Description
The Café-Concert is a scene from a Paris beer hall that Édouard Manet painted in 1879: at a marble table sits a grey-bearded gentleman in a black top hat, beside him a young woman with a fringe looks down, and behind them a waitress in black drinks beer from a glass. The original, oil on canvas, is only 47.3 cm high and belongs to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 portrait sizes from 36 x 43 to 110 x 135 cm, or made to measure. Before the gentleman in the top hat travels to you, we send you a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | The Café-Concert |
| Other titles: | Au Café, café-concert (French title) |
| Painter: | Édouard Manet (1832–1883) |
| Year painted: | 1879 |
| Original size: | 47.3 cm x 39.1 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Realism and Impressionism |
| Located at: | Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, United States |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted in oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
The Café-Concert – Édouard Manet
What does The Café-Concert show?
In the right foreground sits an older gentleman with a grey beard and moustache, in a black top hat, black coat and white collar. His hand rests on the marble table, and he gazes off to the right, relaxed and sure of himself. Beside him, at the left edge, a young woman with dark hair, a straight-cut fringe and a brown dress keeps her eyes lowered.
Behind them stands a waitress in black with a pale grey apron and a red scarf; one hand on her hip, she tips a glass of beer to her lips. On the table are a tankard and a glass of beer with a crumpled blue paper between them. Manet signed at the lower left, on the table edge.
At the top left, in a mirror behind the customers, a singer in a pale dress with flowers in her hair performs on a small stage under lamps. More guests in hats crowd the dim background on the right.
What does the triangle of three glances tell us?
The three main figures form a triangle, yet each looks a different way. The gentleman follows the show, the woman beside him is lost in herself, and the waitress snatches a sip of beer mid-shift. The scene seems casual, but Manet hints at separation: these people sit side by side without being together.
The woman at the table is described as smoking a cigarette and seems subdued, while the man is at ease: men could go to cafés without unease, whereas women who did so risked how others would judge them.
The singer in the mirror was known as “La Belle Polonaise”, and it is her act the gentleman is watching.
Why is this painting so admired?
Manet (1832–1883) was among the first painters of the nineteenth century to take modern life as his subject, and his work marks the turn from Realism to Impressionism. His Paris café and brasserie scenes are notes on the social life of the city: people drink beer, listen to music, read or wait. He called such canvases “sincere works” (des oeuvres sincères).
The painting rejects conventional composition. The figures are not sharply outlined but modelled with brushstrokes, and Manet put the colours straight onto the canvas in loose, repeated strokes instead of building layers of pigment and glazes over a dark ground. The scene was posed for him and finished later, not on the spot, yet it looks freshly observed.
Its composition and exhibition history are covered in the Wikipedia article on the painting, in English.
Where is the original, and where is the scene set?
The original, oil on canvas measuring 47.3 x 39.1 cm (height x width), belongs to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, where its accession number is 37.893.
The setting is the Brasserie Reichshoffen on the boulevard Rochechouart in Paris, one of the new brasseries where Manet watched men and women and showed another face of Parisian life.
The work has been exhibited in Washington, Paris and New York, and the Walters even put a weather-resistant vinyl copy on the streets of Baltimore for its open-air exhibition Off the Wall.
The Café-Concert or another Manet?
This is a canvas painting for anyone who loves Paris by evening and a glass of beer in company.
The same Brasserie Reichshoffen is the setting of Corner of a Café-Concert, where a waitress holds two glasses of beer and a workman in a blue smock smokes a pipe. The Portrait of Stéphane Mallarmé shows a more private Manet: the poet leans back on a sofa, cigar in hand.
If you would rather look at the sea, choose The Kearsarge at Boulogne, with grey-green waves and a steamship at anchor, or Rochefort’s Escape, where a rowing boat crosses a wide, deep blue sea. All our other famous Manet paintings, each painted to order, are on the Édouard Manet page.
How do we hand-paint The Café-Concert?
Manet’s original is a small oil on canvas, just 47.3 cm high. Ours is an oil painting reproduction on fresh canvas, worked in oil on canvas in the size you choose and built up in several layers.
The painter first sets the triangle of the three heads: the top hat, the young woman’s dark hair and the waitress with her glass. Then come the dark coat and dresses, the marble table, the beer glasses and the blue paper.
Last come the mirror, the singer and the lights. Because Manet laid the paint on directly in quick, loose strokes, our painter leaves the brushwork visible in the final layer instead of smoothing it away.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: 36 x 43 or 40 x 49 cm for a shelf, a bedside table or a narrow wall, 46 x 55 and 60 x 75 cm for a hallway, a kitchen or above a chest of drawers, 68 x 85 and 77 x 95 cm above a sofa or in a dining room, and 97 x 122 or 110 x 135 cm for a tall wall or a bar.
We paint it in 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 36 x 43, 40 x 49, 46 x 55, 60 x 75, 68 x 85, 77 x 95, 97 x 122 and 110 x 135 cm. The original measures 39.1 x 47.3 cm (width x height): 36 x 43 cm is a little smaller, 40 x 49 cm is very close to it, and every size from 46 x 55 cm up enlarges it, the largest almost threefold.
As a painting for the living room it works best at 77 x 95 or 97 x 122 cm above a sofa.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Yes. For other proportions we keep the gentleman, the young woman and the waitress whole and adjust only the dark background on the right. Send us the size you need for your café scene, and you will hear back with a price and a delivery date.
The painting travels rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed; stretching and framing are done by our workshop in Slovenia. The moulding is picked in our 3D app, which exists only for choosing frames, while a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service. Black suits the top hat; slim gold echoes the gilt mirror.
When will my painting arrive, and how is it shipped?
The painter begins as soon as you confirm the order, and the painting is ready to leave within 15 to 45 working days. Before packing we send you a photograph of your finished painting and make any changes you ask for.
There are no customs duties within Slovenia and the rest of the EU, and every order falls under our returns policy.
It makes a good gift for anyone who loves Paris, music or a good beer. Not sure where it will hang? With a wall art voucher, the person who receives it picks the size.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
At the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, United States, accession number 37.893.
Who is sitting at the table?
An older gentleman in a top hat and a young woman with a fringe, with a waitress drinking beer behind them.
Is this a print?
No. Each one is a hand-painted copy, worked with brushes and oil paint on real canvas.
How big is the original?
Small: 47.3 x 39.1 cm (height x width); all our sizes from 46 x 55 cm up are larger.
Can I order a size that is not listed?
Yes. Tell us the width and height you want, and we will send an offer.
How long does it take to make?
From 15 to 45 working days, and before shipping we show you a photograph of the painting.
Does it suit a kitchen, or work as a gift?
Yes. It sits well in a kitchen, a dining room or by a home bar, and it pleases anyone who loves Paris.
Why is each figure looking a different way?
Because Manet uses the triangle to show separation: three people sit together, yet each is absorbed in something else.
- Subject: a gentleman in a top hat, a young woman and a waitress with a beer glass at a marble table, a singer in the mirror.
- Original: oil on canvas, 1879, 47.3 x 39.1 cm, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
- Ours: an Édouard Manet reproduction hand-painted in oil on canvas, in 8 sizes from 36 x 43 to 110 x 135 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the setting is the Brasserie Reichshoffen on the boulevard Rochechouart, Paris.
