She has that "I worked costumer service all day and I'm 5 minutes away from leaving. Please be quick" face.

@yup_pea

Жыл бұрын

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍💯!

@JulieWallis1963

Жыл бұрын

I love this comment.

@sugarfalls1

Жыл бұрын

That's customer service or maybe you did that on purpose.

@ZombieZebra3

Жыл бұрын

Some feelings are universal.

@Itried20takennames

Жыл бұрын

Funny and, could not agree more. Glad that others see something much deeper, but to me her look is just a “dear God, when will this work shift be over, I am tired of fake smiling” expression.

In my eyes, she has always looked as someone who wanted to be somewhere else

@Don.Challenger

Жыл бұрын

Well at certain brief points in any work shift you do feel that way.

@LichenCeramique

Жыл бұрын

she actually is

@hikerJohn

Жыл бұрын

It looks to me like she IS somewhere else (in thought). She's not looking at anyone or any thing and it seems the man is doing the exact same thing.

@WobblesandBean

Жыл бұрын

She is serving upper class people who look down on her while simultaneously using her for carnal pleasure, can you blame her?

@RideAcrossTheRiver

Жыл бұрын

@@WobblesandBean Hasn't changed all that much in bars except smoking is no more

In that room, everyone else in the bar was someone, and Suzon was no one. Now, ironically, Suzon is the only visible subject- the only person we remember a hundread years later.

@darkspiro6467

9 ай бұрын

Poetic how he managed to make the powerful of his time obsolete by simply having them as background characters

I was struck by how much his paintings remind me of photographs--the couple in the boat really struck me as a candid photo. And this one--oh her eyes. It's as if you can see her soul. Who doesn't know that feeling of being alone and unrecognized in a room full of people, of being seen as less than because you aren't of the same social status. I just discovered your channel a few days ago and I'm looking forward to exploring more of the videos.

@Art_Deco

Жыл бұрын

That’s a great point! Manet captured that look so well. Thank you so much for watching!

@danielawesome36

Жыл бұрын

To me, it looks less of a "I'm seen as insignificant" and more of a "I'm so tired right now, what do you want?"

@BoyProdigyX

Жыл бұрын

That same thought struck me when I saw that painting. Many of them, moments you wouldn't want immortalized and scrutinized. Either because it's you, warts and all, or perhaps worse, it's a moment far too mundane to share. I just love that!

@dream_dealer

Жыл бұрын

It makes sense, since he created his art during the time that marked the beginnings of photography!

@carolinegray7510

Жыл бұрын

@@Art_Deco As I understand...this was the beginning of an Era of artists who's paintings reflected on the start of isolation. Until then, they showed their subjects interacting. Artists depicted the moods of their environments or the changes they felt. Hopper certainly shows that.

This was my favorite painting when I was a kid. You really feel her loneliness. This painting is the closest thing to time traveling I have experienced.

@meganlumley3719

Жыл бұрын

What a beautiful thought. Thank you for that.

@Art_Deco

Жыл бұрын

I love this!

@eeaotly

Жыл бұрын

I didn't like this painting as a child precisely because of the strong feeling of loneliness and alienation that it used to give me. It's the same thing like when when you hate an actor because his malefic character is just so convincing.

I saw this painting in person a couple months ago at The Courtauld Gallery in London. It's fantastic. It's way bigger than I thought it was. The look on her face just completely draws you in, wondering what she's thinking. It gives you more and more to think about the longer you look at it.

@johnwilson6721

Жыл бұрын

Good for you. I have seen it a few times, and the experience of seeing a painting is quite different to viewing it on a screen or page, and the only true way to enable one to form a judgement.

@2degucitas

Жыл бұрын

How close can you stand to see it?

@johnwilson6721

Жыл бұрын

@@2degucitas At the Courtauld you can stand more or less as close as you wish. I think that distance is an interesting point. With some paintings, such as this, the perspective within the picture leads one to view it at that distance where it makes sense. In others, I like to stand at the point where the ambiguity between the painting as an object and the subject portrayed is most evident, and then I enjoy my mind flitting between the two.

