Portrait+of+Madame+Brunet+Art+Analysis

“I kept my face blank, although inside I had a hundred feelings running through me…” This line is said in many books. People over the years have mastered the art of hiding their emotions, making sure that what they feel isn’t displayed on their face. This particular skill has been used over the ages, and I believe that in her portrait, Madame Brunet wanted to hide her emotions as well. Even if the painting just features a woman standing in an empty field, I was immediately captivated by the emotions I felt radiating off the face of Madame Brunet. I knew from the instant I saw her standing and staring blankly back at my bewildered face, I had to use this splendid portrait as my topic for my art analysis.
 * __ Behind Her Eyes __**

Édouard Manet was a famous French painter known for using oils to embellish his paintings, and he focused on Realism and Impressionism. His masterpiece, “The Portrait of Madame Brunet”, however, was not always a popular painting, especially between the years of 1860 to 1863 when it was being painted. It is said that when Madame Brunet saw her portrait, she screamed and ran out of the room, never claiming the painting as hers. Now, the painting stands tall and proud at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. However, in the painting, Madame Brunet still does not look happy. This is evident because she stands in front of a tree with multiple //dark// colors in the leaves, and an //empty// field behind her and the tree, which I think shows the emptiness she feels inside her. She is wearing a heavy-looking outfit that is colored all black. Her lips look as if they are being pursed and puckered, and her skin is a wan, sickly white color and her cheeks are hollowed. Strangely, she only wears one glove on her right hand, revealing a wedding band on her ring finger on her naked left hand. However, I see emotion behind her blank stare. I am certain Manet was trying to tell us a secret message with this painting. Since he paints a wedding band on her hand, and a sad look in her eyes, I believe he was trying to show that maybe she wasn’t happy with her marriage life. Or perhaps the fact that she stands in an empty field shows how lonely she feels in her marriage, which is supposed to be a partnership. She also is wearing all black. The color black has always been the color people wear to funerals or when they are in mourning, so maybe Manet tried to show that her marriage was so lonely that she felt as if her husband and died and left her by herself. Madame Brunet also seems frail and ailing because of her pale skin that stretches over her cheek bones, which may show that her marriage was unhealthy to her. As you notice, all my theories mention a husband and marriage, because the first thing anyone notices in the painting is the fact that Brunet is only wearing one glove. This leads people to look at her bare, ungloved left hand, and notice a wedding band wrapped around her thin ring finger. I think Manet purposely made it that way to convey a secret to us about her marriage, and that is why when Brunet saw the portrait, she hated it. I think Madame Brunet hated seeing the truth in her eyes staring back at her. I personally feel that this painting may look dull, but it is actually something of a mystery. Looking at it, I was lost in thought about all the things that contrasted and yet complimented each other in the portrait. How the blandness of her clothes, posture and the scenery behind her hide and yet show the worry, sadness and loneliness in her eyes. I chose this painting because it was a mystery much like the Salem Witch Trials. Madame Brunet’s hidden turmoil of feelings is much like the feelings of the accused “witches.” Worry they might be hanged for the practice of witchcraft. Sadness, because they may not live to see another day. And loneliness, because no one was supporting them, and their families weren’t helping them. They all had to hide these emotions and act cool and calm so that they could get through the trials and their convictions. Sometimes, though, hiding their emotions wasn’t enough, and that is what I think Édouard Manet tried to tell Madame Brunet when he painted her portrait. She may not have wanted to confront her feelings, but he believed in letting your emotions out.

At first, you may not be able to tell how I can relate a portrait about a woman in a dying marriage to The Salem Witch Trials. As I mentioned before, her expression shows the same feelings the victims of the trials felt. I also see a resemblance in their dress of thick, black garb and the way they hide under their dense outfits. However, Madame Brunet also stands up straight and poised ready, which shows me defiance like she wants to conquer what makes her feel so feeble. Therefore, this exquisite painting reminds not only of the accused witches of the trials but also of the “cursed” girls standing up and declaring that the accusations they make are true.

