{"id":1997,"date":"2022-02-14T00:46:41","date_gmt":"2022-02-13T22:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/?p=1997"},"modified":"2023-05-27T23:06:14","modified_gmt":"2023-05-27T20:06:14","slug":"elementor-1997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/home\/2022\/02\/14\/elementor-1997\/","title":{"rendered":"Manet and the Mirror &#8211; A Bar at the Folies-Berg\u00e8re  (P25)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Manet\u2019s last masterpiece \u2013 <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">A Bar at the Folies-Berg\u00e8re<\/em> (1882) \u2013 is valued by many as \u201cone of the canonical images of modern art history\u201d (Armstrong). Over a hundred years later in&nbsp;\u201c12 Views on Manet\u2019s Bar\u201d (Collins 1996), art historians from a broad range of approaches (Marxist, psycho-analytic, structuralist, post-structuralist, feminist, and \u201cstandard practitioners&#8221;) were invited to discuss their different views choosing an especially suited&nbsp; example for such a comparison &#8211; Manet&#8217;s masterpiece.<\/p>\n<p>Figure 1: Edouard Manet&nbsp; &nbsp; <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">A Bar at the Folies-Berg\u00e8re<\/em> (1882)<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2376 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Bar-Folies-org-3-300x223.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"665\" height=\"494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Bar-Folies-org-3-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Bar-Folies-org-3-200x150.jpg 200w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Bar-Folies-org-3.jpg 747w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 665px) 100vw, 665px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The literature on this painting is endless and still growing. Therefore, I will limit my references in this post to essays in this collection, with one exception as explained below. The collection has become a standard source itself and it is so rich of insights into Manet\u2019s work that I will not try to discuss the contributions fairly and not all of them \u2013 I will just ruthlessly explore and exploit them for <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">MyManet<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>My question is: What do we see in the <em>Bar<\/em> if we look at it with the eyes of <em>MyManet<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>My view is especially unfair, since it will largely exclude a major focus of the \u201c12 Views\u201d, namely, the demonstration of the way that different theoretical and ideological backgrounds can make substantial contributions to art history.<br \/>\nCentral positions of a \u201cNew Art History\u201d are: a Marxist social history exemplified by an influential book on Manet by T.J. Clark (<em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">The Painting of Modern Life<\/em> 1984) and critically reassessed (Driskel, Gronberg, Herbert, House); psycho-analytic theory based on Freud and Lacan (Carrier, Collins, Levine); and feminist analyses (Armstrong, Pollock); they are confronted with positions of more \u201cstandard practitioners\u201d (Collins) in art history (Shiff, Boime, Champa, Flam) .<\/p>\n<p><em>MyManet<\/em>&nbsp;can profit from all positions in some respects \u2013 and will disagree with each of them in others. Which is not really surprising, since this applies to all the other contributions, too.<\/p>\n<p>In the following, I want to take a closer look at two issues:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the context of the painting in the discussion<\/li>\n<li>Manet\u2019s realism and the role of the mirror<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Based on these reflections, I will suggest an alternative view inspired by Manet\u2019s scheme.<br \/>\nThe scheme will not apply in a straightforward way,<br \/>\nbut provide a new twist to the other \u201c12 Views\u201d.<br \/>\nThis alternative I will presented in the following post.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>The context<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Most essays follow the invitation of the editor and limit their contribution to this particular painting, its socio-historical context, Manet&#8217;s work and life in Paris at the time, and selected other paintings relevant for the specific perspective they want to add to the discussion.<br \/>\nA special issue is the role of the mirror addressed by all authors and taken up below.<br \/>\nAnother issue evolves around the question who the barmaid \u2013 the model Suzon \u2013 is or is representing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is she a typical lower class working woman determined by her class situation?<\/li>\n<li>Is she a casual prostitute not only offering drinks but also her body?<\/li>\n<li>Is she symbolizing, in her somewhat constraint frontal posture, religious representations of Virgin Mary?<\/li>\n<li>Or is she presenting the duality of female identity at the time between the \u201cvirtuous\u201d (bourgeois) woman and the \u201cfallen\u201d whore?