Description
Women gather in a crowded line near the butcher shop, with hats, shawls and umbrellas marking different positions within the group. Rails or barriers occupy the upper right, giving the waiting people a close architectural setting. Manet makes the ordinary need to obtain food visible through a public encounter in which individuals share the same constrained space.
The design dates to 1870–1871, while this etching on light blue laid paper was published by Alfred Strölin in 1905 and is the first of two states. The later publication is distinct from the time of the represented composition. Manet gives attention to an interval of waiting that can become visually substantial through the relationship of people and place. The print preserves that urban encounter in a graphic form, where everyday necessity supplies a subject without requiring a grand historical staging.
Read our guide to giclée prints, browse more Édouard Manet prints, or explore The Races (Les Courses).
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