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A Bar At The Folies-Bergere Essay

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A painting by Edouard Manet called “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere,” depicts a woman standing at a bar with a mirror behind her, which is conveying her environment, a busy, loud, bar that mostly pleasures men. The location of the painting is at the Folies-Bergere in Paris, a place for entertainment in the late 1800’s. The perspective of the viewer is from the man in the mirrors’ view, since the viewer is looking directly at her front, and not her back. The lady at the bar holds a bored, almost void of emotion, while her eyes are not reaching the viewers’ eyes. The objects in front of the mirrors’ reflections are slightly asymmetrical, which allows the viewer to see every object. An interpretation about the woman behind the bar is that she may be a prostitute and feeling melancholy even though her environment is upbeat and lively. It is shown through her facial expressions, clothing, and her environment being shown through a …show more content…

It is clearly shown that the mirror is hanging behind the woman because by her right wrist it shows the change from the red wall to the golden mirror frame. The setting is a theater as it's shown through the reflection of a lady’s bare legs with light green shoes on the top left-hand corner of the painting. The Folies Bergere was a Moorish influenced place that turned into a bar/theater where prostitution was suspected to be held (Manet 2). Also, by looking at the man's eyes it appears that he is looking down at her breasts, and that is why she looks distanced from the viewer. The overall interpretation of what Manet is saying is that the mirror doesn't always hold the truth because it seems as the mirror only shows the exterior of the person's image not what she or he is feeling. This is shown by the reflections of the objects in front of the bar is slightly

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