Book excerpt: Manet, a founding father of modernism, is one of the towering figures of 19th-century art. In this volume, Carol Armstrong looks closely at Manet's works to uncover a view not only of the artist but also of modernity itself. As she places his art within frameworks of colour, the feminine Other (the Manette in Manet), and consumerism, Armstrong seeks to expand and revise our understanding of this artist as a painter of modern life.