This painting was created by Edouard Manet and was intended to provoke a strong reaction amongst the French public. Edouard Manet was known for creating provocative pieces and a painting like this one sure did the trick. The two men in the art piece seem to be well educated wealthy men based on the kind of clothing they're wearing. The two men are engaged in conversation and don't seem to be paying much attention to the woman beside or behind them. The woman beside them is naked and unlike most paintings is looking the viewer directly in the eye. In this time period, woman who were willing to get naked in front of adult men were prostitutes. This provokes the audience, but its also insulting because the only women that made direct contact with the viewer were men. Women didn't do that unless they were referenced from greek mythology or they were sacred. Considering the fact that most of the viewers at this time were men, this challenges the power the male viewer has and implies that the viewer himself is a potential customer of the prostitute's. The style of the painting does not follow the traditional style of that time and was rejected because it looked like the painting was unfinished in the background.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_d%C3%A9jeuner_sur_l'herbe
http://www.musee-orsay.fr/index.php?id=851&L=1&tx_commentaire_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=7123
http://modernism.research.yale.edu/wiki/index.php/Le_d%C3%A9jeuner_sur_l'herbe_(Luncheon_on_the_Grass)
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