MANET, Edouard
(b. 1832, Paris, d. 1883, Paris)

The Bath

1878
Pastel on cardboard, 54 x 45 cm
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

This painting shows Méry Laurent, the painter's lover. It displays all the characteristics of Manet's mature art: his spontaneity, freshness and generosity combined with rigorous composition, in which lines and curves stand out against a still-life of mirror, dressing table, flower-printed cretonne and wallpaper.