<\/li>\n<li>In what way does Manet\u2019s biography as an upper-middle class male or his problematic family background (Is his son actually the son of his father?) influence the content of the painting?<\/li>\n<li>What role is his disease and nearing death playing?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These analyses \u2013 largely responding to the influential work by the art historian T.J. Clark \u2013 deliberate on legitimate and interesting questions.<br \/>\nBut, they tend to neglect two aspects which are important in view of <em>MyManet<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><em>First<\/em>, socio-historical considerations of class situation and gender issues of the time describe important conditions of Manet, his work and his models. Consequently, \u201cthe barmaid\u2019s unexplained refusal or inability to respond positively to the male spectator\u2019s intense gaze\u201d is readily interpreted as reflecting class domination, female suppression, or Manet\u2019s \u201cpessimistic convictions on relations between the sexes\u201d (Collins p. 129).<br \/>\nBut this perspective tends to underrepresent the emerging individual self in modernizing society and the new liberties gained or taken not only in bohemian subcultures.<br \/>\nFor instance, Boime (60) sees the barmaid more in context of the Parisian life enjoyed by the \u201cflaneur\u201d Manet. The barmaid becomes a \u201cfemale equivalent of the flaneur\u201d and her moment of private withdrawal from the scene \u2013 as expressed in her absent gaze \u2013 becomes an expression of a \u201cresidue of subjectivity\u201d distancing herself from her public performance as barmaid.<br \/>\nThus, there is a gap between the societal conditions and the individual situation, and we should be careful in drawing conclusions about the effects of the former on the reactions of the latter \u2013 and about Manet\u2019s intentions to depict social criticism in his final work.<\/p>\n<p>Figure 2: Paintings by Edouard Manet related to the <i>Bar<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-2783\" src=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paintings-Bar-related-279x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"583\" height=\"627\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paintings-Bar-related-279x300.jpg 279w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paintings-Bar-related-952x1024.jpg 952w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paintings-Bar-related-768x826.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paintings-Bar-related-1200x1291.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paintings-Bar-related-900x968.jpg 900w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paintings-Bar-related-1280x1377.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Paintings-Bar-related.jpg 1325w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 583px) 100vw, 583px\" \/><br \/>\n<\/i><em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">Second<\/em>, there are not only other contexts for the interpretation of the role of the barmaid as characterizing Parisian life; there are also questions about her depicted role as describing more generally the role of women in Manet\u2019s art.<\/p>\n<p>Pollock (306) points out that the painting does not just show Parisian life at the time but keeps the viewer aware of the studio situation and, thus, of Manet\u2019s relation to his models \u2013 typically friends and family &#8211; and not only to the particular subject, like the barmaid Suzon modelling herself.<\/p>\n<p>The expression of the face should be seen in context of the whole painting, and interpretations placed in the context of his actual relations to females. As Pollock observes, the painting could not have been painted by a \u201cbourgeois woman\u201d (290); thus, a male bias is clearly present in the painting. But such a bourgeois woman is featuring in <em>The Balcony<\/em> (see Figure 2) \u201cjust looking\u201d at the viewer, while Manet\u2019s whole attention (and admiration) seems to be focused on the other woman (Berthe Morisot) \u201clooking to the \u2018<em><strong>space off\u2019<\/strong> <\/em>signif[ying] the inscription of female desire for \u2018the more\u2019 for which feminism stands\u201d (294; emphasis added). Pollock makes no reference to <em>The Balcony<\/em>, but she suggests that the woman with the opera glass on the balcony in the background of the <em>Bar<\/em> is a reference to a painting by Mary Cassat \u2013 another independent woman, painter, and friend of Manet. Pollock (among other feminist art historians) describes Manet as very sympathetic to the cause of female vote in politics and their independence in art.<\/p>\n<p>In this perspective, it is telling that most authors dwell on the issue of prostitution or on the symbolic dualism: the barmaid\u2019s posture is resembling religious depictions of Virgin Mary while her mirror image appears to suggest an erotic interest in the customer looking down on her.