Final answer:
The controversial painting by Édouard Manet that provoked a reaction at the French Salon was entitled 'Olympia'. Representing a significant departure from traditional art, it depicted a direct and confrontational gaze of a woman, presumed to be a prostitute, which was novel for the era and signaled the beginning of modern art.
Step-by-step explanation:
The controversial image by Édouard Manet, which created a stir at the French Salon, was entitled Olympia. Painted in 1863, Manet's Olympia was groundbreaking and scandalous for several reasons. It depicted a woman, reclining and looking directly at the viewer, which was a departure from the traditional representation of the female form in art. Unlike the goddesses and mythological figures typically seen, Olympia's direct gaze and the details within the painting suggested she was a prostitute. The painting's acceptance into the Salon in 1865 was due in part to the uproar caused two years earlier by another of Manet's works, The Luncheon on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l'herbe), which had been rejected by the Salon jury but displayed in the Salon des Refusés.
Édouard Manet challenged conventional standards of his time by refusing to follow strict artistic norms, particularly with the rough painting style and modern elements present in his works. Upon his death, Manet's art quickly gained acceptance and he is often regarded as a pioneer of modern art. Édouard Manet's work, particularly Olympia and The Luncheon on the Grass, are now celebrated as critical in the transition from Realism to Impressionism and the birth of modern art.