Better Know Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère

You've likely seen this glassy-eyed late 19th Century barmaid before, but what can we make of this painting today? Let's explore Edouard Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. You can go to wix.com/go/ArtAssignment to get started on your website!
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[@lawrencecalablaster568]

I never thought that one simple painting could make me feel so sad.

[@drivinsouth651]

Working at the Folies Bergere isn`t that bad; she was just annoyed with her customer.

[@orlandoreyes6855]

Simple?

[@loganscime436]

Every single time i watch one of these "better know" videos i think to myself "wow! that was so good, there's no way they could possibly create a video thats more insightful" and every time a new one comes out i'm proven wrong

[@TheJDSeibel]

hmm , to me it seems like the mirror is what she might be doing at the moment, but the frontal view is what she feels inside--depressed, detached, wishing to be anywhere else? Interesting ideas here.

[@theartassignment]

Oh, yes. I like this scenario.

[@girasola9863]

I just thought there wasnt a mirror and that was another girl if that makes sense

[@aidancary9830]

This is immediately how I interpreted it as well. It really makes me think of the experience of looking into the window on the subway train. In the reflection you see the hustle and bustle that is actually occurring, even though your subjective experience is isolated and slow.

[@ArtHistorywithAlder]

I like this interpretation...feels very relatable

[@kanekashton3972]

Sorry to be so offtopic but does anybody know a way to get back into an Instagram account?? I stupidly lost the account password. I love any assistance you can offer me

[@suparnamaiti.]

Her eyes says it all! She may be engaged in a conversation with a gentleman, as it is her job to entertain men, but her soul doesn't want to be here. It longs for a better life. She is depressed, stuck in an adverse situation.

[@tmills7374]

that’s how i look at it. i feel as though the conversation is actually going on but to herself she’s wishing she was anywhere else

[@wendilocklar6789]

The trending page is the salon...

[@scorpioninpink]

I work in the fast food industrybas a restaurant manager. Specifically McDonald's. So yeah, I recognize that look.

[@markokokus3153]

Al

[@Hailstormand]

The first time I came across this painting, I was a student. Tired of studying and socializing, I probably saw myself in her, those eyes of hers asking what I asked myself back then: What more do you want? What more?

[@mavicityrelayson2924]

The world always views you from an angle. Different angles. You're seen in context, interpreted in context, used for your context. Sometimes though, someone manages to see you point blank, someone is open enough to see you for who you are, for your thoughts, for your feelings, for how you see yourself.

[@christinamignosa9045]

I spent last summer living in London. I remember on the day of the London bridge attack sitting alone in front of this painting for hours feeling a connection with the woman's feeling of insignificance among the craze of city life. Thanks for a reminder of that special moment I had with this piece. A very emotional day for sure.

[@AmorSciendi]

I love this painting. It made my five favorite works of art when I immitated your format. I like, in particular, the way each object has its own perspective in a crowded room. Feeling alone in a crowd is certainly something that continues to be relevant

[@berni1602]

I was thinking about you. I remember when you uploaded this video and I couldn't stop thinking in your analysis. Is there a chance you could colaborate with this channel. It'd be awesome if both could share your work.

[@AmorSciendi]

@@berni1602 I would love to collaborate with Sarah, obviously, but I'm so much smaller that it would be charity. Here's my video that analyses the geometric perspective in this painting kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWrCZ2aGhpyNrsk

[@berni1602]

Oh, don't underestimate yourself; I think you were one of the "founders" of this kind of analysis on KZbin, you make very good videos and surely there's people that want to make and see you grow (including me). Anyway, if you continue on your own I'll follow you as I've done by 4 years or so.

[@AmorSciendi]

@@berni1602 I'm flattered. I'll try to reach out to sarah. Thank you for supporting my channels growth for that long. I'm particular proud of my next video (coming out on the 15th). It's my longest yet and definitely inspired by the art assignments style

[@berni1602]

Yeah, you should, it'd be nice and awesome to see you both working together. Ok, I'll be tuned to watch it, good luck and see you then!

[@fuliajulia]

so, basically, a bar at the folies-bergere is a millennial mood? damn.

[@theartassignment]

For me it is!

[@gailcbull]

Which is exactly why generational stereotypes are nonsense. The themes of our art and literature have stayed the same for several centuries because ultimately, the core issues people face (and people, themselves) don't really change.

[@emmadoesartonline]

@@gailcbull THANK YOU!! more people should think like you

[@kidmohair8151]

I had always assumed that the 'reflection' was the activity happening on the other side of the bar, and was only a little curious why it is a little too out of focus

[@Noah-kl8wn]

Every time you upload a new video I start binge watching my favorite videos from your channel for hours... I love your channel so much! And so does my art teacher after I recommended it to her 🙃😍

[@lightbox617]

Just a note on George Simmel. He was a teacher and philosopher. His life work was trying to formulate a :philosophy of history." He never got there. He did write a short piece called "on adventure" in which he tried to explain what an adventure was and how you would know you were having one. basically, his answer was "you'll know it when you get there."

[@vaibhav6826]

The painting i was thinking about only last week. Thanks a lot for the video

[@courtneywarren3698]

This is by far the best "Better Know" video I've seen. Absolutely thought-provoking and wonderful.

[@gimmeadollr]

Wow, more of these please! I thought I knew about this painting, now I realize there's so much more in it and behind it!

[@MrRookitty]

I always feel refreshed after watching a new art assignment video!

[@heloisehenry4377]

C'est mon tableau préféré !

[@bluehathermit]

Edoard is one of my biggest inspirations so this was really a treat, thank you for the great content

[@luzvinosorio400]

This is beautiful.... Just beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing this art..!!

[@ReneeEatsSouffle]

I've loved this painting since I first learned about it in an art history class at my local community college. Thank you for making this video and all others I continue to be amazed and think harder about life as a result of your videos.

[@danielrice459]

I have been thinking of the Folies-Bergere painting a lot recently. I really need this video today. Thank you.

[@sakuradeva555]

Please do more of these!

[@Domdrok]

I love these videos because I'm not very arty but these help me get my bearings on this topic.

[@ManicKandii]

I’m so happy I found this channel! I’m taking art and fashion history at the moment and it’s super helpful for me to have a deeper understanding of these paintings. I’ve found that I later think of the paintings in a new perspective, which gets me excited about art even more!! 😃 thank you 💝

[@fennecfoxfanatic]

I was just thinking of this painting the other day. I think we are supposed to be the man in the reflection.

[@croissant420]

This is so good. Freshly presented ideas

[@freebeerishere]

this is a wonderful analysis!

[@sarahaimwithmoore]

Awesome video

[@lorettabertoli3736]

why haven't I discovered this channel before? I'm an art junkie and I keep on watching videos, it's already the third. I've actually seen this picture at the Courtauld Gallery in London and love it, even if I agree the look on the model is actually a bit sad... thank you so much and keep on making great videos please! greetings from Italy

[@dkecskes2199]

At first look, I did not think that the woman at the center of the painting was the same woman in the reflection. I didn't register a mirror as being present at all, were it not for that low dark red wall with the wooden trim, as the things on the counter in front of her are not reflected the same as on the "mirror" behind her. Instead I mostly saw a galley bar in a large room, with two bartender women who happen to be in the same pose and the same style of dress. But if we are positing that she is remembering an event in her past, that is understandable. You may notice that the woman in the center of the painting has red hair, but the reflection looks like more of a blonde. There are some people who have genetically changing hair color, wherein they are born with blonde hair and it darkens to brown or black in their elderly years, no dye required. My maternal grandmother (who was of French decent, but U.S. American all her life) was one of them, and I may have inherited the trait myself. It's too early to tell for certain as I am in my mid thirties, but I had light blonde hair at birth, but now have brownish red as in the figure at the center of the painting. If Suzanne/Suzon (his model you mentioned at 0:40) had that same trait, the "reflection" could have happened 10-15 years in her past. If Manet was going after an explanation to those blank expressions, this would be an excellent way of describing them as memories of the multitudes we all contain. This does seem a little far-fetched, but it's a theory I'm open to providing photographic proof from my past and present if you would like. I'm finding some help for this from the following article, which I cannot fully read as it's in French, but Google Translate is helpful with that. www.lesmardisdelart.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/manet-8-un-bar-aux-folies-berg%C3%A8res-resum%C3%A9.pdf

[@mythnow]

What a lovely series. Please do one for every major piece of art history, please. So hard to find quick intelligent, accessible explanations of artworks.

[@kelvinkelly6404]

fricking love this channel.

[@Moongal96]

Came here after the latest vlogbrothers video, and i am obsessed. this is so beautiful and elegant and thought-provoking. Thank you, sarah and PBS!

[@jessicabellingham8142]

Gosh I love Manet. And this channel! Thanks for such lovely videos.

[@RainbowSprnklz]

awesommmmmme

[@Nic33rd]

Thanks, as always, AA. John Berger would be proud.

[@LuckyLifeguard]

LOVE

[@armalvior]

BRAVO!! Well explained analysis...

[@easilydistracted5192]

And in time for the Courteauld exhibition at the National. I was there and spent like an hour in that corner, with the Tuileries, the Dejeuner and the Bar. It was fantastic. I recently wrote a paper on Manet's portrait of Monet, a brilliant painting. The ripples that Monet's boat creates are where the water is most brilliantly painted, as though the ripples of impressionism emanate from him as he paints.

[@DonovanPresents]

Before this video, I never really liked paintings, but this video opened my mind about paintings in general. I really enjoy Chez La Pére Lathuille after seeing it for the first time. It feels like something I would try to capture in my art as well. I love the compositional framing of the piece.

[@DonovanPresents]

6:14

[@MrOkhamii]

Very interesting, thanks for your work :)

[@numeroseis]

Yes Manet! Impressionism!!

[@carolinefern1634]

omg that is my favorite video on this channel

[@hunbunn4308]

Its a mood. Part time service work mood.

[@natashanarushev3450]

The mirtror is reflecting the memory of a shift she worked.

[@amazingessence2368]

Loneliness in the crowd.. getting lost between people and pleasure.. Manet's melancholy feeling the breath of death in his neck, drawing him away from life. Thx for posting.. well, I would have preferred having a moment to contemplate on the painting and less other pictures floating my eye😉

[@maxhamman]

good one

[@bluebunny2154]

This video really made me want to spend more time in front of paintings. There are so many things I wouldn't have noticed whithout your video...

[@justinbanks2380]

Odd... I didn't see it as a mirror and reflection, but two women, one facing us and the back of another talking to a man. Even after you point out ot is supposed to be a reflection, I still just see two women and a man. Odd.

[@vaibhav6826]

Justin Banks always seen it asa reflection as everybody else but now that you've pointed it out i think maybe maybe it's the case

[@lunacouer]

Same. I kept looking at the green bottom of the mirror, the bottles and fruit mirrored, and I can't see it as a reflection. I see two women and the man. I can see why this was, and still is, jarring to people.

[@TheJDSeibel]

I just posted my initial thought, but I can also see it this way too: this woman facing us, and behind her is another half of the bar, with another woman dressed similarly talking to a man.

[@vaibhav6826]

TheJDSeibel and yeah dressed similarly because Uniforms!

[@m.aburas5833]

I do not think so because if you look carefully you will notice that the bottom of the woman in the back is cut by the mirror’s frame.

[@Saul17r]

well said

[@tyreestorey538]

Her eyes follow where the reflection of the man is staring. I feel this is no accident, as the video points out. There's a distinct stylistic choice to make his gaze not line up with the reality. To me, she's searching for what he and all the characters in the scene see, but in doing so finds herself as part of the background, lost amongst the decorations of a burgeoning new world. She is archetypal of the loss that we all feel among the business of a world propelled forward by innovation. The man may as well be a phone screen, as like us, she is searching for the reflection of connection, not the direct truth of it. It is also worth noting that this direction may be interpreted as her looking for herself, which makes the sombre detachment of her gaze so touching and also a very human reality that we have all felt.

[@nelsonx5326]

I wish I was around then. It seems like an exciting time to be alive, and a very exciting time to be an artist.

[@ArtHistorywithAlder]

I agree!

[@brisvegas859]

love the impressionists movement

[@calwow02]

It seems the majority of you have never worked for your livelihood as a service industry worker. The reference to prostitution is not foreign to those of us who ply our personality for tips. We are who you want us to be while you are dining/drinking with us and paying. Perhaps the bar is the barrier between what is psychically for sale versus what emotionally is. I have personally found it difficult to express how emotionally exhausting bartending can be from the decade I have worked in the industry.

[@Skukkix23]

I'd really like to see how you do this videos. How you get all the little pieces of information together and then form it into a bigger thing.

[@AfroSamurai1089]

Skukkix23 Dare I say, it's an art.

[@schizoidboy]

With everything being said about this painting looking at the barmaid she could be someone from our time dealing with the world around her, but just taking in that moment in time.

[@QuantumWalnut]

The conclusion of the video seems to be that: "This woman's expression is extremely meme-able."

[@supremereader7614]

You guys did a lot better job than Smarthistory on this painting. I especially like how you showed all the other paintings, and brought it into a larger context.