<br \/>\nNow, Manet shows some fascination with women of the \u201cdemi-monde\u201d \u2013 think of <em>Olympia<\/em> (Figure 2). But he also depicts them &#8211; as well as other women of different social background &#8211; with respect if not admiration. See, for instance, <em>The Waitress<\/em> (1879) in Figure 3, &nbsp;and in&nbsp;<em>The Balcony<\/em>&nbsp;(1868)&nbsp;his painter colleague and model Berthe Morisot, a respectable woman of upper-middle class and (later) wife of his brother (Figure 2). Perhaps his most famous portrait of a beautiful young woman \u2013 <em>Spring: Jeanne<\/em> (1881) in Figure 3 \u2013 was exhibited next to the <em>Bar<\/em> in the Salon of 1882. The fact that she also was an actress with \u201cloose\u201d moral standards adds nothing to the interpretation of the painting.<br \/>\nIt is at least not obvious what the possible background of casual prostitution of the barmaid Suzon adds to the understanding of Manet\u2019s intentions in painting the <em>Bar<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Figure 3:&nbsp; &nbsp; <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">The Waitress<\/em> (1879) and&nbsp; <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">Spring: Jeanne<\/em> (1881)<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2784 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Waitress-and-Spring-300x195.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"548\" height=\"356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Waitress-and-Spring-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Waitress-and-Spring-1024x664.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Waitress-and-Spring-768x498.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Waitress-and-Spring-1536x996.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Waitress-and-Spring-1200x778.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Waitress-and-Spring-900x584.jpg 900w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Waitress-and-Spring-1280x830.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Waitress-and-Spring.jpg 1540w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 548px) 100vw, 548px\" \/><br \/>\nThe point is: Taking the painting &#8211; considered as a&nbsp; final \u201ctestament\u201d of his art &#8211; out of the wider context of Manet\u2019s work and placing it in a narrower context like Parisian (male) amusement is bound to misrepresent the complexity of the painting.<br \/>\nAs Flam (184) states, the painting is first of all a \u201cpoetic image\u201d, although Manet choses the setting of a bar at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Champa, I think, finds an adequate formulation for this aspect when calling the painting Manet\u2019s \u201cprivate art history\u201d (106). This final masterpiece tries to look back on about 20 years of work in which Manet\u2019s strives to position himself in the tradition of painting while questioning established norms. There are numerous citations in the <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">Bar<\/em> of earlier works \u2013 <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">Christ with Angels, Olympia, The Balcony, Breakfast, At the Cafe,<\/em> to name a few \u2013 but the \u201c12 views\u201d do not exploit these references by placing the painting into a more systematic \u201cprivate art history\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Considering the aim of the editor to show-case different approaches in their interpretation of the same masterpiece, this limitation might make sense.<\/p>\n<p>In view of <em>MyManet<\/em>, however, it also demonstrates that there is no convincing interpretation of a masterpiece which does not interpret it in the context of relevant other works by the master.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Manet\u2019s realism and the mirror<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>All interpreters \u2013 including myself \u2013 are fascinated by the puzzle of the image in the mirror.<\/p>\n<p>Everybody agrees that the mirror is not correctly presenting the reality of the scene at the bar. But how the distortions are to be explained gives rise to very different interpretations.<\/p>\n<p>The most obvious \u201cmistakes\u201d are that the image of the back of the barmaid in the mirror to the right would \u2013 in reality \u2013 be hidden behind the barmaid and that the gentleman looking into the eyes of the barmaid in the mirror would also be hidden. He would actually stand before the barmaid at the counter in the position of the viewer.<\/p>\n<p>Less obvious but disturbing when trying to \u201cread\u201d the spatial relations is that the reflection of the counter with its marvellous still life seems to be floating in mid-air. At the left side, there is no floor and no balustrade indicating the space in front of the bar where the viewer would stand. We are looking into an &#8220;abyss&#8221; (Flam), and the items on the counter are not correctly reflected in the mirror. We have a clear view to the opposite side of the hall with a balcony full of visitors, some of them looking to the left to the action on stage, others looking back at the barmaid or at the viewer\u2019s back.