Picture For Women Analysis

A mirror shows nothing more and nothing less than the person or the scene reflected in it. A mirror cannot create nor destroy the images people see; mirrors are merely instruments for, what is most often, vanity. However in art, mirrors are used to exhibit much more than just a reflection: as is the case in both Un bar aux Folies Bergère by Éduoard Manet and Picture for Women by Jeff Wall . The mirrors used in both of these works of art mediate the scenes and the characters within them, revealing much more than just a reflection. The mirror takes a seemingly simple image and creates a much more dynamic situation within the work of art; ultimately changing the viewing experience for the audience by altering the way the observers identify with …show more content…
In Un bar aux Folies Bergère the barmaid is placed in the center of the painting: she is the center of attention. Nevertheless, in the reflection of the mirror, the painting illustrates the fact that she should be talking with a customer. This begs the question as to where the costumer should be to make the image and the barmaid’s reflection actually possible and also, what is the status of the viewer. What the onlooker must realize is that he or she is a third party, one that is possibly immersed in the scene itself. The barmaid is really facing her costumer who is slightly off to the left, not the audience. The observer, instead, acts almost as a customer, someone who purely happened across the interaction between the barmaid and the man. It could be said that the viewer is not a part of the painting at all. However the mirror, even when painted, mediates all those who are reflected in it, which in this case includes the observer. In contrast, the Jeff Wall’s Picture for Women uses the audience in the image. In the photograph, the woman is looking at the photograph and Jeff Wall is watching her, but the viewer actually gets the chance to see the camera, which is pointed directly at the he or she. The difference between the Wall image and the Manet painting is that in the photograph the mirror is not visible. This means that the observer becomes the mirror itself. It is possible to say that the image does not require the mirror, because the presence of the camera, in addition to the blurred lights in the scene implies the use of a mirror. However, the lack of the mirror in the actual photograph, therefore, consumes the viewers in the photograph and the photographic process. The mirror in both of these images displaces the identification of the viewer. The Manet painting joins the observer with the painting by making them a patron at the bar.