[@drewwriterextraordinaire2456]

Hey, I love your channel. Awesome. In this bar scene..has it ever been speculated that..it is not a mirror at all. It is a horseshoe shaped bar..with an island table in the center...and there are TWO..servers. Thoughts ? Peace and love to you all.

[@angelicar5525]

I wrote a 4 page paper on this painting, and read through many academic papers to understand its meaning. I came to the conclusion that Manet just liked fooling around with the traditional way of painting. A true rebel.

[@graphite2786]

Wonderful analysis, wonderful Manet ! I have my own interpretation, the reflection being a moment in time before the full face portrait of Suzanne. The reflection being an interaction, the portrait being the aftermath. Possibly 2 scenarios? #1 Manet " Dear Suzanne, I know my credit has been stretched past its limit... just this once, please, push it a little more? (The reaction) Suzanne " Oh.. Edouard...." #2 Manet " Suzanne, lean near. Dear Suzanne, it appears I have Cupid's Disease." (The reaction) Suzanne " oh.... Edouard."

[@stanleycoleman]

fascinating painting and analysis.

[@cmbdragon666]

me when I connect an art piece to my depression over the state of the world, reblog if u agree

[@tarupido100]

this is so sad can we reach 5k likes?

[@worrywirt]

WHO CAN RELATE?? WHOOO

[@cmbdragon666]

empty sky me loser

[@PatrickAllenNL]

Who still says *reblog*

[@cmbdragon666]

who still gets fussy over jokes

[@mylesjordan9970]

When a great artist creates a work knowing it may be their last, it’s usually something to pay attention to. Manet’s message is critical of his smug, hypocritical society, in effect saying: “This is what we have become. Where is her liberté, her égalité?” A painting for the ages! Plus ça change . . .

[@Luboman411]

At 7:11. This Parisian social observer was talking about the new French personage on Parisian streets--the flaneur (or sometimes boulevardier). A flaneur was a man about town, always gallivanting, always chatting to his friends or lovers, always at the most de rigeur cafe or cabaret, dressed with the finest clothes, walking with the finest cane, a hat askew. This man was never, EVER at home. He wanted to be seen by the masses, to have an audience, to be talked about in the latest gossip. He set the social standards for the Belle Epoque. He was the first "influencer" of the modern world. Hence why he sounds so familiar, LOL.

[@farshidshateri2833]

you made me know what art is. see you in heaven

[@isabellabosco7260]

Manet wasn’t an impressionist.. he was the precursor and inspiration to the impressionist but he never considered himself an impressionist..

[@antenazbiorcza3560]

A little bow...in front of you...to express the respect and admiration for your understanding and knowledge

[@MrPhilEU]

Well done, very interesting and thoughtful. (décolleté not décolletage, that's a metalworking technique)

[@jaronbalderes7109]

Will you please do a feature like this on "Las Meninas"? Love the channel, btw!

[@alexandravalerious3274]

Just found out this painting won't be on display when i'm in london or when i'm in paris since it's going on loan to paris but not til after i leave :(

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

I noticed bottles of Bass Ale.

[@desertdocker]

It is what it is.

[@marcella8576]

the analysis of viewing the world and ourselves as commodities juxtaposed with the in-video sponsorship really threw me for a loop

[@marcella8576]

I guess we all gotta pay the rent

[@theartassignment]

We noticed the strangeness, too ;)

[@piktip]

I love this video, especially the script. The pace/editing is too fast for me, like you want to squeeze in too many words and pictures in a short duration of time (fortunately I could just pause and replay). Nevertheless it's a great and insightful video. The writer needs to get more credit here. Thank you! :)

[@paulalandhart1914]

I think she is the writer, tho

[@leslieroycroft3569]

I found this on the Psychologist World website- “The thing to look out for is the direction someone's eyes are looking in when they're thinking. Looking to their left indicates that they're reminiscing or trying to remember something. On the other hand, looking to their right indicates more creative thoughts, and this is often interpreted as a potential sign that someone may be being deceitful in some situations, i.e. creating a version of events.” It really appears she is lost in a sad daydream. I think she is imagining someone she either cannot have or has lost and cannot be with anymore. It appears that she is looking down to the right. In which case maybe she is in love with a man for whom she is forbidden to be with. If it is being presented in this video in reverse, maybe she is looking down to the left and remembering a time with someone from her past.

