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Edouard Manet (artist) French, 1832 - 1883 Masked Ball at the Opera, 1873 oil on canvas Overall: 59.1 x 72.5 cm (23 1/4 x 28 9/16 in.) framed: 80 x 94 cm (31 1/2 x 37 in.) Gift of Mrs. Horace Havemeyer in memory of her mother-in-law, Louisine W. Havemeyer 1982.75.1 |
Manet came from a well-to-do family, and this painting offers a glimpse of the sophisticated Parisian world he loved. He was uncomfortable in the countryside, preferring instead the dress finery of the city. These elegant men and coquettish young women are attending a masked ball held each year during Lent. “Imagine,” ran a description in the newspaper Figaro, “the opera house packed to the rafters, the boxes furnished out with all the pretty showgirls of Paris.” There is little doubt about the openly sexual nature of the encounters depicted here between masked young women, scantily clad members of the Parisian demimonde, and well-dressed young men.
Manet sketched the scene on-site, but painted it over a period of months in his studio. He posed several of his friends—noted writers, artists, and musicians—and even included himself in the crowded scene. He is probably the bearded blond man at right who looks out toward the viewer. At his feet, a fallen dance card bears the painter’s signature.
At the edges of the horizontal painting—a format Manet used often—figures end abruptly. At top a leg dangles over a railing. In contrast to the self-contained compositions of academic art, we are instantly aware that we see only a part of life and that it extends beyond the picture frame.