John Carlos BaezMar 7

Manet's famous painting Un Bar aux Folies-Bergère never appealed to me. But now I realize its genius, and my spine tingles every time I see it.

The perspective looks all wrong. You're staring straight at this barmaid, but her reflection in the mirror is way off to right. Even worse, her reflection is facing a guy who doesn't appear in the main view!

But in 2000, a researcher showed this perspective is actually possible!!! To prove it, he did a photographic reconstruction of this scene. Check it out in my next post.

This blows my mind.

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Show threadJohn Carlos BaezMar 7

Here is Malcolm Park's reconstruction of the scene in Manet's painting. How does it work? In fact the woman is viewed not head-on, but from an angle! While the man cannot be seen directly, his reflection is visible!

In my next post, I'll show you a diagram that explains how this works. For more, go here:

https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/manet_bar/looking_glass.html

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Show threadJoeMar 7
@johncarlosbaez It's a shame he didn't get a hold of a bottle of Bass: a beer which is still manufactured (and has basically the same label) 120 years after the painting was made
Show threadJohn Carlos BaezMar 7
@hungryjoe - yes, I've had Bass ale and instantly recognized that bottle *as soon as someone pointed it out to me*. (My blindness to what's going on in paintings kind of astounds me.)
Show threadGeoff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
@johncarlosbaez @hungryjoe The red triangle is also the first registered trademark. The company had somebody wait overnight outside the registration office to ensure they got the first one after the law became applicable.
That painting was used as a case study in my first year undergrad physics, not seen this interpretation before :)
Mar 7 at 5:58pmWeb