You know the face. The one you wear at the end of a long day when someone is still talking to you and you're still nodding. Polite. Present. And somewhere else entirely.
In 1882, Édouard Manet painted that face on a young woman behind a bar.
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Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882. The Courtauld Gallery, London
The glittering room behind her
The Folies-Bergère was one of the most fashionable music halls in Paris. Behind the barmaid, in the great mirror, we see it all: chandeliers, a balcony full of top hats and gloves, even, if you look at the top left corner, the green-booted feet of a trapeze artist.
In front of her, the marble counter is laid like a still life: bottles of champagne and beer, a glass with two flowers, a bowl of glowing oranges.
She was a real person. Her name was Suzon, and she worked at the Folies-Bergère. Manet asked her to pose for him in his studio.
The mirror that doesn't add up
Look at her reflection on the right. It's pushed far to the side, and it leans towards a man in a top hat who seems to be standing right in front of her. But if he were there, we would see him in front of the bar. We don't. We see only her, upright, alone, looking straight past us.
Painters and scientists have argued about this mirror for more than a century. Some think it's a mistake; most think Manet did it on purpose. In the reflection, she's attentive, leaning in, working. In front of us, she's somewhere private. Two versions of the same woman, at the same moment.
It was the last major painting Manet finished. He was already ill, and died the following year.
A practice for your work face
- At the end of a working day, sit somewhere quiet for a moment before doing anything else.
- Notice your face from the inside. Your jaw, your eyebrows, the corners of your mouth. Is any part still "on"?
- Let each one soften, one at a time. Jaw. Forehead. Mouth. Eyes.
- Take three slow breaths, letting the out-breath be longer than the in-breath.
- Ask yourself, gently: where was I, while I was nodding? You don't need an answer.
Some tiredness isn't fixed by sleep. Here's more about a different kind of rest, and about looking at people like portraits.
A quieter room
"(letters) On Art" brings each issue of "(meditating) On Art", with stories like this one, and a letter every month with a practice you can do in a few minutes, at the end of any kind of day.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi