A Bar at the Folies-Bergere 1882

Take a moment to look closely at this magnificent oil painting, Edouard Manet’s ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’ (1882). What are your favourite details? Personally, I love the tiny pair of legs that are dangling into the frame from the top left edge of the canvas. We can just make out her mint green shoes as they skilfully balance on a trapeze. The Folies-Bergère was one of the premier musical halls in Paris. The venue opened its doors in 1869, and hosted an array of shows and concerts for its fashionable audience. It was especially popular with avant-garde artists and writers; the French painter Édouard Manet (1832-1883) often visited. Manet was a modernist painter, known as a key figure in the move towards Impressionism. 🖼️ Looking at this tumultuous scene, you can almost hear the lively carnival music. How has the artist created this tone of energy and dynamism? Here, Manet has skilfully crafted the composition to include a mirror as the background for the scene. In the huge mirror, we see crowds of people chatting and drinking. We can also see the face of a man in the right side of the mirror, standing at the bar. He wears a luxurious top hat and sports an impressive moustache. We can also see the reflection of the barmaid’s back as she serves the gentleman. Perhaps we are seeing the barmaid from the point of view of this man? This composition is complex and experimental. It’s a brilliantly engrossing painting that raises a multitude of questions. Who is this woman? What could she be thinking? ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’ formed Manet’s last major work, capturing the bustling spirit of Parisian nightlife. The artist died just one year later, in 1883.