public with his bold new style of art. He died at 51 of a chronic disease he had contracted as a young man.