@jasonstamp10

Жыл бұрын

@@2degucitas You can go right up to the glass if you want to. It's not behind any kind of protective barriers. It's just hanging on the wall in a room in the gallery with a bunch of other masterpieces.

@dimplesd8931

Жыл бұрын

I’ll be in London soon. I’ll have to visit The Courtauld Gallery. Thanks for the info

This is my first time seeing the painting, but I kind of thought, that what we are seeing, is the how the lady truly feels. Uninterested, bored, tired. But the reflection is what is actually happening, she is charming the man for money. I also thought it was interesting how you compared her to the objects around her. I think she is wearing that outfit to show how people viewed her. They viewed her as nothing more than an object, just to be used.

@xazorus9229

Жыл бұрын

That was the impression I walked away with, the grip on the table and inability to make eye contact scream of someone doing something they don't want to do.

@hencat123

Жыл бұрын

WeirdFangirl2824...that is a great comment and it makes sense of the difference btw the girl standing in front of us and the mirror image, Great comment!!

@doloresdrury8018

Жыл бұрын

YES, YES, YES! I made almost the same comment!

@nana_73

Жыл бұрын

That's what I always thought as well!

@Kaylin_h

Жыл бұрын

@WeirdFangi Yes, I feel shes completely inside disassociated from whats going on around her-& I thought (even though in reality man isnt near her) in the reflection -showing them both interacting-& her head in refection is shown like her normal stance wld be in the (average) "interaction" w Her head shown -turned downward slightly-in Subjection to the Larger man whos looking at her- non threatening but seems to be Straight & Tall-He has the obvious Dominance - directly speaking w/ no reserve- possibly asking for ANYTHING there-HER included- in same manner as an orange or a bottle-However- in the outside "role" she has to appear smaller, dainty & Submissive-her reality-inside- She is Larger-Straight up-in her innerself-NOT small & dainty or subservient-Inside her truth is-only a blank unfeeling gaze-of emptiness-wishing she was anywhere else-but in reality that may not matter either- (if youve ever felt-VOID-tech. word is Dysthymic-nothing is happy or sad-it is Zero all the time-) much as the choices in her life). It shows SHE is forcing upon herself to interact-... unlike everyone else in the place-who has CHOSEN to be there, In fact- besides alcohol- SHE is real reason they ARE all there- bc of HER (representing all the other Barmaids?) Her & the items on the table-shown purposely at an distorted angle as a DISPLAY- are the entire purpose/reason of its existence. Take those items away-noone else wld come *-SHE (& the other Barmaids) are-purposely Front & Center as w/out them-NO BAR.

Wow. I completely love this channel! Such an in depth breakdown and awesome narration of these wonderful paintings and the artists that created them.... to me, her eyes and demeanor gives me that she's totally on autopilot.... has been for quite a while. Nothing feels more lonely than being invisible in a room full of people.

@Art_Deco

Жыл бұрын

Thank you, Rob! I feel like her expression is just as relatable now as it was back then. Manet was a real genius!

@Unfunny_Username_389

Жыл бұрын

I enjoyed this video and learned from it - but "an in-depth breakdown" in 8 minutes isn't possible.

@TrggrWarning

Жыл бұрын

@@Art_Deco very cool! One other problem with the bottles on the bar they aren’t reflected correctly the bottle with pink fluid would be reflected as in front.

@kimbrey65

Жыл бұрын

I just found this channel a week ago and I love it. It's so very interesting. Thank you for your insight into these works of art!

Without over thinking it, I was going to say that the reflection of her and the man, are a memory. You know when you are in a giant group of people, you are speaking to no one, then suddenly someone speaks, and you turn on, then they go away, and you are left with contemplation? She is there because she must be, which is not the reason everyone else is, which causes... wait for it... REFLECTION.

@r0bw00d

Жыл бұрын

No, I won't wait.

@curlierthanthou

Жыл бұрын

100% agree

@lilyflare2

Жыл бұрын

That's what I was thinking too. I do this a lot. I dissociate and day dream and replay conversations over and over. So I thought that's what he was going for too.

