Woman Fastening Her Garter

Painted in 1878, Woman Fastening Her Garter belongs to Manet's mature period, when he turned increasingly to intimate scenes of modern Parisian women at their toilette. By the late 1870s Manet had moved away from the grand Salon controversies of Olympia and Déjeuner sur l'herbe toward smaller, more lyrical works influenced by his growing friendship with Berthe Morisot and the broader Impressionist circle. This type of subject — a woman caught in an unguarded moment of dressing — reflects the era's interest in depicting private femininity without allegory. Now at Ordrupgaard in Denmark, the painting shows Manet's increasingly loose and luminous handling as he absorbed Impressionist light.

The brushwork is relaxed and flickering, capturing flesh tones and fabric with varied strokes rather than smoothly blended transitions. Manet's characteristic economy of means is at play: essentials are stated with confidence and secondary areas are left suggestive. The tonal range is warm and intimate, with light appearing to emanate from within the figure rather than raking across her.