The Ultimate Masterpiece Olympia: Discovering a New Life and Choice
Thank you for your hard work today. Have you noticed that you, who are always giving your best, need some rest? In the middle of being chased by work and daily chores every day, are you putting your own heart on the back burner? I am Mimi Takamizawa. Today, I came here to talk to you about something very special.
Are you thinking something like this right now? “How is art useful in my daily life anyway?” Or perhaps you’ve given up, thinking, “It’s just too difficult to understand”? Please rest assured. That question is completely natural.
However, there is a fact I want to share with you as soon as possible. Engaging with wonderful works of art will dramatically improve the quality of your life. A special experience, unlike any other, will transform your everyday life into something extraordinary.
Today, I would like to introduce you to Édouard Manet’s historic masterpiece, Olympia. This work offers you an astonishing experience like never before. That is because this painting exists for you, the “main character.”
As the “main character” of your own story, you have the right to claim a life of “value.” Let me explain the reasons in detail.
[Basic Work Data]
• Title: Olympia
• Artist: Édouard Manet
• Year: 1863 (Exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1865)
• Technique: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 130.5 cm × 190 cm
• Collection: Musée d'Orsay (Paris, France)
The Astonishing History and the Truth Behind the Era When Olympia Was Born
Do you know when, where, and by whom this painting was created?
Olympia was painted by Édouard Manet in 1863. It was then unveiled at the Paris Salon in France in 1865. Currently, it is housed in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. It is a large painting measuring 130.5 centimeters high by 190 centimeters wide—a presence you have to look up to.
Manet came from a wealthy bourgeois family. His father was a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Justice. Manet defied his father’s opposition to pursue the path of a painter.
At that time, Paris was in the midst of dramatic changes. Under Napoleon III, large-scale urban renovation was underway. Old streets were demolished, and modern avenues were built. Gas lamps lit up the night streets, and cafes and theaters bustled with activity.
However, behind that development lay a dark side. The gap between rich and poor widened, and many women were forced into harsh lives. As a result, prostitution became a serious social issue in Paris at the time.
Manet attempted to fix that “living modern world” directly onto the canvas. Not goddesses from mythology, but human figures living in the real city. This became the beginning of modern painting.
You might wonder why this old history has anything to do with your life.
Let me answer. The modern society in which you live every day is also changing hectically and filled with complex anxieties. 160 years ago, Manet painted human figures desperately surviving in the midst of modern society’s contradictions—just like you today. Knowing past history gives you the power to objectively re-examine the present in which you live.
Resolving Your Questions: Olympia‘s Innovation and Overwhelming Charm
At this point, let me sincerely answer the question that may be arising within you.
“Isn’t it just a painting of a woman lying on a bed? What’s so great about it?”
It’s natural to think that way. It certainly looks like a familiar composition: a white bed, a Black maid, a bouquet of flowers, and a black cat at her feet. It appears to follow the very format of traditional Western painting.
However, when it was unveiled at the Salon back then, people were furious. The audience laughed and jeered. Critics attacked it fiercely, calling it “like a corpse” and “filthy.” Security guards were even posted so the canvas wouldn’t be slashed by viewers.
Why were people so outraged?
The reason is clear. She was not a goddess of myth, but a “courtesan living in modern Paris,” staring back at the audience with utter confidence. The model was a real woman named Victorine Meurent.
Until then, nude paintings had been created under the pretext of being the goddess Venus. Male viewers enjoyed viewing women’s naked bodies from a safe position while using “art appreciation” as an excuse.
However, the woman in Olympia is different. She gazes straight back at you (the viewer) with a strong, defiant look.
“What did you come here to see?” she asks.
Her gaze bounces back the viewer’s self-serving desires. She thrusts the raw human relationships and market logic of reality right before your eyes.
Doesn’t it give you chills?
There is a huge advantage for you in knowing this work and actually viewing it. That is acquiring a strong gaze that is not swayed by social common sense or the assumptions of others.
When you care too much about the reactions of those around you at work or in human relationships, remember Olympia’s straightforward gaze. You don’t need to be afraid of other people’s eyes. You just need to stand firmly by your own will and look right back at them.
