Painting of the Week - A Bar at the Folies-Bergere

Edouard Manet, Le Bar aux Folies-Bergère (1881-2)

Courtald Institute of Art, London
(source)

Okay, it appears that last week's piece confounded a lot of people so I thought I'd return to The Canon and cover the original painting. Despite a lot of people asking me "Is he the same guy who did the lilypads?" (he's not), Edouard Manet (1832-1883) is actually considered one of the most important Modern artists. Often considered an Impressionist although he never actually exhibited with them and didn't share their philosophy, he was certainly their friend and his major works inspired them.

Manet became (in)famous in 1863 when he submitted Le déjeuner sur l'herbe to the Paris Salon for display, and even more so when he submitted Olympia in 1865. Both of these paintings were refused by the Salon as despite the fact the paintings were clearly referencing former Great Masters, they were interpreted as commentaries on contemporary prostitution in Paris. One of the things the critics particularly hated was the way the nude/naked women in these pictures stared directly at you. When you consider that the contemporary audience to these paintings were most likely to be upper/middle-class males - the same clientele of the prostitutes - it makes for mighty uncomfortable viewing.

On first view, there's nothing particularly strange about Le Bar until you look a bit more closely. While not nude, the waitress Suzon stares at the us, and not in a particularly friendly way. Secondly, the mirror behind Suzon shows the presence of a mustachioed man in a top hat talking her. Finally, Suzon's reflection shows her leaning towards the man, not the way she appears before us. The most common reading of this painting is that the waitress is for sale, along with the goods that are shown clearly at the bar. But that still leads the question of the man. If we consider the reflection in the mirror as the 'real world' and Suzon is talking to a man enquiring after her, then that the man with the mustache doing the buying is...us. And what we see before us are Suzon's real feelings about the whole deal.