A Bar at the Folies-Bergère

Step up to the bar and meet one of the most quietly puzzling faces in art history. Painted by Edouard Manet in 1882, this scene shows a barmaid at the Folies-Bergère, a famous and lively entertainment hall in Paris. She stands surrounded by bottles of champagne and beer, a bowl of oranges, and a vase of flowers, all rendered with the loose, visible brushwork that marked Manet as a key figure in the move toward Impressionism. This was the last major work he completed before his death, and you can feel a certain stillness in her expression that sets her apart from the bustling crowd reflected behind her.

Here is the trick that has kept people talking for over a century. Look at the large mirror behind the barmaid. Her reflection appears to the right, but it is positioned all wrong, showing her leaning toward a top-hatted gentleman who should be standing right in front of us. The angles simply do not add up, and Manet knew exactly what he was doing. Some say he wanted to capture the disorienting energy of nightlife, others believe he was hinting at the loneliness of a worker who serves pleasure to others while feeling apart from it. Whatever the reason, the painting invites you to keep looking, trying to make sense of a reflection that refuses to behave.