The Opening I
48" x 60"
1990
Artist's Collection
Copying one famous painting may be helpful study, but boring. If you marry two, things happen. A new composition, a new story. That's what I do, in a series called Masters in Pieces. The last great work by the 19th century French painter, Edouard Manet, The Bar at the Folies-Bergère, shows the barmaid, Suzon, behind a counter in front of a large mirror, which places her at an odd angle talking with a customer who does not appear in front. She looked to me as if she were serving at an art opening, so I rescued her from this confusion, transporting her to a Manet retrospective, featuring his first masterpiece, Luncheon on the Grass, which once shocked the Parisian public and made Manet famous. |
