Alias Olympia: A Woman's Search for Manet's Notorious Model & Her Own Desire [Paperback]

Eunice Lipton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0801486092 | ISBN-13: 978-0801486098 | Publication Date: April 1999

Eunice Lipton was a fledging art historian when she first became intrigued by Victorine Meurent, the nineteenth-century model who appeared in Edouard Manet's most famous paintings, only to vanish from history in a haze of degrading hearsay. But had this bold and spirited beauty really descended into prostitution, drunkenness, and early death--or did her life, hidden from history, take a different course altogether? Eunice Lipton's search for the answer combines the suspense of a detective story with the revelatory power of art, peeling off layers of lies to reveal startling truths about Victorine Meurent--and about Lipton herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Feminist art historian Lipton deftly inflects this study of Manet's notorious model Victoria Meurent with autobiographical glimpses of her own life.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Haunted by the steadfast gaze of the nude peering from the canvas of Manet's controversial "Olympia," art historian Lipton ( Looking into Degas: Uneasy Images of Women and Modern Life , Univ. of California Pr., 1986) documents her relentless effort to unravel the model's life. Lipton's scant archival findings indicate that, in marked contrast to the lowly, depraved, alcoholic figure depicted by writers and artists, model Victorine Meurent was a recognized painter and a member of a distinguished society of artists. In the course of her research, Lipton imagines the thoughts of Meurent in some beautifully moving passages, and her own life begins to take on new meaning. She raises disturbing questions about the validity of much art historical scholarship concerning the role of women. A mesmerizing narrative recommended for women's studies, art history, and general collections.
- Joan Levin, MLS, Chicago
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801486092
• ISBN-13: 978-0801486098
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #315,467 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alias Olympia - What a Surprise, January 19, 2007

By 

James Blanchard "James - The Scholar" (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alias Olympia: A Woman's Search for Manet's Notorious Model & Her Own Desire (Paperback)

My girlfriend was going to do a musical about Victorine, so she spent years researching the subject, and offered Eunice Lipton 300 pages of research for free.
Imagine our surprise to read the book's first edition and find out that she had characterized my girlfriend as someone with a drinking problem.
There was a LITTLE PROBLEM with that. My girlfriend has been a lifelong TEETOTALER and had never met Eunice!
The book fails to describe Victorine, and it never delved into her COMPETENCY as an artist. It also doesn't mention enough famous works by famous artists that Victorine modelled for, so don't stop there when it comes to research.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring story with a reward at the end., November 19, 2000

By 

Lynne Rutter "ornamentalist" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Alias Olympia: A Woman's Search for Manet's Notorious Model & Her Own Desire (Paperback)

This book is more autobiography than the "art history mystery" I had expected, but it's an engaging story, and well worth reading. When the missing diary, or some such document, which will tell all about the real life story of Victorine Muerant fails to materialize, a fictional version is inserted in chapters. I was dissappointed by this because it gives more weight to the story Ms Lipton invented and hoped to prove, than to the facts she worked so hard to reveal. The research is tedious and discouraging, and the results will not rock the art history world. The true reward for the author is not the tidbits of information she aquires about her subject, but in her own growth both as a blossoming writer and a woman. Her finest writing is in the descriptions of the things she knows best and experiences first-hand: the great food in Paris, her past life, her present feelings, her beliefs and self-realization. It's encouraging that Ms Lipton has chosen now to be a writer, and not an art historian, and I will look forward to her next effort.

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, October 26, 2002

By 

Book Lover "oneidabooks" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Alias Olympia: A Woman's Search for Manet's Notorious Model & Her Own Desire (Paperback)

Being an avid admirer of Manet and of the paintings in which Victorine Meurent appeared, I was happy to see a book about her. Finally, I would be able to learn something of her and her life! I learned that she was a Lesbian and died in 1927 and not as a destitute alcoholic as written in some rather sketchy histories of her. but that is all I learned. The book is actually more about the author and her trying to make peace with her past and her mother than anything else. If you want to learn about Victorine, you must find another book. If you want to know about Eunice Lipton, this is the book for you. Also very few facts in the book; the author puts Victorine in some situations and conversations, but these are all imaginary. Definitely would not recommend. Author was self-indulgent and apparently not very concerned with her subject.