Edouard Manet "In the Conservatory" 1879 Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin

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Édouard Manet ( 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern and postmodern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. In the Conservatory (French: Dans la serre) is an 1879 oil painting by Édouard Manet in the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. The setting is a conservatory at 70 Rue d'Amsterdam in Paris, then owned by painter Otto Rosen and which Manet used as a studio for nine months in 1878 and 1879. At first glance, we see a double portrait of a fashionable and attractive couple of some social rank. They are Manet's friends, the Guillemets, who owned a clothing shop. Their married status is conveyed by their rings, and the proximity of their hands is the nearest hint of intimacy. The woman becomes the focus of the portrait, however, being more prominently placed and colourfully dressed. Their physical separation—with the husband Jules slouching in dark clothing behind the bench—and their lack of engagement with the viewer create a sense of detachment, which has been the primary theme in modern criticism of the work.

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Size: 3712px × 2831px
Photo credit: © M.Flynn / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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