Tip: Edouard Manet

The railway, 1873 (Oil)

Are they distant or close to one another? A lesson in observation and pictorial space.

One of my favorite artists was Edouard Manet (1832-1883 Realism, Impressionism). Primarily, his compositions left you guessing the relationships of these people in his paintings. His subjects appeared close to each other or gave the appearance of interacting or were they distant to one another? Anyone's guess. He had a way of implying a closeness, however you could pick up signs of being distant. Were his subjects actually strangers to one another? In this Railway painting, it appears to be mother and daughter. But why is the woman pretending to read a book while looking away and not noticing the girl? The girl is standing close to her with her back to the woman looking through black bars into the railway yard. Were they related? Manet kept you guessing the true meaning of his compositions. Were they strangers, loners, friends or companions?

A bar at the Folies-Bergere, 1882 (Oil)

Is the barmaid talking to anyone? It appears to be a mirror she's standing in front of with an image of her talking to someone. Or is she? Connie Hayden