A Message from Mimi Takamizawa and Mental Rest Dedicated to the Tired You
You are doing a truly wonderful job every day. Because you are a conscientious person, aren’t you sacrificing your own time and spirit to serve those around you?
Here is an important announcement from me.
Have you noticed that you, who are always giving your best, need some rest?
Mimi Takamizawa’s art serves your life with sincere dedication.
Because, as the “main character” of your story, you have the right to claim a life of “value.”
I am deeply influenced by the psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. Frankl said that everyone can live a life of “meaning.”
You can create a story that becomes the “meaning” of your own life. If you have a purpose in life, you will never feel bored from the moment you wake up in the morning until you sleep at night. Spare, idle time vanishes.
Engaging with art is the most certain way to erase boredom and grant definitive meaning to your daily life.
Here, I would like to introduce the words that influenced me the most. It is a famous quote from the American Henry Ford, who created a society where anyone could drive a car:
“Most people think of success as getting something. But success is really about giving.”
Why is this famous quote beneficial to your daily life?
A way of living that is always “demanding something” from others makes the heart unstable because it depends on the reactions of others. However, when you stand in the position of “giving,” an unwavering sense of composure and initiative is born in your heart.
Manet also gave his talent generously to the world. Even when showered with fierce criticism, he did not break, and he continued to give people the supreme gift of a new perspective.
Furthermore, I am deeply influenced by the words of Tokuji Munetsugu, the founder of Curry House CoCo Ichibanya:
“Look straight ahead; dedicate yourself to management.”
“Nothing goes well from the beginning, so keep going without giving up. Business is a daily accumulation and gratitude. Work 5,640 hours a year (15.5 hours a day, 365 days a year).”
“During my active years, I had no hobbies and made no friends. I never went to drinking spots either. I did nothing that would get in the way of work. There were times I worked 5,640 hours a year. I felt that if I didn’t lead by example, my employees wouldn’t work for me.”
Mr. Munesugu’s words teach us the dignity of overwhelming dedication and effort.
People who do outstanding work and people who leave behind outstanding art dedicate their lives to someone else. Manet also dedicated his life to reforming artistic expression.
There is no life more valuable than delivering wonderful products, services, goods, and works of art to many people. A life that is of no use to others is meaningless. Shift from receiving to giving. Through their works, the great figures of the past are delivering that passion to you.
Clear Choices Shown by Olympia and Its Contemporary Rivals
In the art world at that time, Manet had formidable rivals. By knowing them, you can clearly understand how groundbreaking Manet’s challenge was.
His greatest rival was Alexandre Cabanel.
In the same year, 1863, Cabanel painted The Birth of Venus. This painting was praised lavishly at the Paris Salon and purchased by Emperor Napoleon III. It depicted a sweet, idealized goddess of perfect beauty. Viewers could feel safe while indulging in its beauty.
Another rival was William-Adolphe Bouguereau. He also painted mythological worlds and flawless young maidens with perfect technique, enjoying immense popularity at the Salon.
Their works were the “bestselling staples” and the “mainstream” of that era.
However, which one is said to have opened the door to modern art today?
That’s right. It was Manet’s Olympia, which was fiercely criticized.
Cabanel’s and others’ paintings invited people into temporary escapism. But Manet’s painting forced people to look directly at the “reality they live in now.”
This structure of rivals applies directly to your choices in daily life or at work.
Do you choose “safe, beautiful words (Cabanel)” to fit in with those around you? Or do you present “honest reality (Manet)” without fear of criticism?
Which one builds long-term mutual trust? The answer is obvious. Manet’s choice gives you the definitive courage of “a strength that does not flatter the opinions of others.”
Why the Hardships and Setbacks Experienced by the Artist Manet Strongly Support You
Manet’s life was by no means smooth sailing.
Whenever he submitted works to the Salon, he was rejected; even when accepted, he was subjected to fierce notoriety. While fellow painters like Edgar Degas and Paul Cézanne respected Manet, the majority of the public mocked him as a “vulgar scribbler with no skill.”
Manet himself was a wealthy gentleman who desired legitimate recognition at the Salon more than anyone else. That is precisely why he was deeply hurt every time he was rejected.
