Description of the picture:
Breakfast in the workshop – Eduard Manet. 1868. Oil on canvas. 118×153 cm
The end of the 1860s was very productive for Eduard Manet, and one of the main features of this creative step was the synthesis of several genres in one piece. The painting “Breakfast in the Studio” is a descent and a portrait, and a domestic scene, and still life.
Nowadays, the unusualness of the compositional solution is not immediately apparent, although for the contemporaries of the painter, his innovation was indisputable: Manet “cropped” the figures of the heroes, making his picture look like a photographic shot, which was snatched out at breakfast in the workshop.
On the frontal plane is the offspring of Leon. Although he is closest to the viewer, his gaze is fixed somewhere in the distance. A pensive young man stands with his back to his parents and the table.
The artist focused on the color scheme of the painting on a harmonious combination of black, dark green, brown and gray colors. Yellow is important here – with bright color spots Mane organizes the space of the picture and brings “liveliness” to the canvas, where dark color prevails.
Looking at this picture, one can only admire how skillfully the painter knows how to convey dynamics in a static plot. It seems that another second, and all the heroes of the work will go about their business – Manet will finish the drink in the cup in the cylinder, his wife will finish wiping the jug and putting it on the table, and Leon will lower his eyes, finally getting out of thought."