In his lifetime, Edouard Manet succeeded in polarizing opinions like no other painter - he was at the same time a fiercely attacked scandal painter and the guiding star of a young avant- garde. Having inspired many young artists to a new, freer manner of painting, he in turn admired their vibrant open air painting. And yet, the special position he holds in the epoch is stressed by the fact that he participated in none of the Impressionist exhibitions. Today, Manet is considered one of the most important renewers of painting. Starting with his portrait The Painter Monet in his Studio, painted in 1874 in Argenteuil and a multi-layered homage to his artist friend and his painting of the moment, this extensive, richly illustrated publication investigates Manet´s independent, many-faceted contribution to Impressionism. It allows for an as yet unique comparison with works of his painter colleagues, juxtaposing works by Manet and works of his artist colleagues such as Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Sisley, Pissarro and Caillebotte, thereby underscoring the ground- breaking achievement of the French-born artist at the beginning of Modernism. The artist: Edouard Manet (Paris 1832-1883). From 1850 to 1856, student of Thomas Couture. In 1861 at the salon for the first time. In 1863, scandal due the exhibition of his Breakfast Outdoors at the Salon des refusés; a similar storm of indignation in 1865 due to the nude painting Olympia. In 1874, he refuses participation in the 1st Impressionist exhibition. In 1879, exhibition of his Assassination of Emperor Maximilian in New York and Boston. In 1881, Manet is made a Knight of the Legion of Honour. "Manet was greater than we all. He was capable of making light out of black." Camille Pissarro