Ellie, age 18
2023
Oil paint on paper
24 x 28.5 cm
This visualisation reimagines Manet’s famous painting from 1882 titled A Bar at the Folies-Bergère as it might appear in today’s society, incorporating the music hall’s modern architecture.
Manet’s original painting is unusual in that it portrays so prominently a woman working behind a bar, which was uncommon in art at that time. The woman looks directly at the artist, apparently prepared to attend to the needs of the bar’s patrons.
In my interpretation, I have deliberately portrayed the woman adopting a more dismissive attitude and having her interest diverted towards the lure of her mobile phone, rather than attending to the duties for which she is employed.