@HigherSelfTarot

Жыл бұрын

That’s what I was thinking- that she was daydreaming about an ex lover or a patron that caught her eye, etc….and that’s what was appearing in the reflection of the mirror. She was reflecting on someone or something that happened in the past.

@iamblackthorne

Жыл бұрын

Okay... I am late to the party, but what a beautiful, perfect take.

The narrator of this painting has a lovely relaxing voice that matches the beauty of the paintings she narrates

I think the man and woman in the mirror are her memory of the two of them meeting at an earlier time…someone she could not forget. She is lamenting he is not there now. Just my interpretation of the story behind her far away sad look and the meaning of it all. It’s such a lovely painting!

@fairdathm

Жыл бұрын

That's what I thought as well! I was wondering if anyone else did.

@taterkaze9428

Жыл бұрын

I totally agree. There's such an obvious remembrance vibe.

@RideAcrossTheRiver

Жыл бұрын

It's Manet in the mirror.

@bambitopaz

2 ай бұрын

Came here to say this, lol. The reflection in the mirror is of the past, her and probably a regular visitor. The now is of her remembering those times because maybe the guy doesn't go there anymore.

One thing that always struck me about this painting, is that it's about the earliest I've ever seen a woman portrayed who has long, straight bangs. That style didn't really become popular until the 1960s, and certainly in the late1800s it was unusual, since we have many photographs from that era, and the women either have short, curly bangs or have parted or swept back hair with no bangs.

@Theater00jock

Жыл бұрын

Interestingly, straight across bangs were not a completely unusual style in the 1880s and 1890s. There are actually quite a few examples of portraits and photos of women with this type of hairstyle (though still not an exceedingly common one). One that comes to mind immediately from a similar period is Portrait d’Alice Louis-Guérin by Helleu (though technically a couple of years later).

@argusfleibeit1165

Жыл бұрын

@@Theater00jock Thanks-- I just looked that up. Very beautiful. The bangs aren't all the way to the eyebrows as in the Manet. Bangs length was kind of an issue in the mid '60s when I was a teen. Many adults didn't like it when you grew them that long. I even got chastised by a teacher one time, "You'd better get your bangs cut". (I ignored her).

@fionadefranco1276

Жыл бұрын

Bangs , or a fringe, were fashionable at this time to my knowledge, but not amongst respectable " women. Society women might flirt with this fashion, but the length seems to have been the difference. I refer in the first place to Frances Hodgson Burnett's " The Fair Barbarian"

@nelliebly6616

Жыл бұрын

@@Theater00jock in your first parentheses you agree with Argus....so what do you meen?🙄

@notbill08

Жыл бұрын

Short fluffy bangs were a popular style even among royalty in the 1870's. Look up Queen Victoria's Hesse granddaughters.

Manet was genius. I’ve always thought the woman is at the end of a long working day and tired and looking at us and not the man. Then to make sense of the man he has to be intensely looking at something else. Kind of a contrast between the tired working woman thinking about closing time and the man who is just getting started in the night. I love the trueness, confidence, and empathy of especially his women who are advancing into the modern age.

I’ve always thought of her as in a crowd but not of the crowd. A person alone with her own thoughts. I love it. Manet was an amazing .

Feeling silly for all the times I’ve looked at this painting and her fascinating expression I’ve never realized she’s in front of a mirror. I’ve always thought those were 2 other people to the right and see the expression as loneliness

Funny thing but this painting always invoked in me a feeling of solitude and loneliness, from the first time I encountered it. I was 13 or 14 at ghe time, I'm now 64. Up till now I could not explain that feeling, which sometimes lead to awkward discussion moments when I discussed paintings like these with friends. But now I KNOW why I was spot on! Manet created a very subtle masterpiece here with a deeper critique about the human condition. Which is... staring and at the same time NOT staring us in the face: when the chips come down, we are all alone, and insignificant, just as this nobody barmaid. Barmaids were naturally considered to be nobodies.

Note this painting also shows the export in the 1800s of Bass Ale from England. The famous Bass red triangle is shown and this was the very first trade mark ever to be registered in England.

