
A Bar at the Folies-Bergere
1882 · Courtauld Gallery, London
Manet worked from a real barmaid named Suzon and put her reflection in the wrong place, which people have been arguing about ever since.
★ 9.1

Manet worked from a real barmaid named Suzon and put her reflection in the wrong place, which people have been arguing about ever since.

Two people sit shoulder to shoulder at a cafe table staring at nothing, pushed off to one side behind a run of empty tables.

One cup of coffee, one glove still on, and a window behind her that reflects nothing but two rows of ceiling lights.

He reads the paper, she touches one key of the piano, and we are watching from the street through their window.