<br \/>\nManet is playing games with us, again.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cmistakes\u201d are certainly intended raising the question of their meaning.<\/p>\n<p>One issue concerns Manet\u2019s realism. As Champa (108) puts it:<br \/>\n\u201cLike all of Manet\u2019s best works the <em>Bar<\/em> looks right before it looks wrong, and the letter sensation never completely subverts the former.\u201d<br \/>\nManet is not showing a convincing illusion, but he is not presenting the reality of the scene either. According to Flam (168) the \u201cspatial contradiction \u2026 calls into question the very notion of realism.\u201d But this is not new, we have seen this violation of naturalistic representation, especially of the laws of perspective, already in the <em>Luncheon on the Grass<\/em>.<br \/>\nAs to the adequacy of depiction, Manet\u2019s realism &#8211; in view of <em>MyManet<\/em> &#8211; is better understood as \u201creasoned imagery\u201d following a practice of engravings and lithographs in science (see Post 10 and 11). Here, realistic depictions of, say, a flower may show the flower and the fruits or different stages of growth in the same picture. Realism is not (only and always) what you <em>see<\/em> but what <em>exists<\/em>. And Manet\u2019s realism aims at representation in a social space constituted by the gazes within the painting and with the viewers outside; it is a realism of <em>relations<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Flam (169) describes it as going beyond \u201csurface realism\u201d or \u2013 citing Baudelaire \u2013 \u201cnot only of seeing, but seeing of meanings\u201d. This realism allows Manet, according to Flam,&nbsp; to introduce the mirror image as depiction of an \u201cinterior monologue\u201d (171) or of something the barmaid is daydreaming.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, the gentleman in the mirror does <em>not<\/em> exist in front of the barmaid and his <em>absence<\/em> (being seen only in a dream) rather than his impossible <em>presence<\/em> (reflected in violation of optical laws) poses the starting point for interpretations.<\/p>\n<p>Both Collins and Flam emphasize, moreover, that Manet\u2019s first sketch of the scene is more naturalistic (see Figure 4), and that the changes Manet made in the process lead to a more formal or poetic composition and an iconic symbolism reminding of Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n<p>Figure 4:&nbsp; &nbsp;<em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">A Bar at the Folies-Berg\u00e8re<\/em> (sketch) (1881)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-2380 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Bar-Study-Version-3-300x256.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"513\" height=\"438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Bar-Study-Version-3-300x256.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Bar-Study-Version-3.jpg 652w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 513px) 100vw, 513px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Driskel (146) points out that the final version of the&nbsp;<i>Bar <\/i>reminds of <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">Dead Christ with Angels<\/em> (1864) in its religious symbolism while <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">Christ Mocked by Soldiers<\/em> (1865) rather resembles the sketch showing the illustration of an historical event transposed into contemporary reality (albeit in Manet\u2019s studio \u2013 Post &nbsp;14 and 15).<br \/>\nThus, already early in his realism Manet moved intentionally between a more natural and a more symbolic \u201creasoned\u201d imagery.<br \/>\nAnd he does it without falling into the trap of the (false) alternative of abstract formalism versus relativistic subjectivity which Richard Shiff seems to assume in his introduction. In his words: the alternative between sincerity following rational, verbalized aesthetic principles, or morality, sensibility and inner psychological states (8). Manet\u2019s way out \u2013 according to Shiff \u2013 is cultivating a style of \u201dtechnical abbreviations\u201d or a personal \u201cvisual rhetoric\u201d (9).<\/p>\n<p>In view of <em>MyManet<\/em>, this is not capturing Manet\u2019s realism.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Quoting from Post 11:<br \/>\nL\u00fcthy describes Manet as taking the \u201cposition of an impossible Third\u201d: The position of a \u201crealistic formalism\u201d. He combines reflective imagination with a creative practice which is not \u201crepresentation\u201d of reality but an experiment. \u201cIn this experiment questions of form and content, artificiality and realism merge into one another\u201d<br \/>\n(2003, p.116).<\/p>\n<p>This experimental approach is beautifully demonstrated in a more recent analysis by Thierry de Duve (1999). Not included among the \u201c12 Views\u201d, his contribution is the exception mentioned above.