We spent a whole day analysis this painting as a class - its nice to be reminded at how earnest Manet was at capturing the everyday with his moody expressionistic brush and paint.

You're making me appreciate classical art more. Thanks!

@Art_Deco

Жыл бұрын

That makes me so happy! Thank you.

I've taken a number of art history classes because of a couple of art degrees I have. I never really liked the way everything was presented, but you have made this so intriguing. Thank you! The first art history lesson I have enjoyed. Great work.

As a former waitress what I see is a woman at the end of a long 10+ hours shift completely glazed after smiling and talking all that time, not gripping the counter but leaning on the heels of her hands in order to take some weight off her body and especially her hot, pounding, painful feet counting the seconds before she can haul her exhausted self home. Having said that if she was like me she would have bounced back the next day with the adrenaline rush of the start of the next shift. The genius of this painting is that we all see a different story usually our own reflecting back at us

It is amazing how the reflection of Suzon makes her to appear so engaged with the refection of the customer (viewer), so subtlety done yet so clear. One the greatest painting without doubt.

"I am so over this..." To me she always looked so sad. Great content!

When you think no one is looking so you just have your whole existential breakdown in 2.7 seconds before the smile has to go back on so cooperate doesn't yell at you AGAIN.

I have always seen this painting as two versions of the same woman, one younger and the other much older. She starts out in her youth selling refreshments and ends up selling herself. The younger woman has a trimmer figure and neat hair while the older one has put on weight and her hair is falling down. That forlorn look is the knowledge of her ultimate destiny. Her present self is brighter and more defined. The "reflection" is a reflection of her thoughts.

@Mike-ym6rl

Жыл бұрын

I think this is the best explanation of the painting. "The reflection, is a reflection of her thoughts". Her thoughts..."Is this the way I have to spend the rest of my working life"!? Engaging with men much older than herself to earn a living. She is repulsed by the whole situation and does not want to be there at all.

@heidiluotolahti4305

Жыл бұрын

I totally agree

@aj-ly4pp

Жыл бұрын

I can see this, but maybe also the reflection is what she is thinking of is what to come about for her, the fact that it's a reflection makes me think that it hasn't come to pass yet and the look on her face is dread and exhaustion

@lorenzomagazzeni5425

Жыл бұрын

Never thought about that angle. Thanks.

I did this painting about 15 years ago with pastel. I was a poor student and couldn't afford oil painting. I think it's an amazing piece of work. Copying is okay. For me, it teaches me of the true artist techniques and styles. I still have it and hung it in my room. I have to spray Krylon UV resistance coating to keep the paint intact and fading.

I see this painting as a heart wrenching take on the way women in food service and bartending are sadly often objectified and viewed as part of the customers experience rather than people with lives working to make a living As someone who worked in food service for many years that level of objectification can easily drain a person to the level of depression we see in the subject of this painting

It seems to me that if the painting showed reality, the bar would have to be at about a 30 degree angle to the mirror in order to show the woman's reflection at such an offset. Also, since you showed Velazquez's painting Las Meninas, the so-called reflection of the king and queen of Spain in the mirror at the back of the room is an impossibility. Since their images completely fill the "mirror", they would have had to have been standing just a foot away from the "mirror", and obviously they were not. If Velazquez's image in the painting was real, then the two people shown in the "mirror" at the back of the room were really two people looking through a square hole in the wall. They may or may not have been the king and queen. I've always been surprised that no art expert has ever commented on the impossibility of the image of the two people at the back of the room being a mirror.

@stillhere1425

Жыл бұрын

As I understand it, the mirror is witness to the scene. Like a seal of authenticity. Whoever is in the mirror is the witness/notary. And also here he is flattering the royals by including them.

@nelliebly6616

Жыл бұрын

It is the painter, that is in a mirror....

When I have looked at pictures of this painting before I hadn't even noticed the man, only the womans face. The back ground of the roles of the barmaids there and the link with the items on the bar made her expression make so much more sense to me.

well done! I never expect to feel emotional after a video essay, you've made this so touching and relatable.

