The Railway Manet Analysis

A Painting with Many Stories The Railway painted by Edouard Manet is a painting of many stories. This painting without knowing the actual story behind it makes the viewers make up a story. Some would say the painting lacks many details due to it being an oil painting and not an acrylic. Even if the painting may lack some details it still has many eye-catching features. These features draw the viewers in slowly by revealing different parts of the painting. The background is there to support the two figures and their story. The scenery of this railway is what gives this piece its name. The only problem with having the viewers coming up with the story behind the piece is it loses the Edouard Manet’s original story. Without the original story …show more content…
The viewers eyes are drawn to the woman first. She takes up most of the painting making eyes look to her. Since she is also facing forward with her face up it makes the viewer look at her even more. Compared to the little girl the woman in a sense has more of a focus point. The woman’s appearance takes up most of the painting. Her dress is one, but the others is her hair and hat. They aren’t small in any way. The dark blue of her dress contrasts with the child’s white dress with a light blue ribbon. With the child being another focus point all we as viewers can see is mainly her dress. Looking at her dress it is light in comparison to the woman’s dress. The child’s dress is white. White can symbolize different things and take different forms depending on what the artist, in this case, decides. Many times, the artist uses white to mean a pureness of a person or object. In this case the idea of the child being pure is represented by the color of her dress. A few more objects appear after staring at the painting. Slowly the viewers start to notice more of the scenery then proceeds to the book, puppy, and fan. This also helps people continue the story they created out of viewing the piece. After taking notice of the two people and then their belongings viewers start to look beyond them. The look to the black iron bars to the background where all of this takes …show more content…
They are intended for different purposes and to show different elements to their viewers. Edouard Manet created The Railway after his favorite model, Victorine Meurent, a fellow artist. This being apart of the true story it is still not the most known one. The viewers make up a story when they know nothing of the true one behind the piece. The stories are endless possibilities for the viewers. Their story is changing by each feature that begins to appear. The scenery being one continues to lead the viewers towards the right path, but in the choice of detail leads the viewers astray. In the end if Manet was expecting a certain story or emotion to be showed out of this piece, he leads his own viewers astray. The lack of details are good to be made up, but if the true story cannot be uncovered, then the details are needed to be