<\/p>\n<p>Duve shows convincingly that the \u201c12 Views\u201d and earlier attempts to resolve the spatial inconsistencies in the painting by the juxtaposition of different positions of the <em>viewer<\/em> are inadequate. Supporting his argument with diagrams, he rather suggests that the <em>customer<\/em> is imagined in two different positions as he moves to the counter. First, he is seen only in the mirror \u2013 like in Manet\u2019s earlier sketch (Figure 4) &#8211; coming from the right outside the perspective of the viewer. Then, in the studio, <em>Manet turns the mirror at about a 20 degree angle forward on the right side. <\/em>Now, the customer moves into the position of the viewer in front of the painting while his mirror image and the mirrored barmaid become visible to the viewer as in the final version.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, Manet is juxtaposing two moments in <em>time<\/em> by manipulating the <em>spatial<\/em> arrangement of the mirror.<\/p>\n<p>In view of <em>MyManet<\/em>, the beauty of this interpretation is not so much the solution of the spatial puzzle. That Manet did play games with the laws of perspective, we know from the analysis of <em>Luncheon of the Grass<\/em> already. The attractiveness is more in imagining Manet as an <em>active, realistic experimenter in his studio<\/em> rather than, say, as an inventor of dream worlds of the barmaid floating in a mirror!<\/p>\n<p>This is not to say that interpretations starting from the surreal character of the mirror image and proceeding to socio-historic and\/or psychoanalytic scenarios are wrong or illegitimate. Manet was probably well aware that he encouraged such interpretations. But on a first layer of interpretation, we can start with \u201cspatial games\u201d within the painting and with the position of the viewer.<\/p>\n<p>Or as Champa puts it: We need not assume the role of \u201csocially sensitive\u201d scholars who interpret Manet in ways that \u201cmake of what he doesn\u2019t do the implied true meaning of what he does\u201d (105).<\/p>\n<p>Or even better: In view of <em>MyManet<\/em>, we can be \u201csocially sensitive\u201d interpreters but remain on a level of interpretation of <em>social space<\/em> without resorting to deeper psychological or sociological \u201cstories\u201d.<br \/>\nHow?<br \/>\nObviously, by applying Manet\u2019s scheme successfully to <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">A Bar at the Folies-Berg\u00e8re<\/em>! This we will show in the next post.<\/p>\n<p>But why introduce the mirror in such a prominent role if it only creates ambiguities for a realistic reading?<\/p>\n<p>The mirror has a long tradition in the history of painting and serves different functions:<\/p>\n<p>The mirror shows what cannot be seen from the viewer\u2019s perspective or from the perspective of a figure in the painting. It shows what some \u201c<em>other<\/em>\u201d person can see from inside or outside of the painting. This includes the <em>face of the person looking into the mirror<\/em> which can only be seen (frontally) in the mirror by the person looking.<br \/>\nIn a sense, a painting &#8211; or the person looking out of the painting &#8211; functions in the role of a mirror.<br \/>\nWe develop the image of ourselves looking&nbsp;<em>into the &#8220;mirror&#8221; provided by the faces of other persons, <\/em>or: by<em> Seeing Being Seen&nbsp; <\/em>(Post 24).<br \/>\nIn this function, it plays also an important role in the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan. Especially Collins (131) provides some valuable insight into the role of Lacan\u2019s \u201cother\u201d in the interpretation of the <em>Bar <\/em>(and by implication for Manet\u2019s scheme).<\/p>\n<p>But Manet supports and, at the same time, subverts such interpretations. The barmaid is not functioning as a \u201cmirror\u201d \u2013 Seeing Being Seen \u2013 for the viewer; her gaze is somewhat diverted.<br \/>\nThe mirror behind her shows the customer in the position of the viewer, so who is mirrored?<\/p>\n<p>A problem with mirrors is that they do <em>not<\/em> show reality but a reflection.<\/p>\n<p>As we have seen in Post 12, this poses already problems in the case of a self-portrait.<br \/>\nA mirror parallel to the picture plane and <em>not<\/em> <em>showing the painter and\/or the viewer<\/em>, obviously violates physical reality.<br \/>\nIn Figure 5, we see an example by Manet\u2019s colleague and friend Gustave Caillebotte, <em>At the Caf\u00e9<\/em> (1880). Caillebotte is also a realist of sorts, although he joined the impressionists, and he supports a realist interpretation by showing the reflection of the gentleman in the caf\u00e9 pretty much where the viewer would expect seeing it in the mirror \u2013 covering the image of the viewer. The viewer tends to place himself or herself slightly to the left. And Caillebotte supports this shift by letting the gentleman looking to the right passed the viewer. He is <em>not<\/em> catching the gaze of the viewer as a \u201cmirror\u201d or as an engaging subject! Manet\u2019s barmaid makes the viewer wonder if she is \u201cseeing being seen\u201d &#8211; if not hoping that she redirects her attention sympathetically like in the mirror image.