Woman Reading1880–82
Édouard Manet was a pivotal figure in the development of Impressionism and modern art. More about this work
About this work
Édouard Manet was a pivotal figure in the development of Impressionism and modern art. Here, an elegantly dressed Parisian woman reads a magazine, a beer close at hand—a scene that would have struck contemporary viewers as fashionable and modern. While the woman appears to be outdoors, one of Manet’s paintings serves as a backdrop and other props suggest the scene was staged in Manet’s studio.
Text from the Art Institute of Chicago.
What you’re looking at
A young woman in a dark hat and coat with light ruffled collar sits reading a large periodical held up in her gloved hands. Flowers and foliage are suggested behind her.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Édouard Manet
French, 1832–1883 · Born and died in Paris.
Manet came from a prosperous Parisian family, trained under Thomas Couture and studied the old masters, Velázquez above all. In the 1860s he provoked critics with Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe and Olympia, modern subjects painted in flat, frank colour with little modelling. Though he never showed with the Impressionists, younger painters looked to him as a leader, and in his last years he painted Parisian café life and A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1933.435
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
Report this work
More by Édouard Manet
All their works
