Welcome back to the Reading Paintings podcast.

In this second episode from the Courtauld Gallery in Central London David and Harry look at Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882.

We invite you to look at the painting while listening. Please click on the artists name to go to an external webpage of the image.

Édouard Manet (1832–1883) was a pivotal French painter whose work bridged the gap between Realism and Impressionism, fundamentally reshaping the course of modern art. He painted scenes of contemporary life—cafés, music halls, city streets—using bold contrasts, flattened forms, and visible brushwork. Despite frequent rejection by the official Paris Salon, Manet became a central figure in avant-garde circles. He was friendly with Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and other emerging Impressionists, and while he influenced their approach to light and subject matter, he never fully adopted their outdoor, spontaneous techniques. Manet preferred studio work and sought recognition from official institutions, believing in reform rather than rejection of tradition. In his later years, declining health limited his mobility, yet he produced some of his most subtle and complex works, including A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882), a masterful exploration of modern urban experience and visual ambiguity. Manet died in Paris at the age of 51, but his fearless challenge to artistic conventions secured his legacy as one of the founders of modern painting.

Podcast content and founders: David Johnson and Harry Baxter

Producer: Ian Rattray

Audio production: Clear Voice Enterprises.org

Our thanks to the Courtauld Gallery and their staff for their co-opperation and access to the described art works.