<\/p>\n<p>Figure 5:&nbsp; &nbsp;Mirror images by Manet and Caillebotte<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-2787\" src=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Manet-Caillebotte-mirror-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"578\" height=\"385\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Manet-Caillebotte-mirror-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Manet-Caillebotte-mirror-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Manet-Caillebotte-mirror-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Manet-Caillebotte-mirror-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Manet-Caillebotte-mirror-1200x801.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Manet-Caillebotte-mirror-900x601.jpg 900w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Manet-Caillebotte-mirror-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Manet-Caillebotte-mirror.jpg 1663w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 578px) 100vw, 578px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">Bar<\/em>, it is telling that Manet introduces <em style=\"font-size: 18px; color: var(--e-global-color-accent); letter-spacing: 0;\">ambiguities on both sides<\/em> of the mirror plane. The items reflected in the mirror do not correspond to those in front. Even more puzzling:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the barmaid appears in the pose of Virgin Mary (Driskel) or <em>Dead<\/em> <em>Christ with Angels <\/em>avoiding the viewer\u2019s or customer\u2019s gaze <i>but <\/i>is depicted with a tight seductive waist and low neckline;<\/li>\n<li>her mirror image seems to be more receptive to the sexual wishes of the costumer <i>but <\/i>her fuller waist and somehow sympathetic appearance is reminding rather of Manet\u2019s Dutch wife Suzanne. Flam (166) also points out that the barmaid has her hair strictly pulled back like bound in a ponytail while her mirror image has more girly loose strains.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But, when Manet is not confronting a layer of reality \u2013 the barmaid and the still life in front of us \u2013 with a layer of \u201cdeep\u201d or \u201cabsent\u201d meaning of phenomena in the mirror, what else is he doing?<br \/>\nBesides having the viewer search the painting for some cues as to where his or her own position could be and looking into the abyss in the left side of the mirror?<br \/>\nWhat is the \u201cmessage\u201d of the couple in the mirror if not reflecting some reality in front of the painting?<\/p>\n<p>Advancing an own \u201ctwist\u201d to the interpretation of spatial inconsistencies, I suggest taking a fresh look applying Manet\u2019s scheme.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Seeing you in about two weeks!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/em><\/strong><em>(PS: Still recovering from Covid\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The role of the barmaid and the mirror in &#8220;A Bar at the Folies-Berg\u00e8re&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199326225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[225364],"tags":[25453,93275,748385196],"class_list":["post-1997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-manet","tag-bar","tag-mirror-image","tag-role-of-barmaid"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Manet and the Mirror - A Bar at the Folies-Berg\u00e8re (P25) - My Manet \u2013 Your Manet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/home\/2022\/02\/14\/elementor-1997\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Manet and the Mirror - A Bar at the Folies-Berg\u00e8re (P25) - My Manet \u2013 Your Manet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The role of the barmaid and the mirror in &quot;A Bar at the Folies-Berg\u00e8re&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/home\/2022\/02\/14\/elementor-1997\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"My Manet \u2013 Your Manet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-13T22:46:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-27T20:06:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mymanet.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Bar-Folies-org-3-300x223.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Pieper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Pieper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"16 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mymanet.net\\\/home\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/14\\\/elementor-1997\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mymanet.net\\\/home\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/14\\\/elementor-1997\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Richard Pieper\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mymanet.net\\\/home\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0f9ff362eb142198d3c07b0d4f333d16\"},\"headline\":\"Manet and the Mirror &#8211; 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