What we are meant to see is suzon's "true reflection". A thousand yard stare from a severely traumatized woman that is seen as nothing but an object for consumption.

I LOVE this piece. I remember studying it in College. I thought, and still do, that the woman looked as if she was on the VERGE OF TEARS!!!! Manet was quite a COMPETANT ARTIST in his day!!!! Although he and Monet weren't the BEST OF FRIENDS; Monet called Manet's work, "FLAT AND FORMLESS," they still respected one another. Thank-You for showing us this WONDERFUL WORK OF ART!!!!

I only found your channel for the first time today and am so glad I did. This painting has captured my attention for many years. I never understood what was happening in the scene prior to your explanation but previously felt overwhelmed with sadness looking at this masterpiece. What hit me the hardest is where you showed how she is presented just like the other objects for sale lined up along the counter. As the realization of the barmaid herself being for sale set in, it made me think her face looks like she’s in the midst of dissociation. Like models and actresses, these barmaids would have been targets for abuse.

My first thought when I saw it (this is my first time seeing it) was that the woman in the reflection is much older. She seems thicker in the waist with rounded shoulders, and that her hair has a grayer frizziness to it. She looks more matronly. Can it be that she is imagining her life into the future as still there, still having to “chat up” the men?

@zarineb6507

Жыл бұрын

I think what you surmise is right !

@freedomartwork6950

Жыл бұрын

That was my first impression...it is her future self, and she is feeling trapped in that future, but doesn't see a way out.

@robertaturk

Жыл бұрын

My impression is that she knows the man she loves is chatting up a new women in public near her - not hiding it. Her look is of grief. She is uncertain and worried. Is he betraying her? Has she lost him completely and he is moving on?

I love impressionist paintings. They have such a dream like feeling to them while still having enough feelings of realism to not be abstract.

@johnbauman4005

11 ай бұрын

As an extremely myopic child I was introduced to the impressionist artists about the same time I got my first pair of glasses. I soon realized the impressionists were realists painting the world I saw without the glasses. Have had a fondness for them ever since.

Wonderful commentary and very interesting information. It's very relatable. Anyone who has worked with the public has most likely had this look on their face at some point in time. Thanks for sharing.

Work is any activity you'd rather not be doing. The face of the barmaid conveys that effortlessly.

Terrific! I'll never be able to see Manet in the way I've always seen him again! This is the best art video I've seen. Thank you for making it.

Thanks for the knowledgeable guided tour of this painting, and pointing out some possible interpretations and associated details. I'm bemused by some earlier commenters insisting on their one "correct" interpretation -- certain that those of us exploring other possible "meanings" are just plain wrong!! My guess is that many artists would be gratified by viewers spending enough time, thought, and emotions to relate to the work, even in ways the artist never contemplated.

@baronesselsavonfreytag-lor1134

Жыл бұрын

Sometimes artists create things they don't fully understand because it comes from the subconscious. I can perceive things other artists create more accurately than my own work. I just do what feels right and figure it out much later.

@theotherohlourdespadua1131

Жыл бұрын

Even if an artist DID present the "one true interpretation" of their work, the Death of an Author is going to happen regardless...

Could the images of her and the gentleman, who are both shown together in the mirror, be nothing more than a visual representation of her own thoughts in that moment? Her facial expression might signify that she is daydreaming.

@petemavus2948

Жыл бұрын

I like your interpretation as she does look lost in thought and unnoticed even by herself. The man to the right sees her and I don't know if that's Manet acknowledging both her and himself as just two souls hoping to be appreciated while in a crowd of boisterous consumption.

To me she looks lost in thought, remembering and reliving a sad moment. I read her story as the man in the mirror is her first lover who she met in the bar and she thought he loved her. She is remembering when he told her he was going back to his home country not knowing she was with child.

That was beautiful 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 Ty for such a wonderful video.

I love this painting so much that I've had a copy of it on the wall for years. I get to see her every morning when the daylight shines on her.

The most succinct summary of this conundrum of a piece. Beautifully presented. Thank You. I hadn’t heard the solitude theory before but I never thought that the reflection showed a girl engaged anyway. I always saw her as looking past the male figure.

