The Tuileries Garden, a cozy corner of nature in the heart of the French capital, has always occupied a special place in the life of Parisians. In the afternoon, married couples with children walked slowly in its territory, and in the evening the young people danced in a quadrille dance. They loved the garden and local representatives of art, they gathered here to lead a heated endless debate, or simply indulged in bliss.
The painting “Music in the Tuileries Garden” has a double historical value. It captures not only the famous resting place in Paris, but also contemporaries of Edouard Manet: artists Henri Fantin-Latour and Jean Frédéric Basile, poet Charles Baudelaire, composer Jacques Offenbach, critic, journalist and poet Theo fil Gautier and many others. And the characters are not chosen specifically – the painter just made sketches of some images and silhouettes in the open air. Bottom right in addition to the autograph Mane portrayed himself.
According to some art historians, this picture can be considered the first, written with elements of the technique of impressionism. The canvas depicts a scene from everyday life, filled with movement. Black and white colors prevail, smears are wide and dynamic. However, Manet himself did not consider himself an impressionist, and subsequently refused to participate in exhibitions of artists of this direction.