Furthermore, in the latter half of his life, Manet was afflicted by a severe disease (neurological complications from syphilis). Enduring leg pain, he continued to hold the paintbrush until his final years. Ultimately, he underwent an amputation due to gangrene in his leg and passed away at the young age of 51.
Having experienced such hardships, why did Manet keep painting?
It was to deliver the “beauty of true reality” to you. It was to show you the vivid modern world without lies.
Manet’s setbacks and passion are deeply connected to you who suffer.
When you fail at work, or when you are misunderstood in personal relationships, remember Manet’s journey. Only those who maintain their convictions, no matter how much they are criticized, can create value that remains in history.
Through his work, Manet speaks to you: “Do not fear failure. Live your reality with pride.”
Crucial Things You Lose If You Do Not Engage with Art
Here, I have one important question for you.
If you were to go through life without ever touching art, what do you think would happen?
Do you think you wouldn’t be losing anything major?
No, that is not true. What you lose by distancing yourself from art is far too immense.
- 1. Numbness of sensibility: Chased only by routine daily work, you become unable to notice beautiful things and changes in the world.
- 2. Singular perspective: Only your own ideas become absolute, losing the flexibility to understand the diverse lives and values of others.
- 3. Spiritual solitude: When painful things happen, you become unable to find profound “meaning” that comforts your suffering.
A life without art is like repeating the exact same routine forever inside a black-and-white screen.
Engaging with masterpieces from all times and places is the act of attaching countless color lenses to your mind. Just looking at a single painting allows the air of 19th-century Paris, the painter’s anguish, and the strength of will in the model’s eyes to flow directly into you.
Artistic works are tools that rescue your spirit. The great artists of the past left behind wonderful gifts to heal your heart. Isn’t it the greatest loss in life not to accept them?
Clear Criteria to Judge the Work Before You and the Overwhelming Benefits You Gain
Let me answer a simple question you might be feeling.
“Even among famous artworks, there are some I don’t think are good at all. Is something wrong with my sensibility?”
Please rest assured. Not at all.
Art is by no means difficult. When you have engaged with it, viewed it, and thought about it many times, absorbing various knowledge, and yet you still feel no charm in the work in front of you or cannot look at it for a long time, it simply means that the work lacks power and is poorly made.
A work that cannot convince you is a bad work.
A truly historic masterpiece is bound to captivate the hearts of many people, including yours.
Why is Manet’s Olympia still drawing thousands of people every day to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris 160 years later? Because this work conceals genuine power. Every time you look at it, there are new discoveries, and it never lets the viewer grow bored.
Let’s list the wonderful benefits you gain by engaging with top-tier works like Olympia:
- Acquire precise powers of observation: By exploring the details of the painting and the meaning of the gaze, you develop an eye for discerning the true intentions of others in real-world human relationships.
- Establish your own unique values: Unswayed by the reputation of others, you become able to choose things based on “how you feel.”
- Gain deep healing and rest: Away from daily noise, quietly conversing with a single painting fundamentally refreshes your brain and heart.
- Boredom vanishes: You become able to find “meaning” in daily scenery and ordinary events, making you look forward to waking up every morning.
How about that? Such incredible benefits can be yours simply by facing a single painting.
The Ultimate Experience Waiting for You at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris
Finally, let me explain where this work is right now and how you can go to see it.
Olympia is currently housed in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France.
Passing through the atrium of the beautiful, grand building that used to be a train station, you proceed into the exhibition room—and there hangs Olympia.
The moment you enter the room, you are sure to be astonished. On a canvas from 160 years ago, Victorine Meurent’s eyes are staring straight at you today, completely unchanged.
Standing in that place, you will feel your chest swell with warmth.
You will think, “The woman in this painting was waiting here to meet me 160 years later.”
You will no longer think of art as something from a distant world. A single painting created by Manet eases the suffering you experience today, granting strong willpower and pride to your everyday life.
Now, there is nothing to fear.
Why not take a step right now into the new world of art? Let’s engage with genuine works of art and make the story of you, the “main character,” shine even brighter. I, Mimi Takamizawa, am always strongly cheering for your wonderful life.
