The Railway
Dublin Core
Title
The Railway
Subject
The experiences of modernity
Description
Manet’s The Railway, though named as the subject, notably does not appear in the scene. Rather, it depicts a woman sitting along a bench gazing directly at and confronting the viewer, and a young girl holding industrial bars and presumably looking at the railway of Gare Saint-Lazare that is largely obscured by the steam. Manet offers a new representation of a common feature of modern Paris. Manet mediates the experience of the railroad through two subjects, one of which seems to engage viewers more than the railroad. Herbert says, “it is in this fashion that Manet has characterized the role of the railroad in the modern city, its movement and its steam (like some exhibit in a cage, to be dispassionately observed), its coming to and fro, its moment sitting idle while waiting.” Manet represents the railway, not obviously, but as something which impacts everyone’s daily experiences and life. Even though we may not see it, we still understand its effects from the smoke looming in the air to a trembling ground (Herbert). It is a reminder of modernity. The little girl, caged from the train by an iron bar barrier, consumes the railway as a spectacle. Perhaps there is something to be said about the woman’s gaze and the spectacle of the railway. The woman’s gaze is piercing and confrontational like Olympia’s. It forces us to question this scene and what we understand of modernity. The experience of modernity is not only the experience of growing industry or the development of the railroad, but it is also an experience of the second hand, less significant consequences (like those depicted by Manet here) that are often overlooked by impressionists.
Further, Ostergaard considers this to be a comment on class. Though we understand this to be a heavily industrial area, the smoke obscures many of the typical “characters” we might expect to associate with the railway. This includes workers. Again, laborers are erased from the narrative of modernity. We focus on the experience of the two middle-class individuals in the foreground. Ostergaard reads this as: “contrast in size between the extremely small images of the workers and the far larger, main figures in the foreground is an evocative testament to the subjects Manet emphasized in the painting.”
Further, Ostergaard considers this to be a comment on class. Though we understand this to be a heavily industrial area, the smoke obscures many of the typical “characters” we might expect to associate with the railway. This includes workers. Again, laborers are erased from the narrative of modernity. We focus on the experience of the two middle-class individuals in the foreground. Ostergaard reads this as: “contrast in size between the extremely small images of the workers and the far larger, main figures in the foreground is an evocative testament to the subjects Manet emphasized in the painting.”
Creator
Edouard Manet
Source
Ostergaard, T. E. (2014). The beast within: The contested image of the railroad in french visual culture, 1837-1877 (Order No. 10181777). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1834310138). Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/beast-within-contested-image-railroad-french/docview/1834310138/se-2?accountid=10267
Herbert, Robert L. Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. Print.Fur
Herbert, Robert L. Impressionism: Art, Leisure, and Parisian Society. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. Print.Fur
Date
1873
Contributor
Sofia Petrulla
Relation
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.43624.html
https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/manet-the-railway.html
https://www.nortonsimon.org/exhibitions/2010-2019/manet-s-the-railway-on-loan-from-the-national-gallery-of-art-washington/
https://www.nga.gov/collection/highlights/manet-the-railway.html
https://www.nortonsimon.org/exhibitions/2010-2019/manet-s-the-railway-on-loan-from-the-national-gallery-of-art-washington/
Citation
Edouard Manet, “The Railway,” Cornell ARTH 3625/6625, accessed May 16, 2024, https://cornellcolab.net/pariscaptialofmodernity/items/show/5667.