[@user-uw2st5qy4k]

Can’t help think of the irony of the final sombre statement going straight into an ad read for website building... good video tho

[@2209009pm]

In my opinion, Manet was attempting to represent the view as if from his own eyes, thus you don’t see him in front of the girl, but you can see him in the mirror. This is how I interpret it.

[@dream_synopsis]

Is this your best video yet or what

[@ElliKim73]

I never noticed that this could be a mirror, I always thought it was just people standing next/behind her 😅

[@DanBlabbers]

Hahahaha excellet burn on the vlogger culture

[@TheOctoberOwl]

My middle school art teacher had a print of this hanging right above his chalkboard

[@helenatafuri1277]

Please do Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son. Love your work.

[@theartassignment]

But @nerdwriter1 did it so well!: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWKYXp-soq6lmck

[@ricomichel]

Omg I think Manet invented street photography, 50 years before Cartier-Bresson!

[@ExcludedLayman]

This parallels a passing thought I had earlier today about mirrors: Other than photography, they're the only way to see yourself as if you were another person. Had your first encounter been in such a crowded place, you would (eventually) notice a duplicate of everyone and everything, with the notable exception of a mysterious stranger. In light of this and the semiotic suggestion of commodification described in the video, I read the reflection as physical reality, bustling and social, and the direct 'gaze' as the woman's emotional reality, wistful and alone. The synthesis of those two parts immediately turns against me: I can see she's distraught, but don't recognize my role in it until I literally see my awkward form reflected back to me. Am I to blame, or just useless? My back is to the room, separating me from the festivities and the only connection to another person has failed. I... I'd like two tangerines and a cognac, please.

[@paulalandhart1914]

Brilliant!

[@SirDominic]

But not just any beer - British Beer! :P and you can still buy it today

[@theartassignment]

French painters loved to paint Bass ale. Don't know why, but they did.

[@SirDominic]

I shall have to keep an eye out for other paintings. We studied this painting in my History degree as part of contextualising that weeks lecture on French Modernity. I grew up in Pubs and my parents learnt their trade working for Bass Charrington's so it was very bizarre and exciting to see such an iconic brand sitting right at the front of a fantastic painting by such a famous artist. I think the concept of having international beer would have been a huge novelty at that time. Beer production for the most part was still a highly localised industry so having a beer from another country must have been quite special.

[@joseffinat966]

Deze tafereel kan ook heel goed in een schouwburg zijn in de pauze of na afloop van de voorstelling maar zoiets noemde men geen bar maar buffet

[@zechariahm.s8576]

Phew thank god there is no one commenting," who is here in November 2020?" *exhales*

[@TryinaD]

It feels like the kind of stare you get when you order something at McDonald’s

[@margaridabento9726]

This woman has the ubiquitous look of someone being subjected to unwanted advances in a situation from which they can't extricate themselves

[@eveostay]

i realized at the end that I was indeed making the same face as the barmaid

[@tarupido100]

I find myself frequently asking, has history stopped?, I am really unsure of what to answer, if it's rather really history repeating itself on a cycle over and over again or if we're just, kinda stuck... maybe

[@vornamenachname2727]

We just didn't change as much as you expect I would guess. I vaguely remember some dude from the past saying that fictional books make people dumb and will be the end of society(not so drastically but you get the point). In psychology, for example, we can group people together and see phenomenon across different people. It's just the same with society. Humans didn't change. Just the circumstances changed. Last example, a bunch of accusations on Immigrants are very similar in whatever time period.

[@theartassignment]

An interesting question to be stuck on. But even though I can make connections to the world of late 19th Century Paris, I don't see the present as repeating the past. In a strange way, I derive some comfort in what consistency we can find between our time and times past. Not that everything is the same, but that there are aspects to our humanity that connect us regardless of technology, markets, etc.

[@tarupido100]

It honestly wildly amazes me how far the similarities can go, how many lines can be drawn between times and eras, but, I guess that having a rational explanation for a behavior is not quite what I'd call a regress, now that I rethink about it

[@MiguelLopez-el2gp]

Omg

[@borismarinov]

Its simple: the painting is drawn from the viewpoint of the man.

[@waffe_frisbee9454]

quuandale devious painting manet 🤠👺🙉💣👌👉

[@july8503]

3:18

[@emmahiggins]

I’ve seen it interpreted that it’s just a circular counter and the person behind her is just someone completely different

[@ArtHistorywithAlder]

I've heard this too. Interesting idea

[@kidmohair8151]

how does one say brazen? nitpicking