The Dilemma: To the untrained eye, Monet and Manet come across like the kids from The Parent Trap. They have similar names, both were French, they’re both heavily associated with Impressionism, and worst of all, they were friends.

People You Can Impress: people who like arts and crafts

The Quick Trick: Take a step closer to the painting. If you’re looking at tiny dabs of paint working together to create a landscape, chances are you’ve got a Monet in front of you. If, on the other hand, you’re looking at loosely painted images of chubby Parisians, you’re probably staring at a Manet.

The Explanation:
Édouard Manet (eh-DWAHR mah-NAY) laid the groundwork for Impressionism, while Claude Monet (clode moh-NAY) perfected it. Born eight years before his contemporary, Manet’s use of broad, simple color areas and his vivid, quick brush technique influenced painters like Monet and Renoir to fully develop Impressionist style. While imbued with the belief that art should reflect the ideals of the present rather than the past, Manet refused to exhibit his work as an Impressionist. The style was considered revolutionary at the time, and Manet preferred the adulation of more conservative audiences. So he stuck to studio drawing, painting over his penciled sketches.

Claude Monet, on the other hand, was an out-of-the-closet Impressionist. He was obsessed with capturing the fleeting effects of light and color on nature. To get the moment down on paper, he realized he had to use quick brushstrokes filled with individualized color (no time for drawings—Monet needed immediate brush-on-canvas action!). While Monet’s first Impressionist works were met with plenty of criticism and contempt, he continued to paint in the style throughout his long life. Monet and Manet were great friends and admirers of each other’s work. Manet used to help out the thin-walleted Monet with cash in his younger years, while Monet spurred a public effort to buy Manet’s Olympia for the French nation, believing (correctly, as it turned out) it would become one of the most important works of the time.

Name-Dropping
Paintings to know (and mention) by each artist:

Monet: Impression: Sunrise, The Water Lily Pond, and Houses of Parliament

Manet: Olympia, The Absinthe Drinker, and Luncheon on the Grass