A Bar At The Folies Bergere Analysis

In this essay, I will be analyzing and contrasting two works. Judith Leyster, The Proposition. And Edouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies Bergere. In the first section of this essay I will discussing the works individually and reference analysis by starting with my own initial interpretation of the piece and follow with referencing Art Historians analysis of the works. In the next section of the essay I will be contrasting the two works and look at how they compare in the subject matter and symbolism that references prostitution in both of the images. I will also be discussing influences in the image that the artist may have had. Finally, in the conclusion of this essay I will conclude how both works subtlety reference prostitution and other …show more content…
And is an incredible piece that is not as clear at first glance. As most of Manet’s paintings are open to interpretation there are a lot of interpretations written about his work especially this one. Manet puts the viewer in the scene at a bar with a woman staring at the viewer, with what appears at first to have the event going on in the background. And when you look at the bottom of the image you can see a slight bit of a frame of a mirror and you realize that there it is a reflection behind the women, which when you look to the right of the image you can see the backside of the women. However, she is in a slightly different pose to suggest that there are different times of the story being told. This has also been suggested as the women at the bar having multiple personalities or roles, going to the suggestion that bar maids at a time were at times also prostitutes. When you look at the reflection and see the bar maid and the man you can see the man could possibly be propositioning the bar maid to re enforce the idea that she is a prostitute. In her pose, you see expressionless but when you look at her reflection she seems engaged in conversation, I believe this reinforces the point made in Janson’s History of Art (pg. 878) that it is a separate identity in the reflection of the women which also strengthens the idea of prostitution. When you look at the women’s expression on her face she seems irritated and restless. It has been said that her expressionless face represents alienation4. You could get a sense that the man in the reflection speaking to her might be hitting on her and it is not the first time this has occurred in the night. With the dress, you can see that this is a higher-class event. This image is from the realist movement. It captures a real moment that is not glamorous and exciting it is of a woman