Dejeuner a la Carte
18" x 22"
1986
Collection of Bernard Chaise
She has such a great poker face, it's surprising she's doing so poorly. It is the same air of imperturbable frankness with which she first stared down shocked Parisians from Manet's scandelous masterpiece, Luncheon on the Grass. This painting seems so flagrantly sexist that I hasten to quote again the art historian John Paoletti, who ascribed to me a more lofty motive: "Connor is concerned with how women have been represented in art history." It's hardly a secret that women have been treated badly as artists and as models. Manet, I think, should get credit for recognizing and revealing, in her confrontational gaze, the intelligent self-awareness of his favorite model.
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