A Bar at the Folies-Bergère
Maker
(artists)
1832-1883
1832-1883
Title
A Bar at the Folies-Bergère
Date of Production
1882
Dimensions
Height: 96 cm (canvas)
Width: 130 cm (canvas)
Width: 130 cm (canvas)
Accession Number
P.1934.SC.234
Mode of Acquisition
Samuel Courtauld, gift, 1934
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Location
On display
Keywords
trapezes
Label Text
The Folies-Bergère was Paris’s first music hall. A magazine described its atmosphere of ‘unmixed joy’ where everyone spoke ‘the language of pleasure’. It was notorious for the access it gave to prostitutes. The barmaids, according to the poet Maupassant, were ‘vendors of drink and of love’.
This picture was Manet’s last major work, exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1882. Manet knew the Folies-Bergère well. He made preparatory sketches on site, but the final painting was executed in his studio. He set up a bar and employed one of the barmaids, Suzon, to pose behind it.
Manet’s picture is unsettling. An acrobat’s feet, clad in green boots, dangle in the air. The quickly sketched crowds convey the bustle of the Folies-Bergères. In contrast, the barmaid is detached and marooned behind her bar, with her reflection displaced to the right. She stares at the viewer, but the mirror shows her facing a customer.
This picture was Manet’s last major work, exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1882. Manet knew the Folies-Bergère well. He made preparatory sketches on site, but the final painting was executed in his studio. He set up a bar and employed one of the barmaids, Suzon, to pose behind it.
Manet’s picture is unsettling. An acrobat’s feet, clad in green boots, dangle in the air. The quickly sketched crowds convey the bustle of the Folies-Bergères. In contrast, the barmaid is detached and marooned behind her bar, with her reflection displaced to the right. She stares at the viewer, but the mirror shows her facing a customer.
Provenance
Inventory prepared after Manet’s death 1883, no 9; Manet Studio Sale, Drouot, Paris, 4-5 February 1884 (lot 7), bought Chabrier; Emmanuel Chabrier; Chabrier Sale, Drouot, Paris, 26 March 1896 (lot 8); Paul Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1897; Auguste Pellerin, Paris; Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, and Paul Cassirer, Berlin; Eduard Arnhold, Berlin; Baron Ferenc Hatvany, Budapest, by 1919; Justin K Thannauser, Munich; Eric Goeritz, Berlin; Thannhauser Gallery, Lucerne; through The Independent Gallery, London; purchased by Samuel Courtauld, March 1926; Courtauld Gift, 1934.
Exhibition History
Masterpieces of Impressionism from The Courtauld Gallery, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 10/09/2019-15/12/2019; Aichi Prefectural Museum, Nagoya, Japan, 03/01/2020-15/03/2020; Kobe City Museum, Kobe, Japan, 28/03/2020-21/06/2020
The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019
Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cezanne, National Gallery, London, 17/09/2018-20/01/2019 ...More
Part of general displays, Los Angeles & California & USA, 05/06/2007-09/09/2007
Manet - Face to Face, Neuepinakothek, Munich, Germany, 20/01/2005-10/04/2005
Manet - Face to Face, The Courtauld Gallery & Somerset House & London & England, 14/10/2004-09/01/2005
Manet at the Prado, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 13/10/2003-08/02/2004
Into the 20th century - New Displays at the Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 10/10/2002
The Courtauld Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 14/06/1998-21/09/1998
The Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, 26/12/1997-12/05/1998
Manet - Centenary Exhibition, New York & USA, 10/09/1983-27/11/1983
Manet - Centenary Exhibition, Grand Palais & Paris & France, 22/04/1983-01/08/1983
Manet and his circle, Tate Gallery, London, 1954 ...Less
The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019
Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cezanne, National Gallery, London, 17/09/2018-20/01/2019 ...More
Part of general displays, Los Angeles & California & USA, 05/06/2007-09/09/2007
Manet - Face to Face, Neuepinakothek, Munich, Germany, 20/01/2005-10/04/2005
Manet - Face to Face, The Courtauld Gallery & Somerset House & London & England, 14/10/2004-09/01/2005
Manet at the Prado, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, 13/10/2003-08/02/2004
Into the 20th century - New Displays at the Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 10/10/2002
The Courtauld Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 14/06/1998-21/09/1998
The Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, 26/12/1997-12/05/1998
Manet - Centenary Exhibition, New York & USA, 10/09/1983-27/11/1983
Manet - Centenary Exhibition, Grand Palais & Paris & France, 22/04/1983-01/08/1983
Manet and his circle, Tate Gallery, London, 1954 ...Less
Literature
The Courtauld Collection: Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1998
Manet and his circle, Tate Gallery, London, 1954
cat. no. 16
Manet and his circle, Tate Gallery, London, 1954
cat. no. 16
Inscriptions
Inscription: Manet / 1882
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