The background is not a mirror. She’s in the middle of a huge room, working inside of a round bar. That is not her reflection but another lady talking to a customer behind her.

@jennifercheyne3465

Жыл бұрын

I agree. Wouldn’t she need to be on stage in order to see the audience as a reflection, otherwise?

OMG I love this channel soooo much. You give such insight and depth to these paintings, and I really enjoy it. Also your voice is so captivating, you make the story so interesting.

Thank you for this fascinating analysis! I literally grew up with this painting, among a number of others from French and Spanish masters, hanging as miniatures on a wall of my father's library in our house in Manila in the Sixties. Of all the reproductions, this one fascinated me most as a child for the intense, spellbinding realism of the barmaid's distant expression.

Brilliant! Thank you expanding my knowledge of art. Brightest blessings!

Manet has this mystifying way of holding the wild, chaotic, disorienting nature within ordinary and, most times, rutine living. He adds business and movement in his techniques, but we accept them blindly and overlook to focus on interactions he alludes us to. It's his colour theory of muted, natural tones that drown out vibrant colours (like the shoes of the trapize artist). We flicker our eyes to notice it before reconnecting to the focal point Manet wants us drawn towards. It's so beautiful to feel that psycological interation with a painting. That to me is a true mirror. Reflecting our need to be apart of something, to be seen, to interact, to figure someone out. I love "The Railway" ( 1873) for the same reasons. I would love to see a video covering that if you haven't already! Really cool!

Excellent commentary…I’ve always loved his ability to capture the inner self, as well as isolation and his ability to portray exploitation while at the same time giving power to of self to the exploited. It’s no wonder it made the powers that be so uncomfortable.

Back when I was in art college studying Exhibition Design (1990-92) we had an Art History Lecture every Wednesday afternoon, from a rather Tom Baker-esque lecturer with the glorious name of Victor Peach. In his lecture about Manet, he told us that the artist was a misogynist, a fact that was clear from the way he "always painted women looking ugly and rather overweight, like pigs, instead of beautiful and slender like all the other artists of the time." We were just teenagers back then, and he only showed us a select few of Manet's paintings to 'prove his point,' so I guess we just took what he said at face value. It took a few years of proper life experience for me to figure out that, actually, it was Mr Peach who was the 'misogynist.'

@sharonkaczorowski8690

Жыл бұрын

Mr. Peach sounds like a rotten lemon!

@furiscafynn6275

Жыл бұрын

Those are some interesting leaps in logic he had...

@lizxu322

Жыл бұрын

HAHAHQHAHA interesting...agreed

@mygirldarby

Жыл бұрын

I've heard this before too--that Manet was a misogynist and this work is labeled as such at the London Courtlaud Gallery. It's because it promotes the "male gaze" meaning it compels the viewer to see the world and women through male eyes and with a male only interpretation. Gauguin also has been labeled misogynistic because he had intimate relations with very young girls in Taihiti and said they were his "wives." He also had that weird male gaze perspective in his paintings, especially in his paintings of his teen "brides."

@sharonkaczorowski8690

Жыл бұрын

@@mygirldarby interesting point…it’s difficult to me to,enjoy Gaugin’s pictures…he also infected them with venereal disease…which he knew he had..

I would like to commend you on your poetic observations. The last few sentences that you have uttered is so beautiful visually and audibly. Thank you for that.

She looks so sad, alone, distant and exhausted. I feel so bad for her.

Oh my goodness, I saw this original painting when I was young (maybe 12) and I couldn't stop looking at it. I tried to remember it but couldn't and didn't figure out what it was for another 12 or 13 years. Now I wasn't a deep child and I'm still not the best at interpretation, but the obviousness of her sadness and her want to be in the mirror spoke to me. Thanks for covering this one!

Your commentary is as beautiful and thoughtful as the painting itself.

My mother is a professional artist who taught art and painted the most wonderful portraits. I have many in my home. So I was raised with art, art studies etc. This has been one of my favorite paintings since I was about 12 years old. The reasons why have developed with my comprehension of the of the painting but always Iam caught by her eyes. Lost in thought, remarkable in their depth of insight, they are what encapsulates true art.

I have always loved this Manet, and now you have opened it up. Thank you.

As a streetphotographer, these insights have helped with my own work. Thank you.

I love your analyses. Very engaging and informative.

I just loooove your look on the painting and study of it. Thanks you so much for this study and all the cultural references.

Your interpretation is truly interesting, and I m glad to hear a woman's point of view about an enigmatic female character. I really love Manet, and I was fortunate enough to have seen a great exhibition of his paintings in Venice a few years ago ( This one wasn't present), but now I realize that I was there alone, nobody to share feelings and anecdotes. I wish I had been there with you!

You make the paintings come to life.l look forward to seeing more.Thank you

Amazing painting I could look at the brush work in the bottles on the bar for hours

@RideAcrossTheRiver

Жыл бұрын

Compare it to Jack Nicholson in _The Shining_

The mirror is what is really happening. What we see is the reality of how she feels. A nice twist of imagination that lets us into her true self. I love it.

I always enjoy your videos as I learn more about paintings, artists, and their inspirations or influences in doing their craft. Keep up the great work! I believe this painting can somehow emphasize a person's feelings of just going through a regular day of work or life, and we the viewers somehow relate to the subject matter, despite the environment being the title of the painting itself.

I love this painting, and the illusion created. It was creative, crafted so beautifully.

Thank you for presenting this series.

One possibility I've sometimes considered is that it's not a mirror behind her at all; the bar is "in the round," with an island behind her in the middle. The bottles on the island seem to mirror the ones on the counter she's leaning on, but that's just a coincidence. The red bottle in the foreground is shorter than the one behind, has a different cap, and the green bottle is in front of the red one in both foreground and background. But there's clearly a discontinuity between the marble counter behind her and the bar where we see people sitting in the further background. We're looking at the back of it, with bottles and accoutrements under that counter. This makes no sense to me at all if this is a reflection, but slightly more sense if it is further in the background and and the girl to the right is not a reflection of Suzanne, but another girl behind her with her back to us. The most likely explanation, however, is that this is an expressionist painting and the background and surroundings are only meant to provide context for the figure, and not meant to be realistic at all. I'm more intrigued by people's interpretation of her expression than by the expression itself. So many people project a negative expression, characterizing her as a victim, sad, bored, disinterested, etc. I see her expression as simply in repose, comfortable with her job, awaiting our drink order; or if it's a question of other "services," her expression suggests that she's decided that in this case at least that kind of transaction isn't on the menu.

@gnarbeljo8980

Жыл бұрын

It's a mirror. You'll see it if you sit down with the image and attempt to sketch it out with all the details. The bottles, the flowers, it's all reflected, but in a way that is slightly askew. It's also apparent when you look closely at the dark areas of the motif conpared to the reflection. He's added the foggy or shiny reflective surface in fron of the darkee areas as it would appear looking at a mirror. I saw someone else claim the bar was horseshoe shaped. It's not in this image. We are seeing the balcony of the bar/theatre as well. The bar wasn't in the center of the floor opposite the stage. With a balcony on each side. Those are central floor seats of the theatre. Seems people forget the Folie Bergères was a theatre, as does the commentator of this video. Many brought binoculars to the ballet, classical as well as light entertainment. To get a better look at the dancers, "zoom in" and also at the audiece, who was there and with whom. It's a marvelous painting! I don't really agree though with all overly dramatic readings of the girls expression i see alot of in the comments. I once lived the busy nightlife 5 days a week and I don't see this as "the face of trauma" at all but the same way I see expressions in many of his paintings. It's a private moment of reflection, she's lost for a moment in thought and not "wearing her face". People tend to look serious if you cathch them in those moments. They're also their most authentic then. Their humanity emerges when they aren't wearing the social conditioning we all have, of animation and communication, self awareness. It's a melancholy expression I really can resonate with lives in the world of entertainment and busy social scene. It's a world of contrasts, exhilaration and exhaustion, beauty and filth, frivolity and logistics, distraction and attention, shameless fun, sore feet and backs. It's a scene where grand shows are put on, but the real action and reaction, drama, business, and realting is in the audience, the visitors and that's what keeps them coming back. There's a form of melancholy here that's not as trite as "look at the sad poor protitute girl." And dignified bc we may think we know everything about her (or those contemporaries who gazed at her probably did) but her thoughts aren't for sale and we can't know. In this moment she's at work but isn't at our service. Hopes, aspirations, fleeting youth spend in smoky bars, there's an inner life we don't take notice of, but artists do.

A charming and poetic discourse on a most haunting image. Well done and very perceptive.

It is funny- when I was in high school I really preferred the formaliste atyle and found Manet's rebellion against bit silly/pathetic, since it was taking something good and making jt bad to rebel. But now, while I still don't love his choppy brush strokes, I think his art is GENIUS in general. The expressions of his subjects are incomparable.

This series is so interesting!! Thank you for making these videos, they're works of art themselves.

Interesting analysis of this Manet classic. Thanks for our post.

It's a simpler explanation: Manet created an eccentric solution that has little logic but nonetheless works as a whole. The man and the woman to the right make the rest of the painting work as a whole, so Manet left them there. It's a common solution to unruly compositions. Same with the table 'angle': it's not supposed to be such an angle but it worked for Manet so that's how he left it, perspective "logic" be damned. El Greco thrived in illogical eccentric compositions, with no logical perspective at all, with all figures, clouds, landscapes compacted to the front- yet are a totally successful artistic blast in the end result.

Beautiful work. Both you and Manet. Thank you

That was truly fascinating. Thank you for painting this picture anew for us. You are so talented at what you do. Also, I love your voice, it is exceptionally soothing to listen to. God bless you today and always.

I didn't even pick up on the fact that her black dress, gold bracelet and flowers mirror the black champagne bottle, the gold tin foil and the flowers in the little vase! Very perceptive!

Never studied art but your style of story telling on art has really struck me and one of my new favorite channels!

This channel is a gift. Thank you so very much for sharing 💯

Wonderful, insightful, clear commentary--thank you.

I always found art interesting,and an full analysis of famous and no-so-famous paintings has intrigued me... You earned yourself a subscriber!!👍🏾😃

Thank you for quoting Mauric Merleau-Ponty! My favourite philosopher, and so appropriate to understanding Manet's work

Love this! And your narration and discoveries. Tfs

I love your videos. I've just watched two and I hope there are many, many more. Good job!

A fantastic analysis of this masterpiece ! Loved your video ! Congrats !!

Oh I loved this! Thank you!

Love this analysis of art ~ refreshing and full of passion for the craft!

for me, i think the mirror image is the reality and us, the viewers, are given the peak into the mind of barmaid in the forefront. so like, the image in the painting is the reality and the reality in the painting is the barmaid's inner thoughts.

It's great to find a channel like this. The content really gets you thinking.

Have seen this painting in person - It is overpowering!

It’s so very interesting how art critics see such amazing details !! There seems to be so much to take into consideration when studying art. I really appreciate your unraveling of the mystery’s of these paintings.. 👍👌👍👌😊

loved your poetic impressions (at the end of the video)! beautiful words!

Thank you so much! This makes the painting even better for me.

Beautiful Masterpiece Masterful indeed my Friend

I know very, very little of art, but I think the biggest example of the language of art and the hidden meanings it portrays actually hides somewhere in the personality of the lady who explains it to us! Thank you, and congratulations, you certainly are a master of this in your own right!

Ugh I just love this channel! 💖💖✨✨

Please 🙏 keep doing this. I love your series and your videos. They are beautiful!!

@Art_Deco

Жыл бұрын

I surely will! I'm so glad you enjoy them :)

I just love your interpretations! So on point.

We studied this painting a few months ago. Your explanation really gives a whole new depth in this painting, our art teacher just gave us a brief explanation of the painting due to limited time but dang, its beautiful.

Epic! Thank you so much for your awesome insight.

You are so good at interpreting these great works of art.