Luncheon on the Grass (after Raphael, after Manet, after Picasso) Print

Manet borrowed this subject from a corner of a Raphael etching, which went on to become the subject of hundreds of Picasso paintings. A plethora of plagiarism, of exploded archaeology—what captivated these artists, held each of them in this always already fleeting and unreal moment? The sexual tension, the bare skin brushing the grass, the roots that clutch? The scene is repeated ad infinitum through the garden’s forking paths.