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Édouard Manet has a well-versed collection of art that has truly stood the test of time. In his era, Manet definitely pushed the boundaries of what society deem appropriate and “real art,” but most commonly now, he is known as the father of modern art. In this essay I will be discussing Manet’s “Woman with a Tub.” First I will give a brief synopsis and history of the painting, then I will analyze the work in depth, and lastly I will overview it’s cultural context and give some insight to how it relates to art and media today.
Manet created “Woman with a Tub” around 1878-1879 by using pastel on canvas. A woman is standing over a tub in black knee high stockings. It’s hard to tell exactly what she is doing, but by assumption, she looks like she’s about to bathe. Described by Koons Collection, “Behind her, crowned with cologne bottles and a chamber pot, stands a toilette table—.” This leads to believe that this is just a visual depiction of a woman in her bathroom. This style of painting he did was very simplistic. There aren’t many harsh lines and there are not many bold colors. Manet’s style in the 1870’s was much different than anything he had done before. “Instead of relying on linear, retrospective derived and decorative elegance for main effects of his images, Manet selected personages from his immediate experience and rendered them in the most abbreviated manner possible.” What makes this painting so beautiful is its simplicity.
Now that a brief overview has been given of “Woman with a Tub, I will analyze it’s physicality in depth. The painting itself isn’t very big; while I could not find it’s exact measurements, you could very well easily pick up the painting and hold it comfortably within both of your hands. As previously stated, this was painted in Pastel on canvas. At first glance, the color that stands out most is black. The woman in the painting is wearing knee high black stockings, and the tub she is bent over is black with hints of blue—these colors are pretty bold. There is a bottle of what looks like perfume in the background, speckles of red, yellow, and blue on what looks like a cabinet of some sort (these colors are streaky and light), and a yellow sponge in the tub (which is very bold in color). When it comes to the woman in the painting, she is painting bending over, the outline of her body is painted in black and browns, and her skin is a pale peach color. He breasts are tucked between her head and torso as she bends over, and they are painted in an outline of gray. Her face has no distinct features—just an outline of the profile of her face and eyebrows; all painted in a very light brown. It is important to note that she is also naked and not nude. According to Koons Collections information plaque (photo obtained from The Getty Center, Los Angeles), “Here a model, all the more naked for having retained her stockings, bends over a tub of water.” The model having stockings makes her look like a real woman and not a venus which could be described as a muse or a goddess. Also, even though she is not looking directly at us (but downward at the tub, the stockings hint to her being real, for a venus would be draped in cloth and look very idealistic. Looking at this photo, I feel calm and comfortable. It’s very similar to what most people do when drawing a bath to get into. I was instantly drawn to this photo for that reason; the simplicity is stunning. “…We have kind of a catalogue of the important moments in a woman’s toilette, in wish a woman fashions herself and produces her femininity—either implicitly or explicitly under the gaze of a man or not.” What Manet is trying to convey is just the simplicity of a woman bathing and her showcasing her femininity. The woman’s body doesn’t have to be this risqué, taboo thing. It is beautiful and worth admiring.
With this analysis of Woman with a Tub, it is easier to tie it into the context of how it links to art and media today. Back then, drawing naked women would have been very risqué and harshly critiqued because it made people uncomfortable. Manet broke those barriers with his art and forced people to recognize femme bodies in all their glory. In art and media today, seeing a naked woman is not taboo—it is not something we turns our heads away at in contempt. If anything, sexuality has become a huge part of what is in demand and what people see on a daily basis. Of course, some will still think that sexuality in art and media is too risqué, but honoring human bodies in a healthy way is a beautiful thing. It has led to movements of body positivity, women’s rights, and women’s equality. Manet helped set the tone for women to be free in their skin, just by showing a woman simply bathing.
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