Study of the barmaid for Le Bar des Folies Bergères

Painted in 1881 and now at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon, this study of the barmaid for A Bar at the Folies-Bergère is a preparatory work for Manet's last masterpiece, exhibited at the Salon of 1882. The Courtauld Gallery version is the finished painting; this Dijon study shows him working out the figure's pose and expression — the same slightly melancholy, absent gaze that makes the final painting so psychologically complex. Studies like this document Manet's working method, which despite the appearance of spontaneity involved sustained preparation.

As a preparatory study, this work has a more searching, less resolved quality than the finished painting. The figure's pose and facial expression are worked through more tentatively, with adjustments visible in the contours. The paint surface is more openly worked than the polished final version. The colour notes — the corsage, the lace collar, the dark jacket